Where does your loyalty lie?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Interesting reading your post there Hama. I was taught at college (conservation at Riseholme) by a guy who started out as an arborist, turned lecturer in arb, turned lecturer in conservation and now runs his own outfit called Border ecology. I think he is now soley into preservation, conservation and enviromental stuff (stuff probably not being the optimum descriptive word to use) and provides councils etc with enviromentally sound planning etc. Is this more the kind of thing? He's a really nice guy to boot so might have a few pointers if that's your thing.

 

This feels a very similar vein, and maybe that is what's happening to me, it certainly sounds like "my bag"

 

Im too attached to trees now, they are like holy things to me, dont get me wrong, I will and do accept when a tree is in the wrong place, or a hazard, but as an organism, man must surely realise we must alter our perceptions we cant go on in this abusive manner.

 

its going to be our downfall, it may seem a million years away, but the NIMBY attitude is rife and mans presence now spills into the very places nature is trying to make its last stand.

 

so we have to either embrace nature and learn to live with it, harmoniously and in sync or perish in ignorance.

 

i always thought my loyalty lied between the two options we've been presented, that to me was the role of the arborist, to state the middle line between trees needs and human needs, a compromise of interests, we do after all need them! but as it turns out that is not how successful and people with healthy bank balances operate.

[Sam Thompson]

I am currently a climber, and have been for the last 24 years, I have hobbied in ecology, aquatic (fisheries) and temperate forests, becoming increasingly interested in bats.

 

that thread on the big beech, that got to me, and its time I got out of this game, I cant change this industry, it enjoys the smash and grab too much, the toys the big drops, its lost its luster more and more as I learn more about trees, and learn more about just how crap 99% of the work we all do as an industry is.

 

maybe i will get over this downer but i cant see it, I know too much now.

 

I want to be a consultant, but then i cant afford the level 6 quals so thats for the time being out of the equation. maybe i will be a writer, and just supply information, that maybe allows others to come to similar conclusions.

 

 

Rather funny, always pictured you more as an ecologist type.

 

 

Good stuff

 

Do us a favor though, keep posting!

[Tom D]

I understand that i am no longer an arborist, something I should have deduced some time ago, so my opinion is biassed and not worth entering.

 

I am simply now going through the motions till i can re train and get out!

 

recent thoughts have indeed influenced this, for I have come to realise that arborists are not middle men between trees and man, but experts in making people happy and in deducing the best excuse for a trees removal.

 

I cant be involved in a business like this, its ecologically unsustainable, and i cant live with it.

 

To continue my analogy you are merely the law student who feels that he can not represent the criminals and becomes a prosecutor. I salute your moral fibre and wish you luck in your future career. I hope you're not tired of arbtalk though. You have a passion for which you need to find a constructive outlet, I hope you find something soon.

 

FWIW I get far more satisfaction from "good" tree work, environmental work etc. I just have a business to grow and a living to make.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I cant tell you lot how sad I am today, you wouldn't believe me. I LOVE what I do, but how can I compete in an industry where people are told what THEY WANT to hear? That this tree and that tree are way too big/rotten/dangerous.

 

for poeple that hate the mess the leaves make, the light they "steal" the rustling leaves that make a noise, or the "invasive branches" that overhang, or spoil the lawn, or fill the guters blah blah bah.

 

DO YOU ENJOY FRESH OXYGEN? FFS

[Ian C]

The Client every time, the tree will not pay my wages or feed my family

I am with Tom on this one 100%

I will do the best I can and will try to get the Client to get things done properly

but what the customer wants is what the customer gets as long as no laws are broken.

 

Same here, i run a business not a charity, that said i do the work to the best i can and hate to see crap work.

[Bolt]

Most trees get "cut" because they are annoying, not because thay are dangerous.

 

To think otherwise would be like kidding yourself that the sheep and cows travelling toward the slaughter house are going there because they are ill.

 

How many people working in there think they do it for the cows good.

 

 

People dont like trees, people have money.

 

we like cutting trees, we get their money.

 

I sleep soundly at night (my concience clear)

They sleep soundly at night (they skyline clear).

 

(oh, and I think grass pumps out O2 aswell)

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Most trees get "cut" because they are annoying, not because thay are dangerous.

 

To think otherwise would be like kidding yourself that the sheep and cows travelling toward the slaughter house are going there because they are ill.

 

How many people working in there think they do it for the cows good.

 

 

People dont like trees, people have money.

 

we like cutting trees, we get their money.

 

I sleep soundly at night (my concience clear)

They sleep soundly at night (they skyline clear).

 

(oh, and I think grass pumps out O2 aswell)

 

oh that makes it all better then, grass ill save the world!

[Tom D]

I cant tell you lot how sad I am today, you wouldn't believe me. I LOVE what I do, but how can I compete in an industry where people are told what THEY WANT to hear? That this tree and that tree are way too big/rotten/dangerous.

 

for poeple that hate the mess the leaves make, the light they "steal" the rustling leaves that make a noise, or the "invasive branches" that overhang, or spoil the lawn, or fill the guters blah blah bah.

 

DO YOU ENJOY FRESH OXYGEN? FFS

 

To be fair hama, I have never and will never told someone a tree is unsafe when it isn't / wasn't. I try to explain as best as I can what they can expect in terms of future life expectancy and make recommendations, the final decision will be theirs, hopefully informed by my input. That is my job as I see it.

 

I see our cities as an urban forest, there are trees being taken down all the time, and a steady stream of people bringing saplings back from the garden centre. In Edinburgh where I do most of my work a climb to the top of one of its seven hills will reveal just how green the city is, its hard to appreciate from ground level but when looking down its almost a forest with buildings in it. I beleive in the case of edinburgh it is a sustainable forest and also that it is being well managed. I cant speak for other cities though.

[Bolt]

oh that makes it all better then, grass ill save the world!

 

I am not sure anything will "save the world" because the world as a planet is not endangered.

 

our world (a silly collection of cities, infrastructure, GPS satellites etc etc) is looking a little shakey.

 

We humans are certainly in peril, especially when you consider that what is a near eternity to us, is a mere blink of an eye to the planet.

 

Maybe as a species we forget just how insignificant we all are.

 

 

 

 

anyway, better tuck the kids in:001_smile:

[RobArb]

Five ways the world could end

Five ways the world could end - Yahoo! News UK