NEWARK — Call them the urban green preservation society.

The continent’s best tree climbers – arborists all – will scale the heights at Branch Brook Park Sunday, at the finals of the 2013 North American Tree Climbing Championship.

The event will showcase agility and guile of climbers from the United States and Canada, with the winners in the men’s and women’s categories moving on to compete at the International Tree Climbing Championships on Aug. 3 and 4 in Toronto.

Jackson’s Mark Chisholm, a past winner of the event and three-time world climbing champion, will not compete in the final event, but will take part in a head-to-head contest starting at 10:30 a.m.

The competition tests a climber’s skill in swiftly, strategically and safely scaling a tree while performing an arborist’s tasks.

Preliminary rounds begin at 7 a.m., with the finals, aka the Masters’ Challenge, scheduled for noon. The free event is part of the International Society of Arboriculture’s Climbing Series. It is being hosted this year by the New Jersey Arborists.

A complete schedule of events and information on championships is at http://www.itccisa.com/events/regional/natcc/natcc.aspx

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