To be committed to the skilled and passionate Care of Trees, providing the utmost in sound, knowledgeable arboricultural care and outstanding customer service. To be rigorously honest and extremely accountable. To consider the care of trees to be the cultivation of a critical resource, an enhancement of our community, and a work of art.
Our Purpose
To provide a level of professionalism, customer service, and arboricultural care rarely seen in this industry.
To leave places and people with whom we come into contact better than we found them. To leave people feeling great about their trees and the pleasantness of their yards.
To be known to provide outstanding customer service, to be highly communicative, and to over-deliver on our commitments. To be “merchants of WOW.”
Our Promise
Clients will know they have received a great value in hiring CANOPY and can’t wait to tell their neighbors about us. They will consider us professionals, stewards, and artists.
Our Team
Our Approach to our Employees
To be highly selective. To honor and appreciate. To listen. To provide opportunities to foster a sense of ownership. To help one another set and achieve goals. To provide a platform for personal and professional development. To have FUN! To be OK to take the time to do all of the above.
ISA Master Arborist Certification ID:#WE-9504B
Tree Risk Assessor Qualified (TRAQ)
As a Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA), forester, landscaper and restoration specialist, Chris has had a lifelong love of the natural environment and has been professionally caring for it for most of his adult life. He brings a depth of knowledge and embodies Canopy’s rigorous professional standards and commitment to the care of trees.
From the age of 5 Chris could be found joyfully walking through the forest, digging holes, and dragging brush across the backyard. He began his career planting trees on the Oregon coast and apprenticing as a forester. He then managed community forestry and riparian restoration projects for the South Coast and Lower Rogue Watershed Councils, planting tens of thousands of trees along salmon-bearing streams and managing forests for future generations. He was then introduced to urban forestry and tree climbing and has been looking up ever since.
Chris moved to the Rogue Valley with wife and daughters in 2011, founding Canopy in 2013. He serves on the boards of the Ashland Tree Commission, the nonprofit, OUR Community Forestry, and is a recipient of the Oregon Dept of Forestry’s Urban and Community Forestry Award.
When not immersed in running the business, you might find Chris hiking the forest with his family, taking a habitual morning swim with the Rogue Valley Masters swim group, or perched fireside with a good book.
ISA Certification ID: #PN-9274A
Cole Zollinger was raised in Portland, Oregon, where music was his passion. From a young age, he learned to play piano, drums, bass, and guitar. All of which he plays to this day, recording music in his spare time, as a solo musician. In addition to music, Cole enjoys tending to his 30+ house plants, playing video games, and working on his ’89 Honda CRX. Cole moved to Ashland to attend Southern Oregon University, where he graduated with a degree in Communications, a minor in Philosophy, and holds a certificate in Conflict Resolution.
In the summer of 2017, after graduating college, Cole started work with CANOPY. What started out as just a summer job, soon turned into a career, as Cole quickly developed the skills and passion for arboriculture. Since then, he has mastered the fine art of pruning, and is one of the main tree climbers on the CANOPY team. When asked what his favorite part of the jobs was, Cole was quick to say the people. Pruning and climbing followed close behind, then with a smile he adds, “It also keeps me fit, so I can eat all the Swedish Fish I want.”
Ask Cole what his favorite tree is, and he’ll tell you, the Deodar Cedar.
ISA Certification ID: #PN-9018A
Some people were born to do this. To observe a tree an know its needs. To prune a tree artfully or remove one gracefully. To combine academic study with experience and intuition when advising on or engaging in the care of trees. Josh is one of these.
Since joining Canopy in 2018 he has entered (and placed) in regional tree climbing competitions, undertaken focused study of arboriculture and otherwise applied his highly capable and multifaceted skill set to the art and science of tree care.
Respected and enjoyed by clients and crew alike as a natural leader, a conscientious arborist and just a darned likable person, Josh was a perfect fit for Canopy and is responsible for many of our day-to-day operations.
Josh’s love of tree climbing can be traced back to his early childhood, swinging from the treetops in the tropical forests of his hometown in rural Hana, Hawaii, in search of fruit and fun. Josh migrated to the mainland to attend SOU, taking advantage of multiple academic scholarships. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in fine arts, Josh went to work selling his pottery creations at our local farmer’s markets, being a self-taught and accomplished craftsman, and working for several years in landscape installation and maintenance. Josh is an avid outdoors-man, spending much of his free time hiking, fishing, and wild mushroom hunting.
We are so very grateful Josh has found a home with Canopy and has chosen to spend his time with us!
ISA Certification ID: #PN-8867A
Either on the soccer field or in the trees, Sam is a rockstar. A veteran in the Rogue Valley tree business, Sam was mentored early on by Upper-Limb-It and worked alongside those that have tended to the valley’s trees for years. His decade of experience shows when he gets out to the farthest tips of the biggest trees and tackles some of the most challenging jobs.
Sam was originally born in Mexico but grew up in Santa Barbara. After high school, Sam worked landscaping and worked as a security guard patrolling his route every night. It wasn’t until he visited his brother in Ashland in 2008 that he discovered tree work. At first it was a summer gig, but then the thought of working up in the trees in new beautiful places everyday inspired him to move to Oregon.
Now he has a happy family with his wife and three daughters in Ashland. On his days off you’ll find him playing pick-up games of soccer, whittling on wood from job sites, or just getting quality family time
Ashton Winkelmann is a recent graduate from Southern Oregon University, where she majored in Business Administration with a focus in marketing. Originally from Denver,Colorado, she was able to foster her love for the outdoors with camping trips with her father and younger sister. Ashton is happy to call Southern Oregon her new home because it allows her to continue her love for the outdoors.
When the weather is nice you can find her and her fiance and their dogs, Colt and Shea, outdoors kayaking, Camping and Hiking. When shes not in nature Ashton is drawing and painting.
Ashton calls this evergreen state her home, but her favorite tree is an Aspen. She loved seeing the colors change on the Colorado mountains in the the fall.
As pleasant as the day is long, Galen joined the Canopy team in July of 2021 and seamlessly found his way into our hearts. Conscientious, polite and extremely hard working, he is one of our standard bearers and can be counted on for pretty much everything.
Galen comes to us from the great north woods of Victory, Vermont (pop 70) where he enjoyed, what else (?), tapping sugar maple trees on his family’s property to make maple syrup. He is also fond of our local white and black oak trees for their climb-ability and magnificent aesthetics.
His favorite part of tree work is pruning and he has become expert at it, from swinging from the tree tops down to the minute detail of making a Japanese maple look just right. He takes great pride in improving the look, feel and health of the trees he is working on.
When asked what he loved about working at Canopy, he replied:
“There is a lot to love about working at Canopy. The people first and foremost, with Chris at the helm and a group of coworkers that have passion and care for the job everyday. Everyone is patient, kind, and looking to push their fellow arborists to succeed and grow. The work is satisfying, full of variety, and I love being outdoors connected to the trees that we work with.”
