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President’s Memo
While many fires are started by lightning strikes far too often fires are also started by human error and carelessness. Not only do we lose valuable timber but human life, health and safety is placed at risk and millions of tax dollars literally go up in smoke. The forest industry goes to extreme lengths to minimize the risk of fire as it goes about its business on the ground. The utmost care is taken and operations are often shut down. At the same time we all need to act wisely as campers, hunters, fishers, recreationists and the general public. Let’s all do our part to ensure that our forest fire situation is well managed this summer. Smokey the Bear had it right 65 years ago when he started reminding us “Remember only you can prevent forest fires.” Have a safe and happy time over the holidays. John Allan |
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| New WoodWORKS! Publications Wood Building Case studies and fact sheets are available for download at the Canadian Wood Council Wood WORKS! BC Website: http://www.wood-works.org/BC Wood WORKS/Case Studies/?Language=EN Case Studies include: The Richmond Olympic Oval: The Oval is the largest structure to be built for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The building features a 6 acre (2.5 hectare) free spanning roof that is a precedent setting example of British Columbia's and Canada's advanced wood engineering and prefabrication capabilities. Elegance in Wood: Eating and drinking are social activities best enjoyed in a warm, relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. These activities have had a long association with wood, which has traditionally been used for making tables, chairs and other furniture as well as for wine casks and beer barrels. The two examples included here are both located in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia. Although they are very different in architectural character, they both use wood with great effectiveness to create the appropriate dining ambience. Wood WORKS! is a national campaign to increase the use of wood in commercial, industrial and institutional construction. In North America, this market for wood is valued at US$20 billion. The Canadian Wood Council leads this program with funding support from the wood industry, the federal government and provincial governments across Canada. What is the Vision? What does Wood WORKS! do? What is a Wood Culture? |
IEA Bioenergy Conference: Biofuels and Bioenergy, A Changing Climate The IEA Bioenergy Multi-Task conference "Biofuels and Bioenergy; A Changing Climate" is just over 2 months away and the list of plenary speakers is now posted on the conference website (www.ieabioenergyconference.org/index.html). The IEA Bioenergy Multi-Task conference will take place in Vancouver, Canada, from August 23-26. The conference will feature renowned experts in the broad bioenergy field from global companies, governments, ENGO's to research organisations. Please check the various dropdown menus on the conference webpage to find out more about accommodation, registration, program, etc. Some of the confirmed distinguished plenary speakers are listed below: Opening Plenary: Overview Session; Monday, 24 August Government Strategies Closing Plenary: Wednesday, 26 August 2009 Industry Perspectives Global Perspectives Details of these speakers and their topics will be posted on the conference website shortly. As well as the already confirmed plenary speakers there will be approximately 90 oral presentations in three parallel tracks, held on the Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday and a poster session that will run from Tuesday (all day) to Wednesday morning of the conference. We are in the final stages of firming up the parallel sessions and the presenters/topics for the concurrent oral sessions and posters. These will soon be posted on the conference website (www.ieabioenergyconference.org/index.html). The conference will provide a great opportunity for networking and social events to which accompanying partners/spouses of delegates are also welcome to participate. These will include: Monday, August 24 – Salmon BBQ Reception Prior to the Banquet there will be an opportunity to explore part of British Columbia's fabled rain forest ecosystem that is represented by the 5,157 hectares of UBC's Research Forest located in the foothills of the BC Coast Mountains. Additional information on the Malcolm Knapp forest can be found at: www.mkrf.forestry.ubc.ca/general/index.htm. |
Forestry Skills Put to the Challenge High school students attending COFI Northern Operation’s Natural Resource Management Career Awareness Programs in Quesnel and Prince George had their newly acquired "forestry" skills put to the test as they competed in the Amazing Natural Resource Challenge at the end of each camp. Following a day and a half of workshops covering topics such as forest ecology, wildlife and fish management, archaeology, timber cruising, fire protection, forest health, block and road layout and silviculture, students were divided into teams and using their newly acquired skills, competed to see which team would win their challenge. Modeled after the popular TV program "The Amazing Race", teams competing in various "Challenges" interspersed with ‘Road Blocks’ where only one member of the team could compete. The NRM Challenge was both physically and mentally challenging as teams, using GPS units, navigated their way through the forest to each challenge. Challenges included navigating an orienteering course, identifying various forest health issues, basic fire fighting, identifying various plant species and timber cruising. Road Blocks, set up to slow teams down, included basic survival skills of building a shelter, building a fire and boiling a can of water, and calculating the height a tree. "We wanted the students to not only learn about careers in forestry, but to have some fun using the skills they learned in the various workshops", notes Chris Lear. The Amazing NRM Challenge lived up to all expectations as teams, smiling and exhausted, high-fived their team mates as they crossed the finish line. When asked if they enjoyed the Challenge the answer was a resounding "definitely". When asked what the biggest challenge was, the answer was "teamwork". And when asked would they do it again, all said "absolutely!" The Natural Resource Management Career Awareness Camps are part of COFI Northern Operation’s Forest Education Program and hosted annually across North Central BC in the Bulkley Valley, Nechako Lakes, Peace Region, Quesnel and Prince George. A special thank you to all the companies and organization that volunteer to make these programs a success for the students across the region.
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New Teaching Resources on Climate Change Coming This Fall When teachers return to school this fall they will have a new teaching resource available to help them teach how our forests and the wood products we produce can help mitigate the effects of climate change. With climate change considered by many as the number one environmental threat facing the world today, students across B.C. are learning about the causes of climate change, the current effects on our environment as well as predictions as to what may occur in the future. They are also learning about how they can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by driving more fuel efficient vehicles, walking or taking public transit, turning down the heat in their homes, building energy efficient homes, etc. Surprisingly, even in new textbooks that have lengthy sections on climate change, there is very little information about the role our forests play in absorbing and sequestering carbon and no information on the role wood products play in storing carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This fall, however, both elementary and secondary teachers will have a new resource that will help them teach their students how our forests and the wood products we produce may be the key to tackling and mitigating climate change. Produced in partnership with COFI Northern Operation’s Forest Education Program and Forest Innovation Investment the new teaching resources kits will be distributed free to all elementary and secondary schools throughout the province. The kits, complete with lesson plans, posters, PowerPoints and background information will have activities where students calculate the carbon footprint of their school and home, compare building material and plan how they can reduce their carbon footprint by thinking trees and wood products. This is the third teaching resource kit produced by COFI and FII following "British Columbia’s Mountain Pine Beetle – Today and Tomorrow" and "BC Forest Products for the World.” For more information please contact: Chris Lear, Manager Forest Education, COFI Northern Operations by phone at: (250) 614-4351 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org.
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Trucking Safety Report
A new report examines the state of safety in B.C.’s trucking industry and identifies key contributing factors to collisions involving heavy trucks on provincial roads. Best Practices for Truck Safety (www.worksafebc.com/news_room/news_releases/assets/nr_09_06_12/best_practices.pdf)(PDF 708kb) is an evidence-based research report developed by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) with the support of WorkSafeBC, the B.C. Trucking Association, and the Trucking Safety Council of B.C. “We examined the principal causes of collisions involving heavy trucks in B.C. and used this as the basis for identifying effective prevention programs and policies to help improve safety on highways,” said Brian Jonah, senior research scientist of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation. The causes and characteristics of fatal and injury collisions in B.C. from 2000 to 2006 involving heavy trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 4,536 kg or greater were examined. Through a comparison with other regions in Canada the report provides information specific to B.C. on fatal and injury collisions, single vs. multiple vehicle collisions, and at-fault analyses for truck drivers vs. other drivers. It also measures the use of alcohol and driver fatigue. “B.C.’s trucking industry is a critical part of our economy and increasing the health and safety of its workers gives employers a more stable and productive workforce,” said Diana Miles, WorkSafeBC vice-president of Worker and Employer Services. “Identifying key risk factors and implementing prevention programs that work can only help to reduce the human and financial costs to the industry.” In 2008, WorkSafeBC accepted 1,458 injury claims in the general trucking and moving and storage sectors of the industry. Of these, eight workers died and 645 were seriously injured. This resulted in 93,768 days lost and over $31 million paid to compensate and rehabilitate injured workers. For the five-year period from 2003 to 2007, there were 8,400 injury claims in these sectors — of these 60 workers died and 3,584 were seriously injured. Overexertion was the top accident type in both sectors of the industry during the five year period. “Our organization was established last year to help strengthen safety performance in B.C.’s trucking industry and one of our first projects was to fund this study into the principal causes of collisions involving heavy trucks,” said Rob Weston executive director of the Trucking Safety Council of B.C. “The information gathered in this report will be very useful in developing programs to help improve truck safety in our province.” The report outlines some of the best safety practices currently being used in B.C. and identifies leading programs in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. Safety programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand are identified as prominent in research, legislation, regulation, fleet safety management, and education. Based on cause of collision data in B.C. and on current practices in Canada and other countries, best practices models for government, the motor carrier industry and police services are outlined. An executive summary (www.worksafebc.com/news_room/news_releases/assets/nr_09_06_12/executive_summary.pdf) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nominate Your Community to be the 2010 Forest Capital of B.C.
Every year, the Association of BC Forest Professionals selects one community to be the Forest Capital of BC. The winning community carries the title for a full year—from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. The Forest Capital program, established in 1988, provides an important opportunity to celebrate the economic, cultural, natural and historic contributions forests make to community life and the health of the province. Our forests are important to every community in BC. It's a heritage we take pride in and celebrate. Communities named the Forest Capital host a full year of forest-themed events such as art competitions, interpretive forest walks and logger sports shows. Every community in BC is eligible to be nominated. Nominations are accepted from May to mid-November 2009. For more information go to the web site: http://www.abcfp.ca/about_us/affiliated_programs/forest_capital_of_bc.asp |
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As we head into summer, the forest fire season is well underway. As a former Deputy Minister of Forests I had the privilege of seeing our Forest Service fire crews in action. They are an impressive group and British Columbia is very fortunate to have such a high calibre and professional team.
