Akin to Lumberjacks?

I think we are definitely akin but distant cousins. In my opinion those who work in the woods have a much better thing going. No dog shit, drier vents, bad clients or neighbors, etc. I'm happy to do my job but most of the work I do is meaningless or for vanity. Where I live most of the trees are non-native patients full of ailments and suffering, we just hoble them along and collect the checks.
 
I think tree work is more stressful than lumberjacking. Out in the woods you aren’t piecing down a rotten tree over a new garage with a two hundred thousand dollar bass boat inside, no wires usually, just lack of high value targets in general. But I still love the work.
 
L3VI said:
... I'm happy to do my job but most of the work I do is meaningless or for vanity. Where I live most of the trees are non-native patients full of ailments and suffering, we just hoble them along and collect the checks.
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Good God, how depressing!

I love what I do and feel productive and useful to both the trees I work on and my paying clients. If I didn't, I would do something else. Doing otherwise is wasting the limited time available to us in this wonderful world.
 
I'm happy to do my job... how is that depressing, Dave? I'm just not trying to delude myself and pretend like working on urban specimen trees is anywhere near as important as logging or let alone farming, it's completely non-essential.
 
L3VI said:
I'm happy to do my job... how is that depressing, Dave?...
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Come on, man, you believe that the work you do is meaningless or just for vanity. How can that 'not' be depressing? Either you have a negative perspective or you are not doing it right.

Have you not heard of the eco benefits that the urban forest provides for mankind? Every time you convince a homeowner to save a tree by offering a solution other than removal, you are helping maintain that canopy cover.

Restructuring relatively young trees that the owners planted, sometimes 30 to 50 years ago so that they will survive the next storm and possibly be there for generations to come, is very important to them.

Working on fruit trees to increase quality of fruit and health of the tree, makes me smile.

Even something as simple as clearing a roof or sidewalk, is removing conflicts that improve the tree/human interface and, when done with thought, they both benefit.

It is up to us to utilize our knowledge and skills to make things better for both trees and people. That is not a meaningless endeavor.
 
Sure, man, the work serves a purpose, I don't deny that. But to try and equate what we do to felling timber and growing food is laughable. On a scale of meaningfulness there's really no comparison. Plenty of places in the world getting along just fine without arborists lol. What's depressing to me is the inflated sense of self importance that so many in our industry have, it's a cool job and it can be fun but we ain't savin the world out here. Just trimming trees in a humble profession, that's good enough for me. I don't need to create a narrative to make myself feel better about my job. I reject the arborist hero complex that so many push, to me it's just another job. Trash collecting is far more noble of an endeavor, if you ask me.
 
For sure, any job that allows you to feed your family is worthwhile. But I'm not about to say it's an essential task or anywhere near on the level of importance as logging or farming. Maybe cleaning up after hurricanes but most of the day to day arb work in my parts is just a product of excessive wealth. I'm happy to do it but to me it's just a regular old j o b. It's got its ups and downs. :)
 
"Trash collecting is far more noble of an endeavor, if you ask me."

Well, there you go. If that's how you feel, what's keeping you?

You do know that there are also plenty of places in the world that get a long fine without logging and farming too, right?
 
DSMc said:
You do know that there are also plenty of places in the world that get a long fine without logging and farming too, right?
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Where's that? Some thatch hut fishing villages? Cool. Everyone I've known ate food from farms and enjoyed homes and products made from logged timber. I've never met a farmer who needed an arborist, never met an arborist who didn't need a farmer.
 
"never met an arborist who didn't need a farmer"

I don’t. But that's picking nits and not my point. There are many jobs that benefit people and in many different ways.

How you look at the world is how you'll see it.
 
L3VI said:
Sure, man, the work serves a purpose, I don't deny that. But to try and equate what we do to felling timber and growing food is laughable. On a scale of meaningfulness there's really no comparison. Plenty of places in the world getting along just fine without arborists lol. What's depressing to me is the inflated sense of self importance that so many in our industry have, it's a cool job and it can be fun but we ain't savin the world out here. Just trimming trees in a humble profession, that's good enough for me. I don't need to create a narrative to make myself feel better about my job. I reject the arborist hero complex that so many push, to me it's just another job. Trash collecting is far more noble of an endeavor, if you ask me.
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Not trying to argue and I understand and agree with much of your point. However, I feel we CAN make significant positive gains... No offense but your comments are very human centric... We need trees, people, and we can do much better by them and us...
 
There's a lot fewer people than you might think living in houses made of lumber. A lot of the world lives masonry, steel, and glass. The majority of the so-called farmers today are doing a lot more harm than good for the planet. Your perspective is what it is @L3VI , but you could have any perspective you prefer; changing your mind really is something only you can do. It also sounds like you might benefit from getting outta Boulder. I have a place for you to land if you ever wanna throw everything out the window and move to a little off grid farm and get some ins with some serious loggers. Just a bit of my perspective
 
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