Apprentice Photo Contest!

Montana Moore

Next, we have Montana Moore, from Albany, Oregon. He is currently a 3rd step Tree apprentice and works for Wright Tree Service. He spends most of his free time with friends, hunting, fishing, and kickin it with his pup. His photo was taken when he was working right of way transmission clean up in Detroit, OR. They were setting ropes to drop big firs. What he likes best about the apprenticeship is the

brotherhood and family that you create. Within this trade, he mentioned you can never stop learning, it keeps you on your toes, and to remember there is always room to learn something new. His advice for those interested in this trade is, “Work hard and don’t forget to have fun and learn. Soon enough we won’t be apprentices, so soak up whatever you can while you can!”

Michael Ham

Mike is a 2^nd step line apprentice, currently working for Tice Electric. He’s been in the apprenticeship for a little over a year now and said he wouldn’t trade it for anything, he especially enjoys the travel. In this photo Michael and his fellow apprentice, Nick Williams were working substation when they were both 1st steps, on a 230kv Highline tap into sub. As you can see in the photo, it looks as if a storm is about to start,

Michael stated how right after the photo was taken the wind picked up and it started pouring down rain on both. Guess it wasn’t such a good day for climbing. When asked to give some advice to those interested in joining the apprenticeship Mike expressed, “Firstly come in with an open mind, be humble, and always be prepared to fail. Work as hard as you possibly can.”

Devon Hadley

Devon Hadley, who is a 4^th step tree apprentice, lives in Lewiston, Idaho with his wife, and mentioned they have an assortment of animals on their miniature funny farm. When he’s not busy working he enjoys going hunting and fly fishing. He currently works for Asplundh. He explained the tree pictured was a pine removal for Kootenai Electric on the shoreline of Twin Lakes, ID. The tree was about 100ft in height and was leaning out over a three phase, since the pine was in such proximity to the phases, the crew had to request guards to be placed over the hot legs. They then caught and zip-lined all the limbs, and then broke the tree down into chunks.

Devon says that his favorite part about the apprenticeship is learning a skilled trade in addition to being paid in progression. Since he fought wildland fire for about 10 years, he stated the transition to this trade was easy for him due to some of the similarities included in both lines of work. He enjoys how the job stays dynamic, with every tree posing a new challenge, and being able to use teamwork on a day to day basis. His advice to future applicants or apprentices includes, “Not to be afraid to try something new, the job is full of trying new things, often out of your comfort zone. And if you get your qualifications before you start your job your life will be much smoother.”

Ethan Beck

Ethan is from Libby, Montana. He is currently a 4^th step line apprentice working for Potelco. In his featured photo, this crew was stacking steel with Sturgeon Electric out near Sunnyside, Washington. He said it was really cool seeing all the apprentices up on the tower together, working on the same job.

When asked about one of his favorite parts of the apprenticeship, he says that he likes having the ability to provide for himself and create a good life. For anyone interested in joining the trade Ethan stated, “I’d tell them they should be willing to travel and be able to have thick skin. Be willing to work hard and retain. Leave your phone in your trucks.“

Jake Black

Jake is from Spokane Valley, Washington. He has been doing tree work for a little over a year now, he is currently a 3^rd step tree apprentice working for Associated Arborist. For his picture, he was tied to the larger tree that he was trimming, since it would be faster for him to swing onto the neighboring tree to trim it rather than climbing all the way back to the ground, he decided to just jump across to complete the job! He mentioned that his favorite part of the apprenticeship is the variety of ways you can complete a task.

This makes every day unique, and no two climbers are the same. As others have mentioned, the best part of the trade, in his opinion, is the opportunities you have to learn. He said you could research anything in tree work and something new will come up. His advice for those interested in apprenticeship includes, “If you want to excel, take your work home with you and look up videos, read books, and try to learn the basics as fast as you can.”