Trees Expert Witnesses: 7

Gregory Applegate, ASCA, ASLA, is an independent consulting Arborist, CEO of Arborgate Consulting, Inc. He has been in the horticulture industry since 1963, providing professional arboricultural consulting since 1984 within both private and public sectors. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Applegate provides forensic consulting and testimony for all Arboriculture and Horticulture issues. His services include on-site inspection, thorough reporting, deposition, mediation, arbitration, and trial testimony as needed. He has qualified to testify in courts from San Diego to San Jose. 

Areas of Expertise:

Notable Projects -  Disneyland, Disneyland Hotel, DisneySeas-Tokyo, Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom, the New Tomorrowland, Disney’s California Adventure, Disney Hong Kong project, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Dreamworks, Newport Coast, Crystal Court, Newport Fashion Island Palms, Bixby Ranch Country Club, Playa Vista, MTA Purple and Expo Lines, MWD-California Lakes, Loyola-Marymount campus, Cal Tech, Cal State Long Beach, Pierce College, UCI, USC, UCLA, and the State of California review of the Landscape Architecture License exam (re: plant materials).

View Arborgate Consulting Inc.'s Business Consultant Profile.

David D. Hunter is a Registered Consulting Arborist with ASCA, USFS Trained Tree Risk Assessor, ISA Certified Arborist. ISA Tree Risk Assessor Qualified, SAF Certified Urban and Community Forester, Professional Plan Appraiser and Professional Forester. Providing both Expert Witness and Consulting Services. David D. Hunter has been called upon to testify in court and has helped his clients reach resolution prior to trial. His services include Expert Witness in Arboriculture and Forestry, professional plant appraisals of landscapes, trees and timber trespass, Tree Forensics as to why a tree or tree part failed causing injury or death, tree health and hazard/ risk assessments, and insurance claims relating to damage to tree, or people/property damaged by trees. David D. Hunter has over 40 years of experience from working in forestry, wildland fire and the field of arboriculture. David D. Hunter has been a consultant and expert witness in these fields for over 25 years. David D. Hunter services the western United States but is available nationwide.

Areas of Expertise:

• Arboricultural and Timber Trespass Issues
• Tree Forensics
• Tree Inventories
• Tree Surveys and Tree Protection Plans
• Tree Preservation Plans and Construction Sequences
• Hazard Tree Evaluations and Reports
• Appraisal of Loss Reports regarding Landscape Value Loss
• Arborist Reports

Training & Certifications:

• Certified as an Arborist PN-1068A, by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) - 1997-Present
• Graduate American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA), Arboriculture Consulting Academy
• Tree Failure Training Conference, Certified as Evaluator Portland, OR
• Registered Consulting Arborist membership in ASCA, RCA #408 (2003)
• US Forest Service Hazard Tree Risk Assessor Trained since 1978
• Certified Tree Risk Assessor (CTRA) by PNW ISA # PN-0150 (2006) ISA Tree Risk Assessor Qualified 

View David Hunter's Consulting Profile.

• Storm hardening electric transmission and distribution systems to quantitatively manage tree-caused service interruptions
• Advise and develop protocols for assessments of power line tree exposure and mitigation
• Advise on least cost vegetation management by synchronizing economics and ecology
• Advise on impacts of vegetation management program alternatives, modifications
• Provide context for vegetation management, greenhouse gas mitigation measures in a competitive energy market
• Facilitate for management, staff, contractors and stake holders an actionable understanding of ecological principles and their impacts on vegetation management needs and costs
• Provide project management; expert review of programs and proposals
• Develop and advise on quantification, monitoring and verification of biotic greenhouse gas mitigation measures

John A. Harris, is Principal of Landscape Economics, LLC, President of Earth Advisors, Inc., and a LANDSCAPE ECONOMIST who has worked in the Arboriculture, Forestry, landscape, and horticultural fields for over 40 years. Mr. Harris has provided reputable consulting, education, and project management services for projects across the United States and internationally, in both temperate and tropical ecosystems.

Areas of Expertise include:

• Landscape and Tree Risk Assessments
  • Landscape, Tree, Urban Forest, Nursery Plant Value Appraisals
  • Landscape, Tree, Urban Forest, Nursery Plant Damage Appraisals
  • Damage Assessments, Claims, and Recovery Consulting
• Arboriculture Industry Standards and Standard Practices
• Landscape, Arboriculture, Forestry, Environmental Project Management
• Utility Line Clearance Industry Standards and Standard Practices, Electrocution
• Landscape Industry Standards and Standard Practices- Design, installation, maintenance
• Personal Injury and Wrongful Death involving tree or landscape issues
• Municipal Tree Inventory and Management Plans
• Duty of Care and Negligence in Tree and Landscape Maintenance
• Forestry and Forest Resources Management
• Grounds Maintenance Practices
• Arboriculture and Arborist Practices

Mr. Bornsworth is the owner and principal of Peninsula Environmental Group, Inc., an interdisciplinary consulting firm and general contractor assisting public and private sectors across the United States. John is an experienced urban & community forester, Board Certified Master Arborist, Registered Consulting Arborist, and ecologist with twenty years of diverse natural resource experience. John is a current chair member and former vice-chairperson of the Washington State Department of Natural Resource’s Washington Community Forestry Council, representing commercial arboriculture.

John specializes in tree and vegetation expert consulting and urban forest planning. John is an experienced tree forensics expert, tree and vegetation expert witness, and tree and landscape appraiser. John's planning and policy experience includes urban forest and natural resource management, planning, policy review and strategy, and Washington state critical area codes

Litigation Support 

• Experienced as expert witness for both plaintiff and defendant.
• Routinely provide expert opinion and testimony on arboricultural, horticulture and vegetation management to areas of legal practice that include land use, real estate, trespass, negligence, and personal injury. 
• Retained as expert witness on over eighty projects and have provided testimony on sixteen of those cases
• As of Jan 13, 2021, there are 14 ASCA Registered Consulting Arborists and 30 ISA Board Certified Master Arborists in Washington out of 417 ISA Certified Arborists. Only 7 individuals hold both the RCA and BCMA credentials together. Nationwide roughly 300 professionals hold both credentials

Credentials 

• ISA Board Certified Master Arborist # PN-7955BM (2018)
• Registered Consulting Arborist #724 (2019)
• ISA Certified Municipal Specialist (2015)
• Tree Risk Assessment Qualified since (2014)
• Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead

https://peninsulaenvironmental.com/staff/john-bornsworth/

View John Bornsworth's Consulting Profile.

John Booth, the Principal Consultant and Practice Director of Sylvanus Arboricultural Consultants Ltd., is a Chartered Aboricuturalist and Chartered Environmentalist and one of the UK’s most widely qualified Arboricultural Consultants. He has over 25 years experience in both the private and public sectors and has written numerous articles and papers for respected publications including the International Journal of Urban Forestry for which he is also a referee.

Mr. Booth and Sylvanus Ltd. are regularly instructed by both developers and Local Planning Authorities (LPA’s) who are keen to ensure a satisfactory outcome from the planning process, (i.e. an appropriate balance between tree retention and realizing a site's development potential). All such work is carried out in accordance with the guiding principles of British Standard 5837 ‘Trees in Relation to Construction – Recommendations.’ 

Mr. Booth is a Bond Solon/Cardiff University trained Expert Witness and a member of the Expert Witness Institute. He has many years of experience in both courtroom and planning enquiries. Services Include:

• Tree Inspection & Survey - Single Tree, Large Population, Mortgage Lending, Safety and Subsidence Issues
• Tree Preservation Orders (TPO's) and Conservation Areas - Detailed Specifications for Tree Work Applications for Trees with Statutory Protection
• Trees and Development - Tree Surveys for Submission with Planning Applications, Tree Constraints Plans (TCP’s), Tree Protection Plans (TPP’s), Arboricultural Impact Assessments (AIA), Arboricultural Method Statements (AMS)

Matthew T. Latham is a Board-Certified Master Arborist (BCMA #TX-3737B) and Registered Consulting Arborist (RCA #859) with over two decades of experience. He specializes in providing detailed arborist reports, tree risk assessments, and appraisals for legal cases, property disputes, and insurance claims.

From diagnosing tree health to creating tree protection ordinances, he delivers practical, evidence-based solutions tailored to homeowners, municipalities, and legal professionals.