Big Fish & Little Fish Urges Homeowners to Schedule Pre-Season Tree Checks as Drought-Weakened Trees Raise Hurricane Risk in Baker County
Big Fish & Little Fish Tree & Lawn Service, LLC warns about how months of D3 drought have quietly cut root systems and loaded canopies with dead wood, and the 2026 hurricane season is six weeks out.
Big Fish & Little Fish Tree & Lawn Service says many Baker County yards are filled with trees that look fine from the road but are far from safe. The family-owned, faith-based crew has been climbing, cutting, and cleaning up after storms across Baker County since 2017. With nearly 80 percent of Florida in Extreme (D3) drought and the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season opening June 1, owner W.A. Fish is asking homeowners in Glen St. Mary, Macclenny, Sanderson, and the surrounding area to stop waiting for the first named storm and book a pre-season tree assessment now.
Drought does its damage underground where nobody sees it. Peer-reviewed research in the Arboriculture and Urban Forestry journal (https://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/40/2/53) points out that tree failure in storms has more to do with root systems than sail area, and that roots are injured or destroyed by flooding or drought. UF/IFAS Extension (https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/hillsboroughco/2025/08/07/friend-or-foe-are-trees-protecting-your-home-from-hurricanes-or-putting-it-in-peril-tree-journal-club-8/) lists prior health factors, drought stress included, as a driver of whether a tree stands or falls in a hurricane. The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station has documented how combined heat and drought can kill trees in large numbers across the Southeast. The practical translation: a pine that held fine through Irma in 2017 is not the same tree it was. The root plate has shrunk, the canopy is still catching wind, and the anchor has been cut.
The timing is tight. Colorado State University's April 2026 outlook calls for 13 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes (https://tropical.colostate.edu/forecasting.html), a slightly below-average season driven by a developing El Nino. CSU still puts the US East Coast landfall probability at 15 percent, meaning a "below average" season does not move Florida out of the zone. Big Fish's offers 24/7 emergency tree service in Baker County but emphasizes that the better conversation is the one that happens before the storm. That’s why it provides pre-season assessments, hazard tree removal, canopy thinning, and dead wood reduction. More information is available on the main site at https://www.bigfishandlittlefishtreeandlawnservice.com/.
There is a second hook Baker County homeowners cannot ignore. Eleven active wildfires are burning across Northeast Florida as of April 21, including a 2,500-acre blaze in Baker County, and State Forester Rick Dolan has said there are 8 to 10 more weeks of this before rainy-season relief. Dead canopy and overgrown brush right next to a house are not just a hurricane problem, they are a fire problem. Big Fish's fire abatement services in Northeast Florida pulls fuel back from structures and creates defensible space around homes, outbuildings, and fence lines.
"We're booking hazard assessments every day right now because folks are watching the fires on the news and the hurricane outlook in the paper and putting two and two together," said owner W.A. Fish. "We're a family business, we're faith-based, and we live here too. If a tree on your place worries you, call us and we'll come look at it. Better to take a limb off in April than pull a trunk off your kitchen in August."
About Big Fish & Little Fish Tree & Lawn Service
Big Fish & Little Fish Tree & Lawn Service, LLC is a family-owned, faith-based tree and lawn company founded in 2017 and based in Glen St. Mary, Florida. The crew serves Baker County and surrounding Northeast Florida communities with tree removal, trimming, emergency storm response, land clearing, forestry mulching, fire abatement, demolition, and debris removal.
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Media Contact
Big Fish & Little Fish Tree & Lawn Service, LLC
10751 Wassie Fish Rd, Glen St. Mary, FL 32040
Phone: 904-838-3508
Email: kcwfish@gmail.com
Website: https://www.bigfishandlittlefishtreeandlawnservice.com/
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