RTS Outreach is a Portland tree-services company founded in 2010 by ISA-certified arborist Daniel Reyes. We climb, we prune, we grind, we restore — and four times a year our community outreach program offers free tree-health inspections to senior and low-income neighborhoods across Multnomah County. Licensed, bonded, insured, and proud of every cut we make.
Our Services
Every job is led by a working climber, never a desk estimator. We bring our own gear, clean every leaf when we leave, and quote in writing before any saw fires up. Below: the six services that cover roughly 95% of what Portland-area homeowners and property managers need.
Structural and aesthetic pruning that preserves the natural form of your tree while removing risk. We follow ANSI A300 standards on every cut — no topping, no flush cuts, no wounding the cambium.
Full removals handled with rigging, sectional take-downs, and crane assist when needed. We've removed 80-foot Doug firs from Sellwood backyards without touching a single fence post — that's the standard.
Eight-inch-deep grind on every stump as standard, deeper available. We remove or spread the chips per your preference, rake the area, and leave your lawn ready for replanting or sod.
24/7 dispatch for fallen trees, hung-up limbs, and structure-strike damage. Average on-site arrival within 90 minutes inside the Portland metro core during active storm windows. We work with most Oregon homeowner-insurance adjusters.
Sub-surface liquid fertilization injected at the drip line to feed mature trees that compacted urban soil cannot otherwise nourish. Custom-blended N-P-K with mycorrhizae for Portland's clay-heavy soils.
Structural support hardware for high-value trees with co-dominant stems, splits, or weak unions. We use only EHS-rated steel cable and through-bolted brace rods with stainless hardware. Inspected annually thereafter.
Our Story
RTS Outreach was founded in 2010 by Daniel Reyes after a decade of ground crew work for a national tree-removal franchise. He kept seeing the same problem: corporate climbers were quoting $4,800 to remove a Doug fir that just needed a $400 pruning, and elderly homeowners were getting bullied into removals they didn't actually need. So he started his own shop with two rules: every recommendation gets a written second-opinion option, and every quarter we do a free-inspection day in a neighborhood where the median household income is under 80% of Portland's.
Today RTS Outreach is a 9-person team — five climbers, two ground crew, one office manager, and Daniel — covering Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Sellwood, Gresham, and the eastern suburbs. We're licensed by the Oregon Landscape Contractors Board (OR-LBR-44782), bonded for $250k, and carry $2M general liability plus full workers' comp on every job site.
RTS stands for Real Tree Services — the working name of our LLC. Outreach refers to our community outreach program: four free-inspection events each year in low-income and senior neighborhoods across the Portland metro. We are a for-profit, licensed Oregon tree-care company — we're tree people who think a chunk of every commercial job should pay for a few free ones in our community.
How It Works
No mystery, no day-of upcharge, no "we'll just bill you what feels right." Here's the exact sequence every RTS Outreach job follows, whether it's one limb or a multi-tree removal.
An ISA-certified arborist visits the property, looks at every tree in scope, asks about your goals, and notes any access constraints. Visit takes 20–40 minutes. No charge, no pressure.
You get an itemized written quote within 48 hours, valid for 30 days. Each line item is described in plain English with photos of the work area. If a service isn't actually necessary, we'll say so.
Crew arrives in marked trucks with full safety setup, drop-zone tarps if needed, and pre-cut rigging. We text 30 minutes before arrival and brief you on the plan before the first saw fires.
Before we leave, the lead climber walks the site with you. Chips removed or spread per your preference, sawdust blown from hard surfaces, and a 1-year follow-up date scheduled if applicable.
Community Outreach Program
Mature trees in older Portland neighborhoods often outlive the original owner — and the next homeowner inherits a Doug fir, big-leaf maple, or red oak they don't know how to evaluate. We started the RTS Outreach program in 2014 to help with exactly that.
Four times a year, our climbers and certified arborists spend a Saturday in a designated census tract performing free tree-health inspections, hazard-limb assessments, and informal Q&A for every household that signs up. There's no obligation to hire us afterward. About 30% of households need nothing at all. Roughly 12% have a genuinely urgent issue (typically a hung limb or co-dominant split) that we'll either fix on the spot or refer to the city if it involves a right-of-way tree.
SE 92nd & Foster · 9am–3pm · 35 households on the list so far · still accepting signups
NE 60th & Killingsworth · 8am–2pm · neighborhood association partnership · senior-focused
SE 72nd & Flavel · 9am–3pm · paired with City of Portland Urban Forestry handouts
SW 45th & Vermont · 9am–2pm · pre-storm-season hazard-limb focus
What Portland Homeowners Say
Each of these is verifiable on Google and BBB. Names, neighborhoods, and tree species kept exactly as written — only the contact details redacted. We pick honest reviews over polished marketing testimonials every time.
"Daniel and his crew took down an 80-foot Douglas fir that was leaning over my neighbor's garage in Sellwood. They sectionally rigged the entire trunk down without dropping a single piece on the fence line. I expected a war zone afterward — instead the yard looked like nothing had happened except the tree was gone. Quote was 22% under the next-cheapest bid I got. Real Tree Services delivered everything they promised and a stump grind I didn't even ask for."
"Big-leaf maple branch came through my carport during the January ice storm at about 10pm. RTS Outreach answered the emergency line on the second ring, had a two-person crew at the house in 78 minutes, and had the limb cut and the carport tarped before midnight. They came back the next morning to do the proper structural pruning. Insurance loved their documentation — paid the whole claim without back-and-forth. Cannot recommend more strongly."
"I have nine fruit trees — apple, pear, two figs, a couple plums — that I inherited when we bought the house in Lake Oswego. Daniel walked the orchard with me, told me which ones were genuinely worth keeping and which were beyond rehab, and quoted a structured annual pruning plan. Three years in, my apple yield is roughly four times what it was. I trust this team with anything tall, leafy, and complicated."
Recent Work
Pruning, removals, fertilization, storm response — these are real Portland-metro jobs photographed by our crew leads. Property addresses are not shown for privacy reasons.
Frequently Asked
From insurance questions to permit pulls to "do I really need a $3,000 removal," the most common questions we field at the first phone call. If yours isn't here, just call (503) 555-0166 or email trees@rtsoutreach.org.
Request Free QuoteYes — Portland's Title 11 tree code requires a permit for nearly any removal of a tree 12″ DBH or larger on private property. We pull the permit on your behalf as part of any removal job, including the tree-replacement-fee disclosure. The permit fee is typically $50–$300 depending on tree size and is itemized on your quote.
We don't bill carriers directly, but we provide everything an Oregon homeowner-insurance adjuster typically asks for: arrival-time-stamped photos, written hazard description, ANSI-standard-referenced work scope, before/after documentation, and a separate emergency-mitigation invoice you can submit. Most claims process without back-and-forth.
Inside the Portland metro core (Sellwood, Cully, Hayhurst, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Gresham), we average 75–120 minutes on-site arrival during active storm windows. Our 24/7 emergency line at (503) 555-0166 connects directly to the on-call lead climber — no answering service, no callback delay.
Topping — flat-cutting the upper crown — is the single most damaging thing you can do to a mature tree. It triggers a ring of weak water sprouts that snap easily, exposes large wounds to decay, and destroys the tree's structure permanently. RTS Outreach does not top trees. Period. We do crown reduction, which is selective tip-pruning to specific live branches following ANSI A300, and is the legitimate alternative.
Outreach inspection slots are reserved for residents inside the announced census tract for that quarter's event. If you're inside the tract, email outreach@rtsoutreach.org with your address and we'll add you to the schedule. If you're outside the tract, the standard free on-site quote visit is available to anyone in the Portland metro.
Yes. Oregon Landscape Contractors Board license OR-LBR-44782, $250,000 surety bond, $2,000,000 general liability, full Oregon workers' compensation, and ISA Certification PN-8842A for our lead arborist. We're happy to provide a current Certificate of Insurance naming you or your HOA as additional insured for any job.
Pruning of a single mature tree typically runs $380–$1,200 depending on size and access. Removals run $600 (small ornamental) to $4,800 (mature Doug fir with crane assist). Stump grinding starts at $145 per stump up to 24″. Deep-root fertilization is $225 per tree, discounted in multi-tree packages. All quotes are written and itemized — no surprise day-of charges.
Free Quote
Every quote is delivered by a working ISA-certified arborist after an on-site visit — never an over-the-phone guess and never a desk-jockey overestimate. The visit is free. The written quote is good for 30 days. There's no obligation to book.
Required fields marked with *. We'll be in touch within one business day.
Whether it's a single overhanging limb or a full multi-tree project, we'll show up on time, quote in writing, and leave the property cleaner than we found it. That's the RTS Outreach standard.
RTS Outreach LLC ("RTS Outreach", "we", "our", "us") is a tree-care services company registered in Oregon, United States, headquartered at 5821 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97206. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you use rtsoutreach.org, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have under GDPR (for EU/EEA visitors) and CCPA (for California residents).
When you use our website or request a quote, we may collect:
We use the information you give us only to:
We do not sell your data, trade it, or share it with third-party marketers. Ever.
rtsoutreach.org uses two categories of cookies:
We share information only with the limited service providers required to run our business:
Each provider is contractually bound to use your data only for the purpose we engage them for.
If you are located in the European Union or European Economic Area, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@rtsoutreach.org. We respond within 30 days.
California residents have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:
California residents can submit requests to privacy@rtsoutreach.org.
We retain quote-request data for 12 months from the date of the request unless you become a customer, in which case we retain it for the duration of the customer relationship plus 4 years (per Oregon Landscape Contractors Board record-keeping rules). After that, we delete or anonymize the data.
We use industry-standard security measures including TLS encryption for data in transit, encrypted storage at rest, role-based access control for employees, and regular security audits of our hosting provider. No internet transmission is 100% secure, but we treat your data as if it were our own.
rtsoutreach.org is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a minor has submitted personal information through our forms, contact us and we will delete it.
We may update this Privacy Policy as our business or applicable law changes. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the site for at least 30 days.
Privacy questions or requests: privacy@rtsoutreach.org
General contact: trees@rtsoutreach.org
Mailing address: RTS Outreach LLC, 5821 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97206, USA
Phone: (503) 555-0166
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the website rtsoutreach.org and any tree-care services performed by RTS Outreach LLC ("RTS Outreach", "we", "our", "us"). By browsing the site, requesting a quote, or hiring us for work, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use our services.
RTS Outreach is a licensed Oregon Landscape Contractors Board (OR-LBR-44782) tree-care company offering:
We do not perform: utility-line tree work (deferred to PGE/PacifiCorp contractors), stump removal by excavation, or tree planting. We reserve the right to decline any job that we determine is unsafe or outside our equipment scope.
All quotes are provided in writing within 48 hours of the on-site visit and are valid for 30 days. A quote is only binding once you accept it in writing (signed, returned, or via email confirmation). Verbal agreements are not contracts. Day-of changes (additional limbs, expanded scope, access changes) may be billed as a supplement only with your written consent.
Pricing is itemized per-tree or per-task. Standard payment terms: 50% deposit on jobs over $2,000, balance due upon completion. Smaller jobs are payable in full upon completion. Accepted methods: check, credit card, ACH. A 3% processing fee applies to credit-card payments. Late balances incur 1.5% monthly interest.
Where Portland Title 11 (or equivalent jurisdictional code) requires a tree-removal permit, RTS Outreach will pull the permit on your behalf as part of the job. Permit fees are passed through to you at cost and itemized on the quote. You represent that the trees in scope are on property you own or for which you have written authority to commission tree work.
RTS Outreach carries $2,000,000 in general liability insurance, $250,000 surety bond, and full Oregon workers' compensation coverage. A current Certificate of Insurance is provided on request. Despite our care, tree work is inherently destructive — chips, sawdust, and minor scuffs to lawns are part of the work. We are responsible for damage caused by negligence (broken irrigation lines, impacted fences, etc.) up to the limits of our policy.
To the maximum extent permitted by Oregon law, our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of services is limited to the amount paid by the customer for the specific job giving rise to the claim. We are not liable for consequential, indirect, or incidental damages.
You may cancel scheduled work up to 48 hours before the crew arrival window with no fee. Cancellations within 48 hours may incur a $150 mobilization fee. Weather-related cancellations initiated by RTS Outreach incur no fee — we'll reschedule at the next available slot. Emergency storm response is dispatch-as-available with no cancellation window.
All content on rtsoutreach.org — text, graphics, logos, photographs (where owned), and the RTS Outreach name — is the property of RTS Outreach LLC and is protected by United States copyright and trademark law. You may share links to the site freely; you may not republish, scrape, or republish substantial portions without prior written permission.
By default, our crew may photograph completed jobs from public-facing angles for portfolio use. We do not publish street addresses with photos. If you prefer that no photos of your property be used, simply tell the lead climber at the start of the job and we will note it on the work order.
We may revise these Terms from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the current version. Continued use of the site or services after a revision constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. Material changes will be flagged on the site for at least 30 days.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any dispute arising from these Terms or our services shall be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Multnomah County, Oregon. Both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of such courts. Before filing suit, both parties agree to attempt good-faith mediation through the Oregon Mediation Association for at least 30 days.
If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
Questions about these Terms: legal@rtsoutreach.org
General contact: trees@rtsoutreach.org
Mailing address: RTS Outreach LLC, 5821 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97206, USA
Phone: (503) 555-0166