Wednesday, 4/28/2010, Pre Conference
7:30 AM - 9:15 AM - Costello, Larry - Hands On: Young Tree Pruning
Structural pruning for young trees is critically important. Not only does structural pruning reduce the failure potential oftrees and increase their longevity, but it reduces maintenance costs. This workshop will demonstrate the 5 steps for pruning young trees for structure and form, discuss variations in practices associated with species, and identify follow up actions. As time allows, we'll view mature trees and evaluate how their structure could have been improved by formative pruning.

Wednesday, 4/28/2010, Pre Conference
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM - Alexander, Basia & Conroy, Jim - Secrets of the Tree Whisperer
Mystery and magic with trees?? How about using NO products, no equipment, no truck? It's just you and the tree...to save the sick tree. You can bring the tree back to health while working with its "energy." Huh? You say what? You see, trees are alive. Humans are alive. Don't let the tree die because you haven't looked at new possibilities to shift your attitudes and your business in order to heal and save sick trees.
How does Dr. Conroy-The Tree Whisperer™ -really heal trees with the Green Centrics™ holistic energy healing approach and alternative system? Learn about his easy "touch" system to heal trees. Find out how sick or declining trees-and forests- can grow again holistically.

• "Step inside" a plant's world in an exciting experiential exercise. What is "coming from the tree's point of view?" You'll experience it!
• Find out the Tree Whisperer's insights and secrets. Learn how trees really operate from the inside-out.
• What are the 12 stressors that put trees into decline?
• How do the "new sciences" and ancient wisdom apply?
• Can the negative effects of climate extremes be reversed?
• Get practical holistic tips. Find out how you can Tree Whisper™, too.

Wednesday, 4/28/2010, Pre Conference
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM - Johnson, Tim - ACTC Storm Workshop
The Arizona Community Tree Council is proud to present moderator Tim Johnson and a panel of speakers from four branches of the Arboriculture Industry: Residential, Commercial, Municipal and Utility to discuss Tree and Storm Response Training. Topic to be covered will be Tree Failure, How to be Ready, Situation Assessment, Triage and Follow-up. Each panel member will share their roll in a storm situation and offer information that can be used to keep you safe. This is an opportunity to learn, share your knowledge and experiences with others and take home a checklist that can be adjusted to your situation.

Thursday, 4/29/2010, General
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM - Kuo, Frances E. (Ming) - Growing the Capacity to Learn: Findings from the Chicago Public Schools


Thursday, 4/29/2010, General
1:30 PM - 2:45 PM - Peper, Paula - Tree Growth: Planting for Benefits
This presentation explores causes for large differences in growth rates and mature size of the same street trees species growing in Western communities and how those differences affect the benefits trees provide—carbon storage, air quality improvement, stormwater runoff reduction, and others. This includes an examination of the impacts that climate, planting design, historic land use, pruning, and site and species selection have on tree growth and longevity.

Thursday, 4/29/2010, General
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM - Schuch, Ursula - Growing under Adverse Conditions - Plants under Stress
This presentation will focus on how water movement in plants and soil is affected by drought, salinity, and soil compaction. Many urban trees are placed under these stressful conditions and manage to survive and grow. Water movement in plants and the soil will be compared between stressful and ideal growing conditions. Different mechanisms of plant adaptations will be discussed.

Thursday, 4/29/2010, General
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM - Smith, Kevin - Compartmentalization and tradeoffs for survival
The concept of compartmentalization of decay in trees has become part of our professional landscape. No longer considered radical, the idea that trees form boundaries to resist the spread of infection has become part of our working world. Or has it? The implications of those boundaries are not always well understood as we continue to develop and apply tree treatments that wound trees as "part of the cost of doing business". The decision-making process in choosing treatments should include considerations of unintentional effects on tree processes such as compartmentalization. The presentation will look at several causes of compartmentalization including storm injury, fire injury, pruning of green branches, and tree injection.

Friday, 4/30/2010, General
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM - Smith, Kevin - Astronomy, archeology, and climate change in tree rings
Take the next opportunity you have to look at tree rings in a pruned branch, stump, or stem section. Remember that what we see as a "ring" in cross-section is just one view of a continuous layer of wood formed to the outside of previously formed layers. First and foremost, tree rings are a record of tree survival. But formal tree ring analysis or dendrochronology was first developed to answer astronomical questions and were soon applied to archeological problems, particularly in the American Southwest. Currently, dendrochronology is providing important information on global climate change. Biologically, tree rings record the growth of trees in the temperate zones worldwide. The most easily measured characteristic of tree rings is the width of the ring in cross-section. Ring width is affected by many things: light, moisture, and temperature are major factors. Defoliating insects and diseases can reduce ring width by reducing the energy available to form new wood. Narrow rings can also result from the loss of crown due to storm breakage. Nonlethal injuries to the vascular cambium can cause a marked increase in ring width, resulting in ribs of woundwood. Recognizing these patterns can improve our understanding of trees and tree responses to the environment.

Friday, 4/30/2010, General
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM - Asplundh, Scott - Natural Disaster: Preparing for the Unexpected
Natural disasters take many forms. Storms are the most common threat to overhead electrical systems, but recently major wildfires and even insect outbreaks such as the Mountain Pine Beetle have posed significant challenges for utilities. Because no two disasters are alike, vegetation managers must be prepared to respond in a variety of ways, usually on very short notice. Mobilization, fuel, housing, communications, management and safety are just some of the challenges that must be addressed. This presentation will discuss how Asplundh has responded to previous natural disasters, and what vegetation managers should do to stay prepared.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Terra
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM - Roth, Frederick - Ethnobotany of the Southwest: How Indigenous Peoples Used and Altered their Landscapes
This presentation will discuss use of vegetation by native peoples with an emphasis on how they managed and altered the landscapes.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Terra
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM - Reames, Richard - Arbor Sculpture
Richard Reames will show and discuss his collection of photos showing trees that have had their trunks shaped for artistic and functional purposes. Pruning, bending and approach grafting have been used to create amazing works in living tree trunks. Historical refrences stretching back to 1516 with emphasis on the work of Axel Erlandson who created a famed roadside attraction with his trees in 1947. See http://www.arborsmith.com/treecircus

Friday, 4/30/2010, Terra
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM - Morris, Bob - Pomology: Citrus, Nuts & Fruit
Growing food and integrating it into residential landscapes has become increasing popular over the past two decades. Growing fruit trees in shrinking home landscapes has become increasingly more difficult due to management decisions that must be made that can be radically different from decisions made when managing ornamentals. Most ornamental tree professionals and arborists are ill-prepared to make these decisions when the end result is growing high quality food in these landscapes. Mr. Morris will cover the basics of fruit tree management and present some new techniques focused on producing high quality fruit in shrinking residential landscapes.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Terra
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Britton, Denice - Invasive Tree Species
Exotic tree species take advantage of soil disturbance and high fertility to colonize the understory of native riparian park forests. In Chico, CA, even a large riparian park can be overwhelmed by invasive exotic species escaping from surrounding residential landscapes. These invasives restrict soil and canopy space for native tree regeneration, create a serious fire hazard and increase maintenance costs. This presentation will discuss the problems associated with invasives and detail both successful and unsuccessful management practices. It will also discuss costs and offer solutions based on the results of the implementation of various management strategies.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Technology
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM - Karcher, Dana & Knight, Spencer - GIS in the Urban Forest: More than Trees
Utilizing GPS is the standard for developing tree inventories. Once this information is captured and put into a GIS layer, what value is the information in the development of urban forest programs in a community? This presentation will focus on GIS as a technological tool to support and integrate both the urban forest layer and other layers into the management of the natural and built environment in communities. In addition, the presentation will explore the socioeconomic, environmental justice, health aspects and more of a community as they relate to urban forests.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Technology
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM - Smiley, Tom - Decay Detection
Dr. Smiley will discuss the various options available for decay detection in trees. This will include a comparison of the efficacy of the methods. Discussion will include interpretation of results and the latest on the industry effort on risk assessment including the ANSI Standard, Best Management Practice and Tree Risk Assessor Qualification.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Technology
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM - Downer, James - Soil Biota & Mulches
Soil microbes are an essential biological component of all soils that allow trees to thrive. Mulch or litterfall is imperative to these systems that rely on organic carbon for their life cycles. Microbial systems in soil assist in the cycling of minereal nutrients necessary for tree growth and are responsible for controlling soil-borne pathogens harmful to trees.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Technology
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Hayden Smith, Rose - Social Networking - Twitter & Facebook
As advocates in a shifting cultural age, it's time to put more muscle into our message. How can we as experts garner more coverage? How do we hone our message to ensure our points get across succinctly and effectively? And what roles do social media (blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Ning and other web-based tools) play? In this workshop, you'll learn the basics of social media and come away with concrete ideas and strategies on how to incorporate it into your work in a way that's sustainable and effective.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Treatment
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM - Smiley, Tom - Cabling and Bracing
Dr Smiley will be discussion the principle of tree support systems including cables, braces and propping systems. This will include information in the ANSI A300 standard and the ISA Best Management Practice. The latest innovations in support systems will be discussed.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Treatment
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM - Sorensen, Michael - Growth Regulators
Michael will speak about different chemical and application options used to reduce fruit production in ornamental plantings. He will also touch on PGRs used for normal growth regulation.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Treatment
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM - Mellick, Roger - Fertilization Science, Soils
The discussion will focus on the complex relationship between trees and soil, beginning with basic soil ingredients and chemistry, variations, and potential issues. We will discuss some basic tools and approaches to improve soil and tree health.

Friday, 4/30/2010, Treatment
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Thompson, Russ - Trees and Soil Aeration
Has vertical mulching become a lost art in the green industry? Vertical mulching is a "tried and true" method of increasing root zone aeration and, therefore, improving tree health. It's an excellent technique used to partially alleviate soil compaction, increase drainage, and promote the formation of fine absorbing roots within the critical root zones of trees. This presentation will discuss the methods and benefits of vertical mulching as well as a "how to" using an auger, air spade, or water jet on a large or small project. Radial trenching and root collar excavation will also be discussed.

Saturday, 5/1/2010, WIA session
7:00 AM - 8:15 AM - Lilly, Sharon - TBA


Saturday, 5/1/2010, General
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM - Miller, Randy - Safety
High voltage contact is one of the three main killers of professional arborists (along with falls and "struck-bys"), so electric safety awareness is as important as climbing and rigging skills and safety. By attending this presentation, you will be able to explain electrical fundamentals, understand electrical hazards, ID important electrical safety standards, convey electrical safety precautions and make clear arboricultural responsibility for public safety.

Saturday, 5/1/2010, General
10:30 PM - 12:00 PM - Tankersley, Stephen & - Fischer, Niel - Hazard Trees
Managing hazard trees from a utility's point of view: PG&E's Hazard Tree Program. Saturday, 5/1/2010, General
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM - Lee, David - Hoo Care: Protecting Wildlife in the Urban Forest
It's a common scenario - you are pruning a branch when a bird suddenly flies off. No big deal, right? Well, it depends on if the bird has a nest with eggs or young in the tree you are working in. Active bird nests are protected by laws that can result in hefty fines if their occupants are disturbed. Other wildlife such as bats, squirrels, raccoons and frongs depend on trees for shelter and can also be protected by federal, state or local laws. Join Wildlife Training Institute's David Lee for a lively presentation on how to protect wildlife in the urban forest by looking before you work and learning what to do when you encounter wildlife.