The Wild Trees: book is out 4/10

What a small world. I emailed Meg Lowman of New College in Florida about the book. She is one of the pioneers of canopy research. Turns out Richard Preston is a friend and Scott Sillett was a student.

The free climb is described in the first chapter and is pretty scary, the rewards of the climb are amazing. Imagine being among to first to discover a whole new world.
 
I guess the publication of this accident report explodes the myth that there haven't been any recreational tree climbing injuries.

Perhaps we could design the logo that the 'Tree Police' will wear on their uniforms as they patrol the national parks.

Tree climbers who intend to climb wild trees for entertainment may contaminate the resource with their rope burns on bark, and distructive moss mat disturbance, so patrols should be on the lookout, according to Mr. Preston.
 
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I guess the publication of this accident report explodes the myth that there haven't been any recreational tree climbing injuries.


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Which accident are you referring to?

The one I mentioned was a professional arborist climber with researchers. Not a rec climber.

Stats regarding no serious injuries to rec climbers refer to rope and harness climbers who have been facilitated or trained by the current group of certified rec instructors (Peter Jenkins etc.).

If you consider a rec climber anybody who get's into a tree by any means who's not a working arborist or logger then I'm sure you can find plenty of accident reports worldwide. I fell out of a tree when I was a kid, add me in to the accident list.
-moss
 
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Congradulations moss. I'm waiting until the 9th to get my copy. I hope you don't forget your old friends now that you're a big time arbo-illustrator!;)

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Thanks OTG. Surprised you're awake after days and nights of storm clean-up. I'm trying to get my hands on some copies to hand out, I'll let you know. Want to make sure DonnyO gets his. I've got audiobook CD's for your crew so they can read and work at the same time.
-moss
 
I can buy a copy at the book signing right?

The storm was kind of weird, full out on Mon., then a lull on Tues., and back to crazy again today. Now it's just clean up in the parks...........
 
Just finished the book. Quite interesting, look up photos of some of the species mentioned for a clearer understanding of whats going on. My main disappointment was that the book dealt too little with the ecosystems found in the tree tops. I have heard lots about climbing itself so that maybe does not resonate as much as studying an unexplored world.
 
I just finished the book and really liked it.

The only thing that I did not like is when Preston refered to tree workers as TREE GRUNTS. I'm sure that he did not mean any disrespect by it. After all, it was us Arbos who taught the scientists how to climb trees properly.
 
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I just finished the book and really liked it.

The only thing that I did not like is when Preston refered to tree workers as TREE GRUNTS. I'm sure that he did not mean any disrespect by it. After all, it was us Arbos who taught the scientists how to climb trees properly.

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Ummm, I was wondering about that too since I have never heard the term. Is it possibly more of a west coast slang? Since tree workers covers such a wide range of possible scenarios from loggers to preservation arborists and everythng in between I expect that term may be more specific in a particular region.
-moss
 
Hey Moss. Do you know Preston? Maybe you could ask him where he heard the term?

I say like you. I had not heard that term before. Maybe it is a west coast slang.

Has anyone else heard this slang before?
 
I went to see Preston talk in Seattle and get a book signed. He was very engaging and clearly he is hooked on trees.

I have read a lot of his work and its all interesting and well written. If you like his style and are not familiar with the work of John McPhee I suggest you try his books. Preston told us that McPhee was his best teacher and inspiration. There are 27 McPhee books to choose from!

I also picked up on the "Grunts" thing... never heard that before and I also think that although Sillett may one of the first researchers up there that there were others climbing tall trees - probably including redwoods - before him.

The impact of climbing needs more discussion I think.

Nice illustrations Andrew!

Scott
 
There are a number of books on tree climbing and canopy research. Sillett is certainly not the first. Look up Margaret (Meg) Lowman and Donald Perry, these are the first two names to come to mind. There are also a number of canopy research sites.

The idea of canopy walkways, canopy bridges and canopy cranes developed from researchers who needed easy access to the tree tops. Francis Halle developed deregible access to the canopy.

As for impact you need a bit of ecology reading to start to understand the delicate and intricate nature of these tree top ecosystems. Imagine as Richard Preston writes that some of the species only occur in old growth (600 year plus) trees. A climb to say you have been to the top of a redwood (etc.) may cause impacts that will be seen centuries later.
 
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Hey Moss. Do you know Preston? Maybe you could ask him where he heard the term?

I say like you. I had not heard that term before. Maybe it is a west coast slang.

Has anyone else heard this slang before?

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I'll ask Richard. He is extremely scrupulous in his collection of information for his books. I'm guessing that he heard a scientist use this term or maybe a pro forester/climber referring to his peers in a self-mocking and friendly way. I'm not a pro climber but on days when I've spent 5 hours straight doing hard climbing and pruning work in a big tree on a hot day I could easily describe myself as a grunt. It's very hard work (like I need to remind you), amongst the hardest I've ever done. The only thing that comes as close for me besides digging ditches is bringing in hay on dairy farms. I think the term grunts as applied to U.S. troops on the ground in the Vietnam war was affectionately used and spoke to the difficult conditions they found themselves in thrashing around and fighting in the jungle for months on end. An accurate and honourable term from that perspective.
-moss
 
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There are a number of books on tree climbing and canopy research. Sillett is certainly not the first. Look up Margaret (Meg) Lowman and Donald Perry, these are the first two names to come to mind. There are also a number of canopy research sites.

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No scientist can successfully operate in a vacum and I think Sillett builds on the accomplishments and knowledge of his predecessors and mentors. The way I read it is that Sillett is the first scientist to systematically investigate and quantify the ecology and physiology (water transport mechanisms) of the redwood canopy and the first to use rope and harness "soft technique" extensively to do so. He is most certainly not the first person to climb into the redwood canopy. Preston gives credit and links to pioneering canopy scientists on the links page of his web site.
-moss
 
Steve Sillett is primarily an ecologist and his water transport work has been secondary, though the Nature paper is the height of academic achievement.

One of the first uses of canopy climbing techniques was quite simply to ask what happens in the canopy. Imagine prior to the 1980's questions related to leaves etc. were answered by looking at small trees that could be reached from a step ladder or by felling trees to get access to the crown.

A slightly different canopy technique was used to access ancient forests on the Niagra Escarpment. The results documented in The Last Stand by Peter E. Kelly will be published on April 30, 2007.


I did find some of Preston's words unlike any I have ever heard used to describe climbing and tree work.
 
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After all, it was us Arbos who taught the scientists how to climb trees properly.

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mrTree, are you a researcher? Just curious, you seem to have in-depth knowledge of the subject. Everything I know about it is from reading the manuscript, hearing random anecdotes as I worked on the project and my own personal reading from various sources.

Also, any links to share related to the Nature paper that you mentioned?

As far as the book goes it's like many science books written for the general public, not a detailed academic treatise but more of a (very smart) fly on the wall look at the lives of the researchers and the subject of their study. I think pro climbers and scientists in related fields are going to be the most critical readers from their inside perspective.
-moss
 
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After all, it was us Arbos who taught the scientists how to climb trees properly.

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True. Many canopy researchers use really poor technique safety-wise. From a scientist's point of view it's "I want to get up there by any means", doing science is the priority. If you look at Sillett's web site you'll see that he's integrated a sound climbing training program into his canopy science courses. The arborist who criticized Sillett for climbing with spikes and taught him low impact rope technique really opened the doors.
-moss
 
NO I am not a researcher anymore, but am very interested in the science behind trees.

The abstract for the Nature article is http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v428/n6985/abs/nature02417.html. Nature is still considered the premier academic journal in the world.

Steve Sillet's personal site has a listing of his papers. Read Meg Lowman's books to get a different perspective on trees and definitely read Donald Perry's book Life Above the Jungle Floor.

The book is actually quite interesting but as you say, those with an indepth knowledge will knitpick. My interest is more ecological based, so I want to know more about the ecosystem and its components, tree climbers will likely complain about Sillet's silence on climbing technigues.
 
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