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History of ISA: 1980s
| By vote of its members, the ISA Board of Governors
was terminated as the governing body of the Society in 1985. By the same
action, its responsibilities as organizational and corporate authority of ISA
were transferred to the ISA Board of Directors, and the duty of the Board of
Governors to elect board members was transferred to affiliated chapters of ISA. William
P. Kruidenier succeeded Cal Bundy as executive director on July 1, 1987 in the
midst of an era of vision and expansion for ISA. Growth of the organization was
creating a need for more office space, and in 1988 ISA’s headquarters offices
were moved from the lower level office of a downtown Urbana shopping mall to an
historic Greek Revival cottage in Urbana’s Leal Park. The wood-frame cottage
built about 1856, was located in a two-acre park and surrounded appropriately
by 200-year-old trees.
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William P. Kruidenier
Executive Director - 1987-2000. |
Strategic Planning
ISA's headquarters in Leal Park, Urbana, Illinois. |
In 1988, ISA approved its first strategic plan, Blueprint for Action. This
six-year plan, along with its succeeding six-year strategic plan, ISA 2000, set
the stage for rapid expansion of ISA into arborist certification, nonserial
publication development, and public education efforts that would fuel the
growth of the tree care profession, professional development, and public
education. A reflection of the Society’s momentum in that era can be measured
in growth of its membership, which topped 5,000 by the end of 1989. |
A significant innovation to ISA’s relationship with its own
chapters came in 1989 when the first Chapter Leadership Workshop was held at
ISA headquarters. The purpose was to train the volunteer leaders in how to
effectively administer their chapter and local programs as well as to give
leaders an opportunity to learn more of the workings of the Society. The
workshop became an annual training event hosted by ISA officers and staff.
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ISA Chapter Leadership Workshop, Champaign, Illinois. |
International Tree Climbing Championship
The International Tree Climbing Championship, a favorite feature of an ISA
conference. |
The 1980s was a difficult period for the originators and backers of the
jamboree. In 1980, the jamboree had been temporarily discontinued because of
lack of insurance liability coverage. It was reinstated in 1981, but the same
problem occurred in 1987, this time causing a two-year period when no jamboree
was held. Despite the insurance problem, ISA was committed to continue the
annual jamboree. In May 1989, the Executive Committee approved a new insurance
program that allowed the jamboree to occur during the annual conference in St.
Charles, Illinois. With the liability issues addressed, the jamboree continued
to grow and become more international in scope, eventually changing its name to
the International Tree Climbing Championship (ITCC) in 1997. |
By 1998, more than 900 contestants from 16 countries
were participating in ITCC events. The competition brought together the world’s
best climbers to display their skills along with the latest in climbing
techniques and equipment. From its humble beginnings, the ITCC had grown to
prominence in the 1990s and had a tremendous impact on improving tree care and
climbing techniques for the practicing arborist. As an example of the
visibility the ITCC gave the profession, in 1998, the ITCC was featured on the
European network, Sky-TV, and was shown in 123 countries.
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