Tree work rules in Alaska

Alaska doesn't license tree work: its professional licensing division lists no arborist, tree care or landscaping program.¹

Ask your city or county government whether removing a tree needs a permit where you live.

If a tree is touching the power line to your house, keep clear and call your utility first. Clearing the line is the utility's job, and a tree company can't start until it's done.

Alaska law keeps people, tools and equipment 10 feet from high voltage lines. Anyone working closer must first notify the line owner and pay for barriers, de-energizing or raising the lines.²

Alaska's one-call law doesn't name stump or root removal, but it counts any movement of earth as excavation and exempts only agricultural tilling less than 12 inches deep. Call 811 before a stump is ground or dug out, and the one-call center can say whether your job needs a locate.³

In Alaska, applying any pesticide on property you don't own needs certification from the Department of Environmental Conservation. The category is Category 4 Turf and Ornamental Pest Control, and the department gives tree injection as an example.^4-5