Tree Care Series 2026: Chainsaw Safety and Pruning Young Trees

Chainsaw Safety: Practices, Equipment, and Behaviors 

Get an overview of chainsaw safety practices, equipment, and behaviors aligned with OSHA and ANSI Z133 industry standards. This session will emphasize the importance of personal protective equipment, situational awareness, and safe practices before and during operations with visual examples of safe felling cuts, kickback zones, and field procedures to promote both safety and efficiency in chainsaw use. 

Presenter: Kevin Rohling, Illinois Extension specialist, forest management and ecology

Pruning Young Shade Trees  

Young shade trees face a variety of challenges in the landscape, resulting in surprisingly low survival rates for many of these plants. While planting practices and follow-up care are major factors in the mortality of younger trees, canopy failure from poor branch structure is a bigger risk for trees that make it beyond establishment. Learn how proper pruning early in a tree’s life can drastically reduce the risk of canopy failure or hazard development from structurally unsound limbs later. 

Presenter: Ryan Pankau, Illinois Extension horticulture educator