SCOTT’S BIO:
When he was a child, Scott Carlson's grandfather showed him how to prune apple trees to promote fruiting. Scott was fascinated by how man was able to manipulate tree growth in precise, predictable and beneficial ways. He was certain, for a time, that his grandpa was magic. Later he was disappointed at how infrequently even the "professionals" employed this knowledge.
Scott began his career in trees in 1993 when he took a summer off of college to drag brush for the legendary Marv Folker at Marv's Tree Service in East Moline. In the 90's "topping" was still a common request. Marv knew topping was harmful but often surrendered to customer’s requests to do so after passionately and knowledgeably arguing against it. Scott witnessed that trees bear a permanent record of pruning cuts. He learned that permanent good could be done when trees were pruned properly, and permanent harm could be done when pruned improperly. He was hooked. Scott never returned to college.
Scott then discovered the pioneering legend in our industry Alex Shigo. He had the privilege of meeting him at conferences on several occasions and corresponding with him in hand-written letters a time or two. One is pictured below. Scott was particularly impressed with Alex’s ability to understand and graphically represent the C.O.D.I.T (Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees) principle. Two of Alex’s quotes that really influenced Scott are, “We are discovering things today that we should be embarrassed that we didn’t know yesterday.” and “The chainsaw rather than the microscope is the best diagnostic tool in arboriculture.” Incidentally, Shigo was very skilled with both of these tools. Scott owns all of Shigo’s books.
Scott began his career in trees in 1993 when he took a summer off of college to drag brush for the legendary Marv Folker at Marv's Tree Service in East Moline. In the 90's "topping" was still a common request. Marv knew topping was harmful but often surrendered to customer’s requests to do so after passionately and knowledgeably arguing against it. Scott witnessed that trees bear a permanent record of pruning cuts. He learned that permanent good could be done when trees were pruned properly, and permanent harm could be done when pruned improperly. He was hooked. Scott never returned to college.
Scott then discovered the pioneering legend in our industry Alex Shigo. He had the privilege of meeting him at conferences on several occasions and corresponding with him in hand-written letters a time or two. One is pictured below. Scott was particularly impressed with Alex’s ability to understand and graphically represent the C.O.D.I.T (Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees) principle. Two of Alex’s quotes that really influenced Scott are, “We are discovering things today that we should be embarrassed that we didn’t know yesterday.” and “The chainsaw rather than the microscope is the best diagnostic tool in arboriculture.” Incidentally, Shigo was very skilled with both of these tools. Scott owns all of Shigo’s books.
In 1996 Scott moved on to a position with Wright Tree under contract with MidAmerican Energy doing Utility Line Clearance. He quickly discovered that there were three conflicting objectives: 1. Safe transmission of electricity. 2. Health of the trees. 3. Happiness of the owner of said tree(s). Sadly, number 1 almost invariably had to come at the expense of numbers 2 and 3. Due to customers misunderstanding of proper pruning principles they generally were the biggest obstacle to their employment. If the crews would remove more of the tree, much earlier, everyone would win – the tree, the homeowner and the utility. However, no homeowner will ever believe this, and few utilities ever even attempt to explain it. Therefore, win/win success wasn’t even a possibility or goal. Despicable compromise was the norm. Homeowners were rarely glad to see the crews. In the defense of these poor guys, they were not making “trimming” decisions. They were following specifications. To not do so, would mean getting fired. Despite this reality, or perhaps a s a direct result, they endured a miserable reputation. Scott could only take 3 years of this.
In 1999 Scott started Scott Carlson Certified Arborists LLC. He pruned and removed trees. He diagnosed insect and disease issues and applied some cultural controls. Self-employment finally afforded him the artistic license to recommend proper work and refuse improper requests. It had become clear that the public misunderstood proper tree work as did many in our industry.
Urban trees start life with significant challenges then endure long periods of loving neglect with infrequent interruptions of well-intentioned abuse. Clients rarely call an arborist early in the life of a tree. They call when they notice a "new" problem. These problems are usually very old. It is cumbersome to explain to a client that these problems were caused by neglect and the "care" provided through the years. It is very easy to tell them what they want to hear and address symptoms while ignoring the causes. Scott will not do this, EVER. He holds himself to a higher and completely different standard. For 21 years there was no compromise on correctness and quality. It was VERY satisfying.
In 2005 Scott accepted a position as Equipment Operator/Forestry Technician with the city of Davenport, IA. He continued to run (and grow) the business during this 3-year stint. While it was a wonderful job, the decision was made in 2008 to dedicate full attention to the business.
In 2020, after 21 years in business, Scott sold the tree service to dedicate his stubbornness and passion to educating and consulting. Arborist Careers and Scott Carlson Tree Consulting were born under the umbrella of Scott Carlson Consulting and Appraisal LLC.
Scott became an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist in 1998.
He became an Iowa State University Extension Master Woodland Manager in 1998 and an ISU Extension Community Tree Steward in 2003.
He achieved the highest level of certification from ISA in 2006 as a Board-Certified Master Arborist.
He has taught a course to prepare applicants for the Certified Arborist test and also proctored the test for many years.
He speaks regularly at industry conferences and workshops.
For 13 years he has organized The Iowa Tree Climbing Championship through the Iowa chapter of ISA - Iowa Arborist Association (IAA) and is a two-term IAA past president and current board member.
He was named Iowa's Outstanding Professional of the Year in 2012 by Iowa Urban and Community Forestry Council.
He received the ISA Midwest Chapter’s Award of Achievement in 2013.
He was the Volunteer of the Year for IAA in 2017.
He became a Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) through the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) through ISA in 2020.
In 1999 Scott started Scott Carlson Certified Arborists LLC. He pruned and removed trees. He diagnosed insect and disease issues and applied some cultural controls. Self-employment finally afforded him the artistic license to recommend proper work and refuse improper requests. It had become clear that the public misunderstood proper tree work as did many in our industry.
Urban trees start life with significant challenges then endure long periods of loving neglect with infrequent interruptions of well-intentioned abuse. Clients rarely call an arborist early in the life of a tree. They call when they notice a "new" problem. These problems are usually very old. It is cumbersome to explain to a client that these problems were caused by neglect and the "care" provided through the years. It is very easy to tell them what they want to hear and address symptoms while ignoring the causes. Scott will not do this, EVER. He holds himself to a higher and completely different standard. For 21 years there was no compromise on correctness and quality. It was VERY satisfying.
In 2005 Scott accepted a position as Equipment Operator/Forestry Technician with the city of Davenport, IA. He continued to run (and grow) the business during this 3-year stint. While it was a wonderful job, the decision was made in 2008 to dedicate full attention to the business.
In 2020, after 21 years in business, Scott sold the tree service to dedicate his stubbornness and passion to educating and consulting. Arborist Careers and Scott Carlson Tree Consulting were born under the umbrella of Scott Carlson Consulting and Appraisal LLC.
Scott became an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist in 1998.
He became an Iowa State University Extension Master Woodland Manager in 1998 and an ISU Extension Community Tree Steward in 2003.
He achieved the highest level of certification from ISA in 2006 as a Board-Certified Master Arborist.
He has taught a course to prepare applicants for the Certified Arborist test and also proctored the test for many years.
He speaks regularly at industry conferences and workshops.
For 13 years he has organized The Iowa Tree Climbing Championship through the Iowa chapter of ISA - Iowa Arborist Association (IAA) and is a two-term IAA past president and current board member.
He was named Iowa's Outstanding Professional of the Year in 2012 by Iowa Urban and Community Forestry Council.
He received the ISA Midwest Chapter’s Award of Achievement in 2013.
He was the Volunteer of the Year for IAA in 2017.
He became a Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) through the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ) through ISA in 2020.