Certified Arborist in Oakland County, MI
Updated September 2026 · Written by Rob Burgund, ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A
- ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A
- Working in Oakland County since 2013
- Licensed and insured
- 5.0 stars from 15 Google reviews
Written by Rob Burgund
ISA Certified Arborist · MI-4857A
Rob owns Tree Pros, LLC in Bloomfield Township and does every assessment and estimate himself. He has been doing tree work in Oakland County since 2013. More about Rob and Tree Pros.
What “ISA Certified Arborist” actually means
The International Society of Arboriculture is the professional body that administers the credential. To earn it, a candidate has to pass a written exam covering tree biology, diagnosis, pruning standards, risk assessment and safety, and document a minimum amount of hands-on tree care experience beforehand. Keeping the credential active requires ongoing continuing education, not a one-time test. None of that is required by Michigan law to legally cut down a tree or run a tree service business here, which is exactly why the credential matters: it is the one part of hiring a tree company that is independently verifiable rather than taken on the salesperson’s word.
How to verify a certification yourself
Every ISA Certified Arborist has a certification number in the format of two letters and four digits, Robert’s is MI-4857A. You can look up any arborist by name or number directly through ISA’s own public directory, treesaregood.org’s Find an Arborist verification search, which will confirm whether the certification is current. Do this before you sign anything, especially for larger jobs or anything involving a risk assessment, cabling or a mature tree near a structure. If a company cannot give you a certification number to check, or the number does not come back current, that tells you something before the first cut is ever made.
What an ISA Certified Arborist does on a visit that a removal crew does not
- A structural assessment first. Before recommending removal, an assessment looks at the root flare, trunk, major unions and canopy for the specific defects that make a tree a genuine hazard, decay, cracks, girdling roots, poor branch attachment, rather than assuming the tree needs to come down because it is large or old.
- A pruning prescription, not a generic trim. Recommending crown reduction over topping, timing oak work outside the oak wilt window, and knowing which limbs to remove and which to leave are all judgment calls a certification is meant to train and test for.
- An honest removal-versus-save decision. A tree that looks like a removal from the curb sometimes only needs a cable, a root flare excavation, or one season of monitoring. The incentive for a company selling only removals runs the other way.
- Documentation that holds up. A written risk assessment or a documented pruning rationale is useful for an insurer, a real estate closing, or a neighbor dispute in a way that a verbal opinion is not.
When you actually need a certified arborist, versus just a removal crew
A dead tree that is obviously finished, already down, or clearly needs to come out with nothing ambiguous about it does not require a certified arborist’s judgment call, it requires a competent, insured crew and a fair price, and we estimate those the same way. Where certification earns its keep is anywhere the answer is not obvious: a large tree near a house that might be salvageable, a lean that appeared after a storm, a tree an insurer or a home inspector has flagged, a dispute with a neighbor over a shared or overhanging tree, or any job where cabling, bracing or root flare excavation might avoid a removal altogether. Our tree risk assessment guide covers specific situations where paying for that judgment is worth it, and when it is not.
What Rob does, specifically
Robert Burgund gives every estimate and works every job himself, there is no separate sales estimator and crew. On a typical visit he walks the property, assesses the tree or trees in question, and gives a written recommendation and price on the spot, whether that is removal, pruning, cabling, root flare excavation, or leaving the tree alone. For a paid risk assessment, that becomes a written report with photographs and a ranked set of options. Tree Pros, LLC is fully licensed and insured, and every estimate is free.
More about Rob and Tree Pros →Pruning, cabling and tree health care →When a risk assessment makes sense →
Service area
We work throughout Oakland County, Michigan, based in Bloomfield Township and serving Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Troy, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Farmington Hills, Novi, Clarkston, Waterford, Pontiac, Milford, Walled Lake and Commerce Township, among other communities. See the full service area and ZIP codes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Michigan required to license tree service companies or arborists?
No. Michigan does not license the trade of arboriculture or require a state license to run a tree service business, which is why the credential a company holds, or does not hold, is worth checking directly rather than assumed. Some cities do require tree contractors to register locally before working within city limits; that is a separate, municipal requirement and does not substitute for arborist certification.
What is the difference between an arborist and a certified arborist?
Anyone can call themselves an arborist in Michigan. An ISA Certified Arborist has passed a specific exam covering tree biology, diagnosis, pruning standards and safety, documented hands-on experience, and maintains the credential with continuing education. The certification number, Robert’s is MI-4857A, is checkable in ISA’s public directory, which is the actual difference: one claim is verifiable and one is not.
Does hiring a certified arborist cost more than a regular tree service?
Not necessarily. Pricing depends on the job, the tree and access, not on whether the company holds a credential. What certification buys you is a better chance the recommendation itself is correct, removal only when removal is actually warranted, proper pruning cuts instead of topping, which can save money over the life of the tree even when the estimated price for a single job is similar.
Can a certified arborist testify or provide documentation for an insurance claim?
A written, dated risk assessment or removal rationale from a certified arborist is the kind of documentation insurers and, if it comes to it, courts give weight to, because it reflects a documented professional standard rather than an undocumented opinion. It is not a guarantee of a claim outcome, but it is the strongest paper trail available before a dispute happens, not after.
How do I check if an arborist’s certification is still active?
Search their name or certification number directly on ISA’s Find an Arborist verification page. It shows whether the certification is current, since it lapses without continuing education, so a number that was once real is not the same as one that is active today.
Want an ISA Certified Arborist’s opinion on a tree?
Rob does every assessment and estimate himself, in person, free. Certification number MI-4857A, checkable any time.