Expert Tree Service has been based in Saugerties since 1936, and our crews work four counties every week: Ulster, Dutchess, Greene, and Columbia. People tend to talk about “the Hudson Valley” as one place. For tree work, it isn’t. A leaning maple in Kingston, a hemlock on a Windham hillside, and a dead ash over a barn in Livingston run into different rules, different species, and different weather.
Over the past year we’ve written a detailed guide for each county. This page puts them side by side, so you can see what’s different about yours and jump to the full guide.
The Four Counties at a Glance
| Ulster | Dutchess | Greene | Columbia (south of Hudson) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landscapes | River towns, Wallkill and Rondout valleys, Catskill mountain towns | Dense suburban lots, rural acreage, riverfront | Hudson River valley towns, Catskill mountain towns | River estates, farm country, Taconic hills |
| Permits for private trees | Set town by town. Most towns require none. | Set town by town. Rhinebeck and Red Hook regulate trees near the road. | None in most hill and mountain towns | None in the towns we serve |
| Local rule to know | Kingston’s fine for removing a city street tree is $1,250 | Rhinebeck treats any tree within 30 feet of the road’s center as a Village Tree | Athens requires stumps over 12 inches to be ground below grade and reseeded | Conservation easements cover about 30,000 acres |
| Trees behind the most calls | Silver and Norway maples, dead ash, hemlock | Norway maple, dead ash, Callery pear, sugar maple | Norway maple, silver maple, Bradford pear, hemlock, ash | Old oaks and sugar maples, dead ash, hemlock |
| Damaging-wind events, 2005–2025 | 536 | 564 | 219 | 610 |
Ulster County: Our Home County
Ulster has more standing timber than any county in the Mid-Hudson region, and it covers everything from Hudson River floodplain to 4,000-foot Catskill peaks. In the river towns, the classic call is an 80-to-100-year-old maple dropping a limb in a summer storm. In the mountain towns up Route 28, it’s tall conifers leaning over homes built close to the woods, which is where crane-assisted removal earns its keep.
Permits are set town by town. Kingston is the strictest, and properties near Esopus Creek or mapped wetlands fall under the DEC’s expanded wetland rules. Read the full Ulster County guide →
We work across Ulster, including Kingston, Saugerties, New Paltz, Woodstock, Rosendale, and Ellenville.
Dutchess County: Tight Lots and Tree Cities
Dutchess is the county where lot size changes the job most. On a small Poughkeepsie lot there’s often no room to fell a tree without risking a house, a fence, or a power line. On five acres in Pawling, the problem is getting equipment to a tree 200 feet from the driveway.
Dutchess also has some of the region’s most active Tree Cities. Poughkeepsie became New York’s first Tree City USA in 1979. Rhinebeck and Red Hook both require permission before you prune or remove trees in their public zones. Norway maple tops the tree inventories in Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, and Pawling, and many are reaching the end of their healthy lifespan. Read the full Dutchess County guide →
We serve Dutchess County north of Beacon, including Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, and Pawling.
Greene County: Valley Towns and Mountain Towns
Greene County has the biggest swing in elevation of the four. A property in the Village of Catskill sits around 200 feet above sea level. A cabin in Windham sits near 2,000. Down in the valley, Norway maples and Bradford pears drive most of the calls. Up in the mountains, the tree mix shifts to spruce, hemlock, white pine, and balsam fir, which hold snow and ice differently and can uproot whole on saturated slopes.
The two villages we work most have real tree codes. Catskill requires Village Board approval before anyone cuts or prunes a public tree. Athens can prune private branches that overhang the street. Greene also has more commercial tree work than you’d expect, from ski resorts and wedding venues to rental cabins. Read the full Greene County guide →
We work across Greene County, including Catskill, Athens, Coxsackie, Cairo, Windham, and Hunter.
Columbia County: The Stormiest of the Four
Columbia logged 610 damaging-wind events from 2005 to 2025, the most of any county we serve. Southern Columbia is also full of trees that grew up wide and alone: 100-year-old oaks and sugar maples on the river estates, and open-grown fencerow trees in the farm country with broad crowns and no forest to shelter them.
The towns we serve don’t require tree removal permits. The rule that catches people here is the conservation easement. The Columbia Land Conservancy holds easements on about 30,000 acres, and an easement can restrict cutting even on land you own outright. Read the full Columbia County guide →
We serve the towns south of the city of Hudson, including Germantown, Clermont, Copake, Livingston, Gallatin, Ancram, and Taghkanic.
What’s the Same in All Four Counties
Dead ash is the tree not to wait on. The emerald ash borer has killed most of the ash in every county we serve. A standing dead ash turns brittle fast, which makes it one of the few trees we’d rather take down with a crane or bucket truck than climb. Our guide to the invasive species killing Hudson Valley trees covers ash, hemlock, and the rest.
Rules near water apply everywhere. Wherever you live, trees near streams and mapped wetlands can fall under New York’s expanded wetland rules. See what actually requires a DEC permit. For town-by-town permit details, see our Hudson Valley tree law guide.
How to hire is the same too. Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers’ comp, sent to you directly from the insurer. Ask for references from your own town. And ask how the crew will control the wood on the way down. Our guide to finding the best tree removal company has the full checklist.
If you want to know how the counties compare on forest types and development, see our breakdown of Hudson Valley forests. For a town-by-town look at tree canopy, see where the trees are.
Get a Free Estimate Anywhere in Our Four Counties
Four generations of our family have worked on the Hudson Valley’s trees. Whatever county you’re in, we’ll give you a straight assessment of the tree and a free estimate. See our full tree removal services, learn more about Expert Tree Service, or call 845-331-6782 to request an estimate.
