Lake Oswego resident Terrence Flanagan is the 2023 recipient of Oregon Community Trees’ (OCT) highest annual honor – its President’s Award. OCT is recognizing Flanagan for his more than four decades of exceptional contributions and achievements in urban and community forestry in Oregon and the world
In selecting Flanagan for the Award, OCT President Mike Oxendine emphasized his pivotal role, saying, “I feel like I run into Terry at every arboriculture or urban forestry event I attend, and he is always helping, volunteering, or sponsoring the event. Terry is a crucial leader in Oregon’s urban forestry and arboriculture fields, and we are lucky to have his support and passion. His dedication is leaving an enduring impact on the profession.”
Flanagan has been an ISA-certified arborist since 1981. His other credentials include:
- Board Certified Master Arborist
- Qualified Tree Risk Assessor
- Certified Municipal Specialist
- Certified Tree Worker
- Certified Aerial Lift Specialist
- ISA Qualified Trainer
Flanagan worked for many years with Beaverton-based General Tree Service before he left.
In 2000 to found his own tree care consultancy, Teragan and Associates, Inc. His vision was to offer clients tree management guided by leading-edge research.
As his company’s Principal Consultant, Flanagan has guided the appropriate management of trees, shrubs and other horticultural plants on commercial, municipal, and residential properties. Recently, he worked with Oswego Lake Country Club to improve fairways while minimizing tree removal on this nearly 100-year-old golf course.
Flanagan has served the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) in several capacities. He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2000 and has served as a member of the Certification Board of Directors since 2005. He has been Chair to the Tree Risk Qualification Panel of Experts and was instrumental in the launch of the ISA’s Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) that is now the global standard for evaluating risk associated with trees.
Flanagan was the Pacific Northwest Regional Education Coordinator for arborist professional development and served for many years on the Board and other positions for the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain ISA chapters.
He chaired ISA’s International Conference when it was held in Portland in 2012. From 2013 to 2014, he was elected ISA President, spending a great deal of time traveling and serving tree professionals and communities as far afield as China and New Zealand.
For 10 years Flanagan was also an instructor in the Horticulture program at Clackamas Community College, where he taught Arboriculture (a program he developed at the college), as well as Pruning, Tree Climbing, Landscape Installation and Chainsaw Use and Maintenance.
Tom Feitl works with Flanagan. Reflecting on his impact, Feitl said, “Terry has been an incredible mentor and inspiration to those who have had the opportunity to learn from him.”
Peter van Oss, Senior Associate at Teragan & Associates Inc., commended Flanagan’s unwavering commitment, stating, “Terry has dedicated his life to the arboricultural industry. Many of us have had the pleasure and privilege to gain knowledge and experience from him. He is a great mentor in the tree industry, an outstanding, and incredibly valuable asset worldwide.”
