Old Growth Tree Service expands into Roaring Fork Valley with Carbondale branch

Old Growth Tree Service, a Vail Valley-based company specializing in tree care and land management, is expanding into the Roaring Fork Valley with a new branch in Carbondale. The company celebrated the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association on Aug. 14.

Founded in 2016 with just three employees, Old Growth has grown to more than 65 staff members and a fleet of over 100 vehicles and pieces of equipment. The company also operates Specialized Land Management, a sister business that handles large-scale fire mitigation, vegetation management and habitat restoration.

“We are a full-service tree care company,” said Paige Allison, branch manager in Carbondale. “We do removals, pruning, noxious weed control, vegetation management, and with Specialized Land Management, we also provide large-scale mastication and fire mitigation. Our goal is to be a resource for the community.”

The move into the Roaring Fork Valley follows Old Growth’s acquisition of High Country Forestry, which had a large local client base.

“I love the culture over here,” Allison said. “It’s much different than the Vail Valley, and this company has done so much for me just with my career path. I feel like we have so much to offer the community, and I just want to get the word out any way I can.”

Project manager James Mill said the company emphasizes education and long-term tree preservation.

“Our approach is that we’re in the tree preservation business,” Mill said. “We take the high-level attention to detail and customer service you’d find in organizations like the Ritz Carlton and combine those with the science of arboriculture. Once people experience that level of service, they don’t look back.”

Mill said Old Growth’s core values — integrity, respect, teamwork, training and knowledge, and quality and customer service — have guided the company since its founding.

“We want to be seen as a resource and an authority,” he said. “Through our work, we hope to be recognized as the voice of arboriculture wherever we are, to speak for the trees, and to be there when people have questions.”

The Carbondale branch plans to partner with schools and nonprofits on outreach and education, building on similar work in Eagle County, where Old Growth sponsors Arbor Day contests in classrooms and runs apprenticeship and internship programs recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The company is also working to address pressing regional threats such as the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle first detected in Carbondale.

“Emerald ash borer is a huge issue, especially here,” Allison said. “Luckily, it hasn’t spread to other surrounding communities yet, but it’s just a matter of time. Our role is to keep the public informed and ready.”

Old Growth Tree Service also acts as a stakeholder group for the Roaring Fork Wildfire Collaborative and maintains partnerships with local fire districts.

“There are obvious concerns in the Carbondale area and throughout the valley about the risk of wildfire,” Mill said. “We know there’s a lot of work to be done, and we hope to be a part of it.”