Arboriculture Canada’s newsletter for April, 2015
http://user-28222521950.cld.bz/Continental-Connection-April-2015
Arboriculture Canada’s newsletter for April, 2015
http://user-28222521950.cld.bz/Continental-Connection-April-2015
On September 7th, a phone call came through to our office from one of the ArborCanada Trainers – Danny LeBlanc. Danny was in Kincolith, BC (or Gingolx) which is a Nisga’a Village in the Nass River valley in the far northwest corner of BC. Kincolith is a small coastal village on the edge of a water way of the Pacific Ocean, over which you can see the Alaska Panhandle. Danny was teaching a 2 day Tree Dynamics & Integrated Risk Assessment program for the North West Community College.
Danny: “Nancy – I don’t think that I’ll be able to get out of Kincolith tomorrow night to catch my flight out of Terrace.”
Nancy: “How come? Is everything okay?”
Danny: “Everything is fine, but we are having heavy rains and the Ministry of Transportation has closed the highway leaving Kincolith because of flooding and landslides affecting the Nisga’a Highway.”
Nancy: “Is there any other way out of Kincolith”
Danny: “No, there is only one road in. The only other way out is by boat. However, the ferry shut down several years ago when the road was brought in, so there are no boats to get out on. It looks like I’m going to have to wait out the rain and hope that the road has not sustained too much damage to repair and travel on soon.”
Nancy: “Keep me posted and let me know tomorrow what updates they have given you so I can cancel your flights if necessary.”
That was Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday, there were no new updates. There was still a heavy rainfall watch in place and the road was flooded and no one knew the extent of the damage. The course that Danny was teaching was finished on Thursday.
It could be that many people (including me!) would be envious of Danny’s predicament. He was stranded in one of the most beautiful spots in the world – if you like mountains, the ocean, forests, eagles, bears, fish and friendly, cheerful people! If you can catch the silver lining of a cloud – Danny was living a travel ‘perk’ that some of us may only dream about. Welcome to the exciting variables of ‘life on the road’ – Danny!
Many thanks goes out to Lavinia and her family at Lavinia’s Bed and Breakfast. One of my first questions for Danny was: “Will they supply you with a bed until you can leave?” Lavinia and her family were very hospitable and gracious to Danny and provided him with a warm place to sleep and kept his belly full. He was privileged to experience a rich culture of First Nation’s traditional food dishes such as sea lion and other northern delicacies.
Friday brought long walks around the village for Danny. Being the only non-local person in the village, everyone knew who he was and he was greeted with smiles and laughter by the locals, as they teased him that perhaps he should purchase some property and find a partner to get comfortable with! He was told that it might be weeks or even months before he could leave, usually with an underlying chuckle. They even picked out the residence they had available to sell to him.
I think that Danny was starting to get just a little worried. I haven’t mentioned yet that Danny’s cell phone didn’t work in this remote area and he couldn’t hook up to the internet and e-mail his family back home. He was using a land line to make important and necessary phone calls – but having easy contact with family wasn’t much of an option.
Friday late afternoon, I got another call from Danny. He told me that he might have an opportunity to ‘catch’ a ride out via water with the Coast Guard boat, as the local band government had decided to send some of the staff to Prince Rupert for some baby supplies and perishable goods that were running low in some of the households. He would be dropped off in Prince Rupert and then catch a bus over to Terrace to get a flight the next day. If he was given permission to do this, he needed to know whether I would be okay with having someone from the village drive the rental vehicle back to Terrace once the road way opened up. Arboriculture Canada was responsible for the vehicle that was rented – and we would be trusting the safety of this vehicle with someone we didn’t know. I told Danny that I trusted him to make this judgement call. Lavinia’s daughter, Abby was willing to drive the car back when the highway opened – and Danny vouched for her trustworthiness.
I wasn’t sure what was happening until I received a call from Danny about 4 hours later. He was in Prince Rupert and preparing to get a bus ride over to Terrace. He was clearly exhilarated, as he shared that he had just had an open ocean ride in a Zodiac Coast Guard boat for 2 hours along the waterway between Alaska and BC. It was an adventure he’ll never forget! To cap off the experience, he was privileged to see the beautiful northern lights for only the second time in his life.
This type of situation has occurred in this community before and happens in surrounding communities, as flooding and landslides or severe winter weather cause road closures from time to time. Because of its location on the Nass River near the Alaska Panhandle, Gingolx was once an isolated village, the only ways able to get in being boat or plane. This isolation combined with the surrounding mountains meant Gingolx would often suffer power outages due to snow during the winter months. Residents could go as long as 3 weeks without power until helicopters could be flown in to fix the lines. In 2003, a 28 km road from Gingolx to Greenville was completed, which connected Gingolx to the other three Nisga’a communities. This road, the Kincolith Extension Highway, links Gingolx to the Nisga’a Highway with connections to the Yellowhead, and Cassiar Highways. Every household is given a two way radio so that announcements can be made during emergencies when necessary.
We extend many thanks to the people of Kincolith and Lavinia’s B&B for your friendliness, laughter and hospitality. Thanks to Abby for driving our rental car back to Terrace when the road was opened later that weekend. I would consider it a privilege to be forced to slow down life in an area of such pristine beauty and untouched nature. Danny – you experienced a little piece of Paradise!
Arboriculture Canada partners with North American Training Solutions, CORE Ergonomics and the Good Rigging Device System at the TCIA Expo Exhibit.
November fifth to the seventh found NATS/ACTE trainers advancing the knowledge of safe arboriculture at the Tree Care Industry (TCI) Expo in Baltimore, Maryland USA. Billed as the largest tree care industry trade show thousands of arborists gathered for three days of networking, presentations, education and comradeship.
Combining the skills and knowledge of an eclectic set of tree work professionals, trainers and cutting-edge industry innovators, NATS/ACTE formed an epicenter of education and information in one booth on the trade show floor. Joining forces with C.O.R.E Ergonomic Solutions and Good Rigging LLC an aggressive program of arborist skills was displayed and taught.
A cadre of fluorescent yellow shirted instructors actively engaged each other and passersby in any number of tree care topics. The Good Rigging Control System (GRCS) was on constant display lowering and raising rounds of wood. This ingenious device allows an arborist to render any job requiring large loads to be lowered with unparalleled finesse and control. To those interested, various tips and techniques were readily available to unlock the full potential of the GRCS.
Numerous climbing lines hung from the rafters and the staging framework as climbing and rigging scenarios were discussed. Knots were taught. Systems were rehashed. Stories and exploits were told and retold. Many tree care providers work in retaliative industry isolation. Magazines and catalogs are often the only avenue for them to increase their knowledge. The NATS/ACTE booth allowed many climbers and ground workers a chance to see and interact with the new tools and techniques of arboriculture first hand. This invaluable interaction is a great source of learning for both student and teacher alike.
Splices were viewed and demonstrated. Due to some generous donations by our sponsors many spliced slings, split tails and lines were given away. Often the person on the receiving end had first-hand experience in seeing and making the splices him or herself. This comprehensive, entreating look into the necromancy of cordage splicing was eye opening and informative.
Members of C.O.R.E Ergonomic solutions discussed proper work practices to prolong careers as well as job related injuries and how to avoid them. Often an Expo attendee would relate the story of an injury and receive accurate, useful information. Work Positioning saddles were often a hot topic for discussion and many walked away with a better understand of how to fit a tool to a worker as opposed to fitting a worker to a tool. This is the very basis of proper ergonomics and a driving force behind C.O.R.E’s mission.
As a supplement to the full line of activities and information exchange going on at the booth, various NATS/ACTE instructors presented to the Expo as a whole on the trade show floor’s main stage and in separate scheduled seminars. Topics ranging from hazard and danger tree cutting, to pruning for wildlife habitat enhancement, aerial rescue and ergonomics were covered in detail. Lively question and answer sessions ensued during and after the presentations and much was learned by all. More than the standard “generic” info was covered. Attendees took home real, relevant information and skills to practice and use on the job site.
After a tiring three days, much fun, friendship and information was shared and gathered. New ideas were born. Old ones were refined with new understanding. The combined skills of all made for an atmosphere of fun and challenge that has developed into the hallmark of all our training programs. The array of tools, techniques and desire were finely aligned with education, inspiration and competence. Anywhere these can be found working together is bound to be a success. If you saw us there, thank you for your time and attention – we anxiously await the next opportunity to serve, support and share with you. If you could not make it, it we hope to see you in the future whether it be at the TCI Expo or any of our training programs in Canada or the United States.
For over 10 years, our partners, staff, colleagues and I have continued to forge an idea or concept in the area of tree care. This concept is that training, and education for tree workers is important for the safety of the workers and the preservation of trees.
Training has always been an important aspect of any successful organization. Historical evidence shows that training tree workers has been going on almost since the very beginning in North America and long before that in Europe and other parts of the world. People seem to have a connection to trees that is almost inexplicable and for some of us this connection causes us to become arborists and to dedicate our lives to the care and preservation of trees, making it our livelihood.
In a recent television interview, where I answered questions pertaining to a colleague who won an international award last year at the ISA show in Providence, I answered questions that made me seriously stop and ponder why I do what I do as a profession. I realized why I have chosen this business of arboriculture education for long over a decade and why I have worked as an arborist for over two decades. It is because I love to train and educate others to understand trees and safely and properly care for them.
Many friends of mine have said that understanding how a tree grows and functions is the first step in understanding how to care for it. The same premise holds true for so many aspects of tree care. Climbing and rigging is much safer and easier if all involved with the job at hand understand various concepts of physics. A basic knowledge and grounding in the science of physics goes a long way to improving safety, productivity and longevity. Using a chainsaw and felling trees is another major aspect of tree work that overlaps into many other trades. Understanding how a chainsaw cuts and the reactive forces created are other examples where training and education will make a big difference in the areas of safety and productivity.
So often in these busy times as new staff come and go, time may not be invested on why to do a task a certain way, but rather focus is only put into how the task should be performed. Workers that do not understand the reasons and concepts behind performance criteria required of them will show results of boredom, accidents, and no-shows. We call this, ‘training without education’. As a result, many employers and business owners face a decision of whether to invest in a person who may or may not remain in their employee long term.
ArborCanada’s approach to connecting training and education with respect and enjoyment is one of the secrets to our success. In open enrollment courses, where attendees come from all around and take a general course, or in focused programs customized for a specific clients work activities, ArborCanada training and education creates a win-win investment in a short time. In one or two day’s attendees are inspired, trained and educated. They have fun and learn more, faster. Many times attendees of our programs leave motivated and inspired to stay with arboriculture a while, several years or a lifetime. In my case, this type of investment set my career path.
Attendees from our programs and past customers have experienced this to be true many times, not just because our curriculum is current and relevant and our instructors are leaders in arboriculture in many respects, but because we are doing what we love and are passionate about. In fact, anyone who pursues their heart and passion is destined to succeed. Many of us understand this well and have inspired and motivated others to stay in the tree business because of it.
We at Arboriculture Canada Training and Education – from registration, workbook production, certificate generation, data entry, web design, our corporate partners, assistants and instructors – are passionate people doing what we love -because we choose to.
Thank-you to our customers who come back to us for training year after year and to everyone who chooses to work with us and support us. We look forward to seeing all of our old friends in 2010 and meeting many new ones.
Dwayne Neustaeter
President
Canada Arboriculture Training Instruction, Seminars and Education Programs. |