arborjockey

If an arborist does not need to climb how do you acquire a twig/branch sample when the trees' 1st scaffolding branch is 90ft (30meters) off the ground? I think somone has confused his normiclature in the green industry. A botanist may not need to climb, nor would a horticulturalist, but if your diagnosing disease or doing tree evaluations consistantly as an ARBORIST, it's a must! I have worked for many companies, as well as owned my own, and I would always prefer a confident climber over an educated one. I can tell a climber to prune a specific species a spefic way and get the job done safely. On the other hand, you get someone who has a P.H.D in the industry yet lacks climbing skills and I see my self losing $ and/or a life. A p.h.d. doesnt help out when you have to blow the top out of a 100ft pine tree; a seasoned climber does. Don't get me wrong: I've traveled my entire life across the US and I'll be the first to say I'm embarassed about most of the blokes that represent the tree industry. That's why 7 men died in the month of August alone in America (that's the lives that were lost and accounted for - most deaths are not posted). Experts say that number is probably double that. I've trained my share of climbers to be decent arborists, but I have yet to get a papered degree holding person to climb with any type of speed. Let's get to the point: if you're scared of heights, that's cool! You can still be a salesman in the industry seeing how none of them can climb.