where is it legal to Rec Tree Climb ?

Santiago Casanova said:
So if my county does not have a local ordinance against tree climbing in parks am I ok to laugh in the face of whomever is telling me to get down?
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Don't make me regret trying to assist you.

If there are no codes prohibiting the climbing of public trees, you still have the issue that any park official can, in their official capacity tell you to leave. If you decline you are then committing trespass. You probably don't want to get to that point.

In the absence of any prohibitive codes, you could take the high road and ask for a meeting with the park manager. In said meeting, point out that there are no prohibitive codes. Show whatever climbing credentials you may have and demonstrate the non-invasive nature of your equipment. Show that all your climbing tools are purpose designed for safe ascent, movement within and descent from trees. (Leave the home-brew devices at home.). Ask them if there's a place in the park where you can climb without drawing attention to yourself.

Better yet, reach out to your local state forester for your district. Ask them if there's any kind research or canopy inspection service that you can provide to them on a volunteer basis. Seed harvest, frost damage inspection... be creative. You may find yourself the recipient of an actual invitation to climb.
 
Bob Bob said:
A few more suggestions:

Don't get caught.

Act like you belong there in an official capacity. Essentially hiding in plain sight. Caution cones, clip boards, hard hats, caution tape, reflective vests, utility type van/truck can all help with this.
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Tried that once. A city councilman was having a picnic nearby. Cops were there in less than 10 minutes.

In my experience, it's a fantasy to think you're going to reasonably talk any government official into accepting that it's ok to climb city property and that the local government unit isn't at risk of liability.
 
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I'm lucky and have a lot of trees in my backyard that I climb for recreational reasons and to practice different skills etc. But I've also gone to a nearby park with another climber and we've scaled to the top of a nice big oak there. We plan on going back to go up another good sized tree we spotted. I mean with big parks there's so many trees you could climb a different tree everyday all year lol.

Depending where you are if you're at a park and there's woods you could always go someplace where you're not right in the open where someone could give you a problem, but worst comes to worse if someone says something I would just be honest, say you're a climber whether professional or just recreational and you were just practicing or going for a climb for fun. I would imagine if it was not allowed they are going to be understanding to someone who clearly is a legitimate climber, in other words wearing all the necessary gear and climbing with professional ropes and such versus a few teenagers who start free climbing trees.

The other option is to obviously contact someone of authority who could give you the answer. But there again, if you call someone asking if you can climb trees at such and such a place are they going to understand you're using professional climbing gear, etc. or do they interpret that as you're going to try climbing to the top of trees with just your arms and legs? If any of that makes sense lol.
 
Another solution might be to look through your chapter of ISA's records on TCC events. I'd think that the management team of a park where a previous TCC has been held would be much less apprehensive about a non invasive climber getting into a tree.

A big problem for us is image. People think of arborists and recreational climbers as lumberjacks and envision their trees being spiked along with any other horrible outcome imaginable. At the Florida chapter when we've contacted parks to ask permission to conduct a TCC, some of the staff have confused it with a timber sports event.
 
Every encounter I've had with either law enforcement or city worker who think it's cool and seem to be empathetic, it invariably ends with "... let me just make a quick call to the city attorney to see if there might be any issues," and that's always the kiss of death.
 
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I was just thinking, if I worked for the city, and sombody asked me for permission to do something a little dangerous on city property...

If I say no - no consequences.

If I say yes - and anything goes wrong, my job is on the line for approving it.

...not a hard choice.

It's usually a grey area legally, so maybe best to do it, and then be considerate to anyone official that stumbles across you and is not willing to asume the risk of not stopping you.
 
Yeah, I guess I'd fall into the camp that says one should look for permission from the local neighbors whose trees look like they could use some deadwood pruning. I don't have any really handy large forest near me that I could easily get lost in to avoid prying eyes. I feel certain that if I tried to climb a tree in a public park near me, I wouldn't be able to finish the climb without being confronted by an official. I'd rather be able to relax knowing that I was an invited guest. I've only tried to sell myself this way once so far, but it worked. I was given free access to a neighbor's huge oak tree any time I felt the urge to climb. I did not have to ask permission each and every time. It was an open invitation.

Another thing that has occurred to me lately is the idea of talking to the local churches, which I have not yet tried to do. They often have small plots of land with nice, older trees on them, almost like a mini park setting. They might appreciate an offer of some free deadwood pruning.

Tim
 
Across the country many rock climbers are organizing into 501c3s in order to purchase lands to preserve climbing access and interact with local, state, and federal agencies. Many of these organizations own land or have easements guaranteeing climbing access, and I would imagine that if there is a climbers coalition near you they would be amenable to climbing trees on their properties, or if you reached out to them helping broker a conversation with local authorities about recreational tree climbing on public lands.

Down here the Carolina Climbers Coalition has sort of taken the local high/slack-liners under their prevue (after they inadvertently almost got the placement/repair/replacement of fixed hardware banned in the Linville Gorge) to help educate them on local regulations and to help advocate for them in the Forest Service forest planning process for Pisgah National Forest. I bet local groups, or the national organization the Access Fund would help point you in the right direction.
 
If your in the upstate new York area and want to rec climb, pm me because I got 50 something acres and I don't have anyone to climb with so it would be safer for me to not climb by myself and I'm sure we could learn from each other
 
Mowerr said:
If your in the upstate new York area and want to rec climb, pm me because I got 50 something acres and I don't have anyone to climb with so it would be safer for me to not climb by myself and I'm sure we could learn from each other
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Where upstate? I might be passing through next month.
 
First off, this is my first post, so let me just say "Hello, Nice to meet you all" real quick, and now i'll get on with it:
I'm a Rec. climber first, trained by the City of Eugene Outdoor Program, and taught tree climbing classes for a few seasons as a volunteer instructor, then as an employee. Later, I worked for the two best tree care companies in Eugene, and as the "tree guy" at a local plant nursery. (That was a while back, and now I do Tech Support...) I have a few friends who are arborists for the city, and all of them fully encourage rec. climbing in the city. I've volunteered with Friends of Trees. The lead arborist for the city was the top reference on my resume...etc...I'm not saying all of this stuff to try to impress anyone, I'm just pointing out that I do have some experience in this matter.
I've been climbing trees in Eugene for somewhere around 12 years. I climb trees in public parks, out in the middle of nowhere, and everything in between. I've lost count of how many trees I've climbed in or around Eugene. These days , I climb trees purely for fun, exercise, relaxing, etc.
Before today, I had only had one bad interaction with anyone involving tree climbing, and that was an overzealous City Parks worker who decided I didn't belong there. I made my case to him, avoiding arguing as much as possible, but he was intent on power-tripping, and insisted I come down. I told him I didn't want to argue with him and got down. I told him my name, my boss's name, and gave him the phone number for the Outdoor Program, who's headquarters happened to be about a quarter of a mile down the bike path from where we were standing. I asked for his name, and not surprisingly, he refused. (He was pretty rude throughout the whole interaction). He suddenly became aware of how much work he had to do, and hurried off to change more garbage can liners. Later, my boss at the Outdoor Program told me if that ever happened again, I should refuse to get down, and have them call her directly. She told me I had every right to climb any tree I wanted in any city park in Eugene, as long as I wasn't endangering anyone else.That was probably 9 years ago or so.
Well, today I was climbing a beautiful old walnut in the middle of a park by the Willamette River in Eugene, when a Eugene Police SUV pulled up. I had watched him drive slowly on the bike path all the way around the park, which appeared to me to be a normal patrol, and probably was...until he spotted me. He got out of his truck, walked up to me, and politely told me I wasn't allowed to climb any trees in the city without a permit. I explained that I used to teach climbing in this very tree, that I'd been climbing this tree the same way for years, and that I'd never been told I needed a permit. (I've never heard of this specific permit, and am not sure it exists). I asked if it was specifically against the law to climb a tree, and he said that the law says a person "can't attach anything to a tree without a permit". And, by his definition, that's what I was doing. I told him that this was "just very disappointing", and asked if I could go up once more to "get my stuff down". (I was climbing DRT, and really didn't need to go up again, but I really wanted to climb it one last time). He said that was no problem, and actually left as I started to climb up again. I packed up my stuff and left as soon as I got down, and didn't see the cop again.
The whole drive home, I was pretty bummed out about getting kicked out of a tree, but after I had some time to think about it, I decided I'll keep climbing the way I always have, wherever and whenever I feel like it, and just pay the ticket if it comes to that.
I had already planned to go back there with some friends tomorrow, to give them a quick intro to tree climbing. Today's climb was mostly about inspecting the tree, and discreetly leaving a throwline in the highest tie-in point, so I don't have to throw bags so high in the morning. Tomorrow's climb should be interesting, to say the least. I'm just hoping Sunday is that cop's day-off!
 
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Hey Wil O, welcome aboard. I'm just up the road a bit, near Seattle. There's a few of us rec climbers in the area, if you happen to be in our neck of the woods. I don't yet have the same level of experience as you do, but I've done some training over the past couple years with Tim Kovar, and the guys at Cornell Tree Climbing Institute. I've also connected with many local arborists and tree care personal, through local climbing parties and competitions. I wish you luck on your climbing endeavors. May they be fulfilling and uninterrupted. A group of us are planning to attend the Tree Climbing Rendezvous this year, down in Costa Rica. If you're interested, I'll hook you up.

As far as where it's legal to climb, I think it differs from place to place. I tend to think of it as a challenge to get in and get out undetected, although I've only done one stealth climb in my life. I would very much like to help promote a legal and responsible path to legalized tree climbing, by way of provisional use permits, and by demonstrating the skill and ability to climb safely and responsibly.
 
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