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No Room for Luck How Bill Burley Built a Career on Safety and Strategy By Katherine Gustafson
When a storm-damaged red- wood threatened the heart of the University of California Berkeley Botanical Garden, there was only one way to get it out: by air. The 175-foot gi- ant loomed over a collection of rare and endangered trees, making traditional crane access impossible. That is where Bill Burley came in — hovering in a helicopter. As founder of Heli-Ax , North America’s only helicopter tree removal company, Bur- ley is redefining what it means to do the impossible in
in 2017 as general manager and lead trainer for Mow- bray’s Tree Service. Seven years later, with a reputation for safety lead- ership and a drive for in- novation, Burley launched Heli-Ax. Today, the company is pushing boundaries not only in aerial extraction, but in technology—integrating light detection and ranging (LIDAR) for hyper-accurate project planning and refined cost estimates. It is precision tree care at a scale few have attempted.
Bill Burley
tree care. From railways and backyards to densely packed urban corridors, his team tackles the kinds of jobs most crews would consider unreachable — both physically and logistically. But Burley’s journey to the sky began on solid ground. He was just 14 when he started dragging brush for a local tree crew on the East Coast, a teenager already enamored with the power and pace of arboriculture. Over the next three decades, he climbed, cut, and trained his way through the ranks, eventually landing in Southern California
“There’s no industry like this anywhere on the planet,” Burley shared. “This industry offers end- less opportunities for anyone who wants them. Anyone. There’s no industry like ours.” After more than 30 years in the field, Burley has stories to tell — and lessons to share. Here are the core lessons Burley carried with him into every job site — and every lift.
ArborTIMES™ Summer 2025 | 63
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