ISA TRAQ Workshop

I went to the first one ISA offered last June in Georgia. It was well taught and is definitely a hands on class. It is a different approach than the Clark/Matheny approach. Personally I think it is better because it allows the assessor to weight items differently than just plugging numbers into a formula. It also stresses a specific timne period which hopefully will be some protection for the assessor. We had people from as far away as Colorado attend the class. I just wish ISA would make the database searchable like the CA list.
 
Good on you both timber12 and Mac!


I took one of the last PNWISA TRACE classes held in Philly. The curriculum and methodology in quantifying the risk has changed but the thought process behind it was most awesome IMHO.

FWIW, though, it was a pretty tough exam. Definitely read, reread and read again the entire book BEFORE the class.

Good luck and enjoy, you will find it invaluable!

Also, I look forward to not being the only TRACE/TRAQ qualified arbo in town!
 
I hope the course and the qual works out for you guys. BCMA is all I need in my market, but the TRAQ course is an improvement over the 1994 version of TRA.

The system (imo) spends way too much time on target rating and likelihoods; too many matrices! Then it moves on to 'defects', with 3 opportunities to note Response Growth. Bassackwards imo--we should be looking at how the tree stands up first, before speculating on how it might fall down.

The heart of the decision, Mitigation Options, looks like a footnote. The brain is really tired by the time that you're asked to think about what to do with the tree, and there's not enough room on the form or time in the day to give fair consideration to residual risk.

TRAQ can be used to do quality assessments--competent and objective. It can also be used to go on the same witch hunt for defects = high risk = removal. It's up to the user.
 
I finished the workbook the other day, and I think I agree with you Guy that they seem to focus on different areas than I would. But I think the whole process is going to get me thinking more analytically about assessment. Give me a template and set terminology. And make me more confident overall in my assessments. Hopefully I feel the same after the last class on Wed.

The matrices are hard to wrap the noggin around. Those'll be the first things I forget.
 
Mac, the matrices are mind numbing at first, but during the course they will become understandable and easier to work with. They are just for your use in making your assessment and aren't something that you will be trying to present to a client. Don't sweat it.
 
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