I always had an affinity for trees, having grown up
on a farm in Eastern Ontario. Like other kids I had
several iterations of tree houses. I also remember
my father bringing a team of horses out of the
bush (that's what we called the forest), drag-
ging a few logs at a time while sometimes riding
on top of the logs and being careful not to slip
between them. I have memory of pikers, those
hardy souls who rode huge log booms down the
mighty Ottawa River to the pulp and paper mill.
These stout hearts used pikes to keep logs from
piling up on each other while being careful not
to slip into the water where they'd be crushed
from the weight of the logs jamming each other.
My most vivid memory was of the time a gas can
was left on top of a load of logs that my father
had just dumped into a lake; they were bound
for a sawmill. My father did not know how to
swim, but he wasn't about to let a good gas can
escape. With a 10-year old's fear and trepida-
tion I watched as my father took off his boots
and walked slowly out on the sandy lake bottom,
pushing and pulling logs out of his way to retrieve
his gas can. Without giving voice to my fear, I
must have inwardly encouraged his safe return,
because that's exactly what happened. So there
were plenty of tree-related experiences growing
up, but I'd never considered myself a "tree guy."
However, after 11 years of obtaining ISA CEUs and
rubbing elbows with tree experts during my Florida
life, I felt encouraged to apply for the position of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Forester in 2005.
Pittsburgh was a great training ground for my full-
time urban forestry career. There, I was involved
in the ISA Penn-Del Chapter activities as co-chair
of the Western PA Tree Climbing Championship
for six years. I taught the first Tree Tender
class—a program now run by the non-profit Tree
Pittsburgh—and this was my first connection with
non-profit activities and tree advocacy. (Pittsburgh
is also at the forefront of SMA history; former
Pittsburgh City Forester Earl Blankenship was one >>
A tree hugger at heart.
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