Chuck Weber helped write Huntsville's 1981 tree ordinance and became its first city arborist. The Tree Commission gave him its Tree Hero Award on Tuesday.

The man who helped write Huntsville’s tree rules more than 40 years ago has been honored for it. The Huntsville Tree Commission gave Charles “Chuck” Weber its Tree Hero Award on Tuesday.

Weber was the city’s first city arborist. Mayor Tommy Battle also proclaimed Tuesday, Oct. 13, “Charles ‘Chuck’ Weber Day” and gave him a framed proclamation, the city said in its announcement of the award.

“Chuck’s contributions can be seen throughout Huntsville in the trees that shade our neighborhoods, line our roadways and enhance our public spaces,” Battle said.

How Huntsville got its tree rules

Weber’s best-known work began in the late 1970s. John H. Allen, a member of the Huntsville Beautification Board, recruited him to help draft a tree ordinance for the city, the city said.

Weber studied ordinances from across the country and shaped one for Huntsville. The city lists the milestones:

Year What happened
Late 1970s Weber recruited to help draft a city tree ordinance
August 1981 Huntsville’s Tree Management Ordinance passes
Later additions Weber writes the sections that create the Tree Commission and the city arborist job
March 1985 Weber becomes Huntsville’s first city arborist
2004 He helps revise the ordinance

The 2004 revision set standards for commercial tree care, parking lot landscaping and tree work near utility lines.

Weber worked 22 years for the city’s Public Services Department, later called Landscape Management. He also spent seven years as the Madison County and regional urban forester for the Alabama Forestry Commission.

What else he did

Among the work the city credits to Weber:

  • the Green Space Planting Agreement program
  • the city’s urban tree inventory
  • moving a 100-year-old dogwood to the Huntsville Botanical Garden
  • the “Walking Tour of Huntsville Trees” brochure, which he co-wrote
  • a Christmas tree mulching program
  • city greenhouses that grew trees for planting around Huntsville
  • replacing declining elms on Whitesburg Drive with better-suited trees
  • saving the historic Memorial red cedars when road work threatened them

He also shared Huntsville’s ordinance with Nashville, Tennessee, and with Montgomery and Birmingham, the city said.

“Chuck understood that trees are an investment in a community’s future,” City Arborist Marc Byers said.

Weber is the award’s second recipient. The first was Allen, the board member who recruited him.

What it means for you

The ordinance Weber helped write still sets the rules for trees on city property and for landscaping on commercial sites. The city’s urban forestry and horticulture page explains the program and the Tree Commission.

Looking for a shady walk? Our parks and trails guide lists Huntsville’s parks and greenways.