Our Partners
UAA is proud to work with the following groups. We encourage you to visit their websites to learn more!
UAA encourages the public to always “Call before you dig”!
Each state has its own 811 call center to help you get digging. Choose your state to find information about your area. An 811 representative will take information about your project and notify appropriate utility companies to mark buried lines so you can dig safely around them!
UAA encourages our members to attend the annual Partners in Community Forestry meeting that the Arbor Day Foundation hosts annually. Arbor Day Foundation also has the TreeLine USA program.
Together, we’re making our world cleaner and greener. In your yard and around the world, we’re planting trees where they’re needed most.
AERI is an innovative California company that offers a modern approach to vegetation management. Our founders saw an opportunity to offer a pioneering, streamlined solution and have been moving the industry forward ever since. Through a combination of innovation, transparency and top safety protocols, we are able to deliver efficient, time saving, cost-friendly services to benefit our clients and enhance public safety.
ISA is a worldwide network of professional arborists actively engaged in the growth and development of themselves, their companies and employees, and the industry. Membership in ISA provides you with opportunities for personal and professional growth and connects you to other professionals with similar needs, career goals, and interest in improving the arboricultural profession.
The Right-of-Way Stewardship Council (ROWSC) is an accreditation program that establishes standards for responsible right-of-way vegetation management along corridors. The program promotes the application of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) and best management practices to utility vegetation managers in order to maintain power system reliability and address ecological concerns.
UAA encourages utility arborists and urban and community foresters to work together on a daily basis to grow community tree canopy while also ensuring the safe, reliable delivery of basic utilities. The Urban and Community Forestry Society (UCFS) – formerly SMA – builds the confidence, competence and camaraderie of professionals who manage trees and forests to create and sustain more livable communities.
UAA is a proud member of the SUFC.
The SUFC is an assembly of national organizations working to advance a unified urban forest agenda for our nation’s communities.
The SUFC is composed of city planners, educators, landscape architects, non-profit leaders, scientists, arborists, foresters, nurserymen and women, and many other professionals who care for, monitor and advocate for trees and our urban forests as a whole.
The TCIA Utility Contractor Accreditation program is a business practices and compliance-audit process for commercial right-of-way (ROW) vegetation management/utility line clearance contractors.
Designed to help tree care companies improve themselves and become models of professionalism, the program also gives those companies that are already doing everything right a third-party credential to prove it.
Providing utility professionals with critical information related to the planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and safety of transmission and distribution facilities, including automation and information technology.
T&D World’s Vegetation Management Resource Center is your resource for management from programs and safety, to tools and technology. Regulatory compliance, public health standards and environmental topics are also covered.
The Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) provides research grants, scholarships and educational programs to advance knowledge in the field of arboriculture and urban forestry.
The Utility Vegetation Management Association (UVMA) is an organization serving and representing utility business needs, utility arborists, utility vegetation specialists and the public in the utility industry in Western Canada. The UAA and UVMA have a memorandum of understanding together. Together we are working to promote the Professional Utility Vegetation Management program which is designed to help professionals working in this industry enhance their management, leadership and planning skills.
The Wildlife Habitat Council promotes and certifies habitat conservation and management on corporate lands through partnerships and education.
Contact Us
Office Hours
Monday - Friday 8:00AM/CST- 5:00PM/CST
Address
2009 W. Broadway Ave, Suite 400
PMB 315
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Additional Info
Phone: 800-680-4106
Email: office@gotouaa.org
Cindy is the Senior Director, Vegetation Management Services and she manages departments responsible for maintaining vegetation in REC’s rights-of-way with the goal of reducing exposure of the electric grid to tree caused outages while encouraging habitat and species diversity. Cindy also has a consulting business, EcoAcumen, LLC that focuses on residential, commercial and government clients.
Kimberly Laing has had an exciting career in the energy industry, gaining valuable experience in various areas for almost 20 years. During her career, she has worked with numerous customers worldwide in a diverse cross-disciplined technical environment. She has extensive experience working with utilities, asset owners, equipment manufacturers, and consultants to facilitate transmission and distribution projects. Kimberly is particularly passionate about Utility Vegetation Management and its vital role in delivering safe and reliable power.
Josh Beaver is currently senior vice president of Eocene Environmental Group, a utility vegetation management (UVM) consulting and operations firm. Josh has more than two decades of experience within the UVM industry. He is currently responsible for relationship management and oversight of long-term UVM contracts throughout the United States and Canada. He considers customer and community communication to be vital aspects of his role, and he has a proven record of success working with utilities.
Sam joins the UAA crew with over a decade of non-profit experience behind her. As our Partnership Coordinator, her focused efforts on building relationships with diverse funders will include crafting proposals, cultivating connections, and cohesively earning dedicated sponsors to support the sustainability of UAA substantially and empowering our programs. Well equipped with professional skills which include program development, public speaking, proposal writing, donor relations, working with diverse stakeholders, coalition building, and public-facing service. Sam’s educational background includes a BS in Animal Ecology with a minor in Animal Science, and a MA in Philanthropy and Non-profit Development.
Sara Dreiser is a Senior Program Manager with ComEd. She works with a team to oversee ComEd’s routine cycle maintenance and ComEd’s interruption investigation programs. She has been working in the Vegetation Management industry for close to 15 years.
Matt Goff is a Transmission Vegetation Manager at Georgia Power Company. He lives in Brookhaven, GA with his wife, two daughters, and the family’s two dogs Sam, and Payton. For leisure, he enjoys sports with his family, bird hunting, and salt-water fishing.Matt holds a BSFR from the University of Georgia in Forest Resource Management and he graduated in 1997. He has worked in the vegetation management industry for 26 years. His work experience includes six years as a procurement forester for a forest products manufacturer, and 20 years in the utility vegetation management industry with Georgia Power.
Brandon graduated from Minnesota State University–Mankato with a B.S. in Geography. Brandon has been with Rainbow Tree Company since 2009 and has gained experience in several roles, including Business Developer for our utility products division, GIS Tree Inventory Analyst, and Technical Arborist. Brandon has been the Director of VM Services, the fastest growing division inRainbow Tree Company, since 2012.
A winner of the David H Nabi Award for dedication and service, Dr. Robert Vanderhoof earned his Ph.D. from the College of Forest Resources at Mississippi State University in 1995. A veteran natural resource manager, Robert spent 15 years as Florida’s Deer Management Section Chief during which time he coordinated range management activities across Florida’s seven-million-acre wildlife management area system.
Amanda Opp, Certified Utility Vegetation Management Professional Flathead Electric Cooperative, Integrated Services Manager, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Course Facilitator
Jim Neeser is a business developer for the Davey Resource Group, a division of the Davey Tree Expert Company. Jim primarily works with utility companies to provide innovative and customized solutions. Jim earned his AA from Vermillion Community College in 1997 and his BS in Forestry with an emphasis on Hydrology and Soils from the University of Minnesota in 2000. Jim is an ISA Certified Arborist with the Utility Specialist endorsement. Jim has been involved in the UAA training committee for nearly a decade as a past chairman and is currently the treasurer and Champion of the finance committee. Jim spent his first 7 years in the industry as a field arborist in the commercial and utility markets. The last 10 years, Jim has been working with utility companies to enhance their Integrated Vegetation Management programs. Jim’s other interests include spending time with his family, sports, hiking, fishing and coin collecting. Jim is also active with the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. Jim lives in Forest Lake, MN with his wife and 2 children.
Adam’s experience includes leading business development strategies for a utility vegetation management consulting firm, vegetation management field operations at two major investor-owned utilities in the southeastern US, project management at a variety of utilities in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern regions, and vegetation management program development and assessments across the country. His utility arboricultural experience provides a broad understanding of the many different methods used to create a successful utility right-of-way, vegetation management program, including remote sensing, data analytics, optimization, and the utilization of third-party consulting foresters for planning and auditing duties.
Craig works for Pacific Gas and Electric as a Principal Program Manager in Land Management. His career spans 30 years in the utility industry serving numerous roles. He is an ISA Certified Arborist, Utility Specialist, and hold his TRAQ and is a TCIA Certified TreeCare Safety Professional. Craig has been engaged and involved in the UAA for many years, starting back in 2008. He then wanted more so he ran for UAA President and was elected in 2014. Today, Craig looks back over his 30-year career and wouldn’t change a thing, he’s made life-long friends and considers many as mentors. He also claims he would not be where is in his career if it weren’t for these people, and pledges to pay it forward to support others in their success.
Erin Creekmur has been in the UVM industry for over 20 years. After graduating with a Bachelors in Botany from Northern Arizona University she relocated to Northern California to start her professional career. Starting as a consulting utility pre-inspector with Western ECI she quickly moving up to the ranks to Supervisor under the tutelage of folks like Nelson Money. In 2004, Erin joined PG&E as a Quality Assurance Auditor for the VM program. Eventually becoming the Program Manager for the North Coast Division, helping stand up the beginnings of CEMA as the Emergency Drought Response Initiative Lead for the Enhanced Inspection & Mitigation Program, targeting off-cycle hazard trees across the system. In 2015, Erin moved back to her home state of Arizona and took the role of Division Supervisor with Arizona Public Service, managing both transmission and distribution UVM programs out of the Flagstaff area. As part of her role with APS Forestry Fire and Resource Management Department, Erin had responsibility for creating a Hazard Tree Mitigation program. maintaining APS’s ROW Stewardship Accreditation, FERC reporting, and the Transmission Lidar program. In 2021, Erin took a shift in her career and is now Supervising the Customer Construction and Design team for APS, expanding her overall understanding of the Utility industry. Erin continues to maintain her ISA Utility Specialist Certification and TRAQ. She has also completed certifications in both Six Sigma and Lean Sigma Green Belt through accredited universities. In addition to her current service on the UAA Board of Directors, Erin spent the last 6 years as an officer with the Arboretum at Flagstaff Board of Directors. In her free time, you can find Erin in the woods taking pictures of native plants and beautiful western landscapes.
Fallon is a Utility Arborist and Executive Director of the Utility Arborist Association. Prior to his current role he was responsible for leading vegetation management programs across several upper Midwest states on behalf of a large investor-owned utility. He’s also been an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he facilitated the 
Renée is our Member Services Manager. She is available to UAA members for questions on committee assignments, educational opportunities, scholarships, CEU questions, and any other assistance.
Diona has been with the Utility Arborist Association (UAA) since December 2015 and has worked in various capacities within the organization.