Professional

[rabbit box]

What is a pro? Someone who is paid? Volunteer? Does their own work only? Age? Number of years worked in timber industry. I started off logging (paid) in my teens. I worked at a sawmill too. I still do arborist work for myself and others. Climbing as well as groundie. When people ask I tell them I am an amateur. I am over 65 and still learning.

 

[Del_]

What is a pro? Someone who is paid? Volunteer? Does their own work only? Age? Number of years worked in timber industry. I started off logging (paid) in my teens. I worked at a sawmill too. I still do arborist work for myself and others. Climbing as well as groundie. When people ask I tell them I am an amateur. I am over 65 and still learning.

Do you use spikes when pruning?

Do you top trees?

Do you hit the 'target' with your saw?

 

[jefflovstrom]

 

[arathol]

A professional arborist is somebody who has the proper training and experience, has the proper tools to do the work, either has or works for someone who has an arborist license and a license to operate a business, and does arborist work as an occupation rather than a hobby.

 

[rabbit box]

Good answers. No, I do not spike when pruning. Yes I top trees. Yes I hit my target. Arathol, you have a very good answer. Your answer leaves a tremendous amount of the arborist population out of the equation. Rightly so or not. Education is a good thing. Formal education is not always available. Employers hire, train, and do their best to provide a safe job. If employers are able to keep a person two years they are successful. As you know their are many facets of arborist work. Teaching and learning are an ongoing process. Thank you for your answers.

 

[rabbit box]

Addendum. N.C. Forestry service just passed eight people in ISA certification. This brings the total ISA roster to twenty three in the N.C. Forestry service ( for the whole state).

 

[ATH]

What are they doing for the State that they need ISA Certification? I worked for the State of Ohio for 18+ years. I was a Certified Arborist, but it wasn't necessary or directly related to my job - I was doing arboriculture as a side job. A couple others came in with Certification and maintained it. There are 6 Urban Foresters (plus their supervisor). I believe they are all Certified Arborists or BCMA most with Municipal specialist. A few ODOT folks are CAs. Not sure any other State employees would benefit from being a CA for their job specification.

As to the question in the OP, technically, anybody who gets paid for doing tree work is probably "professional"...but @arathol and @Del_ laid out what I'd consider the difference between a "hack" and a "tree care professional". Not years of experience...but depth of growth and knowledge. Think "he doesn't have 30 years of experience, but 1 year of experience repeated for the last 30 years"

 

[rabbit box]

Good morning. Let me see if I can get my chronic pain controlled and reply appropriate. I think a professional is someone who has attended and passed the required academics, plus the required exam . A doctor has to go through this process.
Depth of knowledge and experience come with years of experience, also with desire to not quell going further with their education. The required CEU's aid this greatly. Lic. to operate a business has nothing to do with this. Pay does not come into the equation. Their are a lot of health care workers who volunteer without compensation. A person without a lic. working under some who has a lic cannot claim to be a professional. I feel a business cannot claim to be a profession. A tree care service cannot claim to be a professional service. Their are "Hacks" even in the medical field.
I do not know why the state has lic. arborist in their employment. There are lot of state properties that have to be maintained.
I do not wish to offend anyone. Thank you for your input.

 

[arathol]

.
Lic. to operate a business has nothing to do with this. Pay does not come into the equation. Their are a lot of health care workers who volunteer without compensation. A person without a lic. working under some who has a lic cannot claim to be a professional. I feel a business cannot claim to be a profession. A tree care service cannot claim to be a professional service.

You need a license to operate a business. You can't legally do arborist work for hire without an arborist license, and you can't legally do business as an arborist unless you have a license to operate a business. If you aren't gainfully employed as an arborist you aren't a professional as that implies monetary compensation for services rendered. If a tree service has the proper licenses and has employees doing arborist work under the direction of a licensed arborist as required by law that tree company is most certainly a professional service.

I do not know why the state has lic. arborist in their employment. There are lot of state properties that have to be maintained.
I do not wish to offend anyone.

Licensed arborists are required for the same reason why the state employs lawyers, doctors, engineers and other professionals. A licensed arborist has the credentials to do certain things that by statute require proper licensing and training.
There is the need for professional opinions and supervision on tree preservation, removals, pesticide application, all sorts of things. In state service a licensed arborist would be a supervisory position, and would oversee all manner of arbor-cultural related projects, the work being performed by both in-house state employees and contracted outside vendors.