City of Tumwater introduces new urban forester 

The City of Tumwater has hired an urban forester, a long-eyed position considered key to the implementation of its urban forest management plan. 

City staff introduced Brian Caughlan to the city’s Tree Board on Monday, June 9. 

The city has planned to hire someone for the position since it adopted its urban forest management plan in 2021.

The plan guides the city in managing, maintaining and improving trees, vegetation and forests in the city. It serves as the policy basis for the city’s ongoing work to amend various parts of its municipal code dealing with street trees (TMC 12.24), the protection of trees and vegetation (TMC 16.08) and landscaping (TMC 18.47). 

According to his job description, Caughlan will provide expertise on matters relating to urban forestry. His responsibilities include supervising tree planting and maintenance activities, leading programs to enhance the city’s tree canopy cover, conducting tree assessments and managing the city’s tree inventory. 

He will also assist city staff in reviewing development proposals by ensuring that applications are compliant with tree, vegetation and landscaping standards. 

He will also serve as an alternate to Alyssa Jones Wood, who is the staff’s liaison to the tree board. 

Jones Wood spoke positively about Caughlan, who has been on board for more than a month. 

“(He has been) doing a great job and being very proactive about things that weren't on my radar, and being able to do the things that I was not equipped to do, so I'm really glad that we have an expert to do this very important job,” Jones Wood said. 

Asked by the board members about his background, Caughlan said he has been a certified arborist for at least three years.

Before joining the city, he worked for the City of Lacey’s stormwater division as a stormwater engineering technician. He also worked at Lacey’s parks department and at Thurston County’s parks division. 

Caughlan said he doesn’t have an educational background in forest management, as he is self-taught.  

He said he has a bachelor’s degree in literature, which Jones Wood said would be a benefit during public outreach activities. 

“I do have an immense amount of background experience as a journeyman tech … so I know kind of the process of removing trees. I've climbed lots of different things, I've done a lot of different things, but my passion was always being on the more communication side and development side, because that's really what matters the most … how we're planting, who's being held accountable,” Caughlan said. 

Regarding the funding of the position, Jones Wood said the money has been fully secured even if half of the funding for his position gets clawed back by the federal government.  

Currently, half of the funding for the position comes through a pass-through grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture via the nonprofit River Network. Matching funds from the city supports half of the budget for the position.