ISA offers a variety of educational materials to help arborists improve their arboricultural knowledge. Each month ISA will feature a product, or group of products, that will enhance your arboriculture education. This month, ISA is featuring digital versions of ISA’s newest Best Management Practices (BMP) and study guides. These BMPs offer arborists the flexibility of having information available digitally for easy reference and convenient use.
Covering topics such as pruning systems, objectives, cut and practices, the Digital BMP – Pruning, Third Edition explains why pruning is essential. This publications also expounds on pruning types, provides background on pruning cuts, reviews sample pruning specifications, and comments on the timing and necessity of these operations.
The Digital BMP – Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition is intended to serve as a guide for arborists to assess tree risk as accurately and consistently as possible, to evaluate that risk, and to recommend measures that achieve an acceptable level of risk. It also serves as a companion publication for the American National Standard for Tree Care Operations—Tree, Shrub and Other Woody Plant Management—Standard Practices (Tree Risk Assessment a. Tree Failure).
Written for professionals who manage a large number of trees, the Digital BMP – Tree Inventories, Second Edition explains how to work in locations such as municipalities, university campuses, cemeteries, military bases, corporate grounds, arboreta, homeowners associations, and private grounds. This BMP also serves as a guide for making informed choices that will match inventory goals with needs and resources.
The Digital UAA BMP – Closed Chain of Custody for Herbicides describes safe practices for reducing worker exposure to herbicides: use of returnable, reusable (R/R) supply containers, use of closed connections at transfer points, maintenance of a documented container tracking system, and measurement of custom blends.
Discussing topics on utility pruning safety, tools and equipment, methods and practices and emergency service restoration, the Digital BMP – Utility Pruning of Trees also describes current best practices in utility tree pruning based on scientific research and proven methodology for the safe and reliable delivery of utility services, while preventing unnecessary injury to trees to the greatest extent possible.
The Digital BMP – Utility Tree Risk Assessment guides utility personnel, utility vegetation managers, utility tree risk assessors, and line clearance contractors in assessing tree-related risk to overhead electric utility infrastructure by tree failure as accurately and consistently as possible, and to support decisions related to risk mitigation practices that achieve utility objectives. It also serves as a companion publication to the ANSI A300 Part 9: Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant Management—Standard Practices.
Serving as a guide for ISA’s Certified Arborist Utility Specialist certification exam preparation, the Digital Utility Arboriculture: The Utility Specialist Certification Study Guide is essential for professionals in the field of utility arboriculture, and covers the latest methods and techniques in the areas of safety, program and personnel management, utility pruning, integrated vegetation management, electrical knowledge, storm preparation and response, and communications.