July 29, 2015 10:51 am
When it comes down to it, a lot of my job is exploring, given that I have to travel to all these roads to inspect them. Sure, I have maps and a GPS and everything, but I never really know what to expect when I get to my destination. Some areas I am already familiar with, from having worked for Millar Western last year,
July 21, 2015 1:02 pm
It seems that no matter what you’re doing in forestry, things are so much easier with the help of a contractor. It is difficult to think of any job at Millar Western that doesn’t somehow involve outside help. We have contractors working on everything from laying out cutblocks and planting seedlings, to repairing roads and preparing areas for harvest. At any given time,
July 3, 2015 10:02 am
As I explained in my first blog, my job this summer, as a Roads Summer Student will be to inspect and remediate water crossings, for example, culverts and bridges. It is critical that these be installed correctly and maintained throughout their lifespan, to protect sensitive riparian habitats.
As you can see, this crossing now looks very different from the photo included in my first blog.
July 2, 2015 4:48 pm
I’d like to start off by apologizing for the delay in getting this blog written; these past couple of weeks have been surprisingly busy for me. I spent the last two days (Tuesday June 30th and Wednesday July 1st) in a helicopter, flying over dozens of roads to complete road inspections.
To get to the point of actually flying these roads,
May 29, 2015 10:05 am
I am thrilled to be back in Whitecourt to begin my second summer as a roads summer student with Millar Western Forest Products. Last year, my work consisted primarily of GPS mapping all of the roads that Millar Western owns under road lease agreements. Selected as a Green Dream Intern, I blogged about my work and travel experiences; for those who are interested,
September 8, 2014 9:57 am
One would think that spending hour after hour driving a quad on rough roads would be physically exhausting. I find that it is a lot more mentally draining, though, especially when I am center-lining roads. To get accurate GPS data, I have to quad pretty slowly (anywhere from 2 km/h to about 15 km/h, depending on how open the road is).
August 13, 2014 12:00 pm
As anyone living in the western half of this country already knows, forest fires are a big issue this year. The smoke drifting down from the territories is so bad, it is causing air quality warnings in the central prairies, hundreds of kilometers away.
All of the hot weather we’ve had so far isn’t helping with the fires either.
July 24, 2014 10:38 am
This is just going to be a mini blog post, but I felt the need to bring something up that I figured not many of the other Green Dream interns would be able to write about. I’m currently studying forest management at the University of Alberta, and have been gaining experience in the industry over the summers. Doing this, I have met all kinds of people who have come from unexpected backgrounds.
July 16, 2014 2:06 pm
Today, I just about drove into the back of a moose while quadding; I guess he just didn’t hear me coming. This sighting puts the total to 5 moose, 8 bears, 2 elk, countless deer, and hundreds of tracks from other animals (including wolf, lynx, fox and coyote) that I have encountered. I was hoping to hold off on this blog post until I got an actual picture of an animal,
June 26, 2014 3:45 pm
This past weekend, I had the honor of volunteering as a timekeeper at the Stihl Timbersports Series Western Qualifier, held in Fort Saskatchewan, just outside of Edmonton. Timbersports is not hugely popular in Alberta (they are more of an East coast thing), so it was pretty exciting to be able to help out at such an important event. For those that don’t know,
June 9, 2014 1:16 pm
In case anyone is wondering, my name is Kyle. I am working for Millar Western in Whitecourt as a roads summer student. Even though summer has been here for almost a month, I have only just started working for Millar Western. I spent the first three weeks of my summer at a field school in Lac la Biche, a required course for my degree in Forestry at the U of A.