Gaining an Appreciation for Working with Government Agencies: Alyssa Collins

Gaining an Appreciation for Working with Government Agencies: Alyssa Collins

On a day-to-day basis, ACRT Pacific Vegetation Management Inspector Alyssa Collins compiles tree data identified by her fellow vegetation management inspectors. Oftentimes, this data is collected on agency lands, including the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to the Bureau of Reclamation, California State Parks, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

An important part of her job is serving as a facilitator between ACRT Pacific, the utility, tree crews, and these agencies – a task she’s grown fond of since stepping into the vegetation management inspector role just a little over a year ago. Collins also notes that she has an attention to detail and enjoys having the opportunity to put those skills to use by sorting data and keeping track of inventories.

“One of my favorite parts of this position has been molding all these people together to accomplish one thing – getting tree work done on agency land. It’s very rewarding and reminds me that our roles are just one small part of the bigger picture as we work together to improve vegetation management,” explains Collins.

Collins also shares, “I’ve been a person who loved being outside since I was a child,” and that she got into utility forestry in the first place because it’s 90-95% outdoors. She earned her International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist designation in 2020 and appreciates the opportunity she’s been given to know and learn about the trees surrounding her work.

While she may not spend as much time in the great outdoors with her new role, Collins values the time she spends on agency lands, “because some of these places are beautiful.”

Learn more about ACRT Pacific and our vegetation management services dedicated to California.

This article was originally published in the 2023 September/October UAA Newsline.