Lucas Tree Experts Transmission Division arborists prepare equipment and chain saws on site. All photos courtesy of Lucas Tree Experts.

In 1926, John Lucas founded a small company in Portland, Maine, helping electrify rural communities across the state. One hundred years later, Lucas Tree Experts operates across the United States and Canada, providing utility vegetation management at a scale that would have been hard to imagine at the outset.

A centennial in tree care is not just a measure of time. It reflects a company’s ability to adapt – to new tools, new expectations and new challenges – while maintaining consistency in the field.

A century of change

Arthur Stackhouse and his crew on Pleasant Avenue in Maine, c. 1928.

Lucas Tree’s growth mirrors the development of utility infrastructure itself. Early right-of-way clearing work in the late 1920s expanded as telephone and power systems grew. By the 1940s, crews were supporting wartime efforts, including laying submarine cables. In the decades that followed, the company adopted new approaches to vegetation management, including herbicide applications to maintain rights-of-way more efficiently.

Moments of disruption have defined the work just as much as steady growth. In 1998, a historic ice storm brought widespread damage across the Northeast. Lucas Tree crews were part of the response, clearing debris and helping restore power – work that required coordination, speed and focus under pressure.

Across those shifts, the fundamentals have remained consistent: execute the work safely, at scale and with a high degree of reliability.

A culture measured against standards

A Lucas Tree Experts arborist carries a chain saw beside a wood chipper, clearing vegetation along a roadside to support utility operations.

Lucas Tree has been a member of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) since 1980 and has maintained TCIA Accreditation for 19 years. The decision to pursue Accreditation aligned with how the company already operated.

“As a company that has always considered safety its first order of business – and had self-insured its  worker’s compensation – we recognized the Accreditation process as a validation of our ongoing pursuit of being among the best in the industry,” says Arthur W. Batson Jr., chairman of the board of Lucas Tree Experts.

What stood out in the process was its depth. “We thought the program might just be a cursory review of our operations,” says Batson, “but we were pleasantly surprised with the complete and thorough depth of the process.”

The result was a clearer definition of systems already in place. “We had to update some of our safety materials, improve our safety committee involvement and document our safety program development with goals.”

That work was supported across the organization, while the Accreditation itself also reflects a broader industry function.

“Having an industry standard that competitors had to meet made everybody equal – on the same playing field,” says Batson. “We feel this is good both for employee safety and customer satisfaction.”

Investing in the future

As Lucas Tree Experts marks its 100th year, the company is also looking ahead. In May, it announced a $500,000 permanent endowment with the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) to support Integrated Vegetation Management research across the United States and Canada.

John McLeod climbing and pruning trees near power lines during the wintertime in Maine.

The investment is aimed at advancing sustainable vegetation management, improving ecosystem health and strengthening the resilience of energy infrastructure – areas that are becoming increasingly complex as climate pressures and environmental changes affect tree populations.

“As we celebrate 100 years, we reflect on the generations of families who have built this company,” says Lucas Beane, chief operating officer for Lucas Tree Experts. “We are proud of the work our teams do every day and the trusted partnerships we have built with utilities and communities along the way. This endowment is our commitment to the next 100 years – investing in the science that will shape the future of vegetation management.”

Conclusion

For companies considering Accreditation, Batson offers a direct assessment: “You will get more out of the process than you put into it. It will make you a better company.”

A hundred years in, Lucas Tree Experts has built a reputation that can’t be manufactured – only earned in the field. That standard remains in place, alongside continued investment in the future of the industry.

Esther de Hollander is the director of editorial & content strategy at TCI Magazine.