In towering splendor once I stood
A regal monarch of the wood.
My branches once reached to the sky
See me now but do not cry.
The Creator's work has yet to cease
I've become shelter for bird and beast.
And when at last I fall to Earth
The life I leave will inspire new birth.
A seedling springs forth from the ground
Nature's cycle goes round and round.

S. Edward Palmer, Spirit Tree

Largess Forestry, Inc., established in 1986, acknowledges the important role trees play in the world's environment. Largess Forestry, Inc. provides residential and commercial clients with quality arboriculture service while making conscientious efforts to promote preservation, education and planting of this precious renewable resource and America's dwindling urban forests.

Largess Forestry employs certified arborists whose mission is to:

  • provide quality service to clients, both residential and commercial;
  • provide preventive care to trees, the earth's most precious renewable resource, in order to preserve their health and value;
  • become a national leader in urban forest policy; and
  • educate clients and the general public of the importance of preserving forests and the impact of urbanization upon forests and their inhabitants.

Notable accomplishments

  • In Search of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (see reports) - In January 2003 Matt Largess participated in a team search for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in White River Wildlife Management Area in southeastern Arkansas.
  • In December 2002 Matt Largess and Largess Forestry, Inc., upon the invitation of Maya Howard, traveled to South Portland, ME to oversee the transplanting of a European Hornbeam (carpinus caroliniana) at the Dora Small Elementary School. Matt had been working with Maya to publicize the significance of this tree--the Maine State Champion-- whose fate was bleak had it not been for Maya's and others' commitment to save it from cutting.
  • Initial assessment of MacArthur Tract (click on text to go to report), Haddon Township, Camden County, NJ. This is potentially one of the best examples of an old-growth forest on the East Coast and more importantly in an urban setting.
  • Discovered and helped preserve the Oakland Forest, a rare old-growth beech forest more than 300 years old, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
  • Preservation of the Nathaniel Greene Sycamore, an endangered species, on the Hunt River, Warwick, RI.  American Forests designated this tree as the first notable and historic tree in Rhode Island state history.
  • With American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA) team, Matt Largess helped activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill save Luna, a 1000-year old redwood, the most famous tree in the world after vandals severely damaged the tree by slicing through 60% of the base with chainsaws.  The tree still stands today.

Largess Forestry, Inc.
450 Davit Avenue
Jamestown, RI  02835
Tel:  (401)849-9191
Fax:  (401)423-9652

E-mail:  largesstree@aol.com

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