August 22, 2016 2:25 pm Leave your thoughts
Our forests are constantly fighting for their survival. Each and every tree will be subjected to competition, pathogens, harsh environments, and pests over its lifetime. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the mountain pine beetle and the immediate effects that the epidemic in BC had on our forests, but did you know that every species of tree has its own unique insect/pest,
August 8, 2016 6:00 pm 1 Comment
At the heart of British Columbia lies the perfect blend of urban and wild. Intertwined between the Nechako and Fraser Rivers and surrounded by thick emerald forest, Prince George is a bustling hub for adventure, entertainment, cuisine and industry. Yet, one needs to dive into the community and culture of the city to truly experience all the gems PG has to offer.
August 8, 2016 4:26 pm 1 Comment
As it might seem like it from my past blogs, but my summer isn’t entirely full of outdoor adventures; I do have to spend some time working. I’ve worked at West Fraser’s Quesnel Plywood a few different times over the past four years in between going to school and taking some time off to travel. They’ve been generous enough to keep hiring me back and at the moment I’m working as a summer student so that I go to British Columbia Institute of Technology and pursue a career in media.
August 8, 2016 4:01 pm Leave your thoughts
Wow I can’t believe that it is August already. Summer is upon us and the weather has been hitting close to 30°C in Metro Vancouver these past two weeks. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the heat but it makes for perfect barbeque weather. This past Thursday, everyone chipped in for a small feast, which consisted of barbequed chicken tandoori,
August 8, 2016 3:59 pm Leave your thoughts
The past month, my role at West Fraser has included mostly silviculture work under an incredible forester named Sue. Silviculture is a type of forestry that relates to managing the landscape post-harvest in order to produce a healthy and merchantable forest stand for the future. I’ll be writing to you guys soon about what exactly the art of silviculture work entails and all the experiences I’ve had with that soon,
August 8, 2016 3:52 pm Leave your thoughts
Hi again,
I have been at Canfor for just a little over two months now and I’ve had the good fortune to work on a number of big projects, which have also been really beneficial in my development in Human Resources.
One project involved the revamping of job postings. As I have mentioned in a past blog,
August 8, 2016 3:49 pm Leave your thoughts
Like all jobs, forestry has its bad days, and plenty of bad moments. Anyone in forestry can most likely think of countless situations that can make these days painful; being stuck in bad weather, quads/argos breaking down, technology not working correctly, endless beaver floods. I personally (if you haven’t noticed by now) absolutely hate having to cross beaver dams. Climbing over rotten logs at the bottom of a valley is also disheartening.
August 8, 2016 3:48 pm Leave your thoughts
So the last few weeks have consisted mostly of crossing inspections, and while I thoroughly enjoy doing them, they have presented their own set of problems. For example, the inspections that need to be completed are all in fairly remote areas where truck access isn’t always an option, and while I love to take out the ATV, I learned the hard way not to do so without a working winch,
August 8, 2016 2:55 pm Leave your thoughts
Walking through the naturally regenerated young aspen during our tree plant quality checks has to be one of my favourite times of year. After only a few year or less this aspen already trump my 5’2” and they are invigorating. They are a sign of nature’s resilience, they make the entire cutblock feel incredibly fresh and alive. As students we get to go into these planted blocks to check the quality of the planting operation and address any concerns our planters may have.
August 8, 2016 1:40 pm Leave your thoughts
Recently I have had the pleasure of receiving a tour of the nursery, Woodmere Nursery Ltd., which grows out seedlings for us when I went to go pick up a few boxes. Jeff, showed us green houses and how they worked per species, the assembly line for packing them up, the cooler room, and how the get loaded into the trucks to be sent to the tree planters.
July 28, 2016 12:06 pm 3 Comments
Many Weyerhaeuser employees have long career history with the company. Some have even started working in the mill before I was born. It’s always interesting to hear about the history and changes the mill had from the people that have lived through it.
Larry has started working in the mill long ago when it was owned by Proctor and Gamble.
July 19, 2016 6:30 pm Leave your thoughts
This summer I’ve been helping my mom plant some new trees in our yard. There was a lot of digging and raking but they look pretty good and I know they’ll look even better in a few years when they start to mature. Some of them we bought new and some we transplanted from the forested area of our property.
… View ArticleJuly 19, 2016 5:44 pm Leave your thoughts
I have a feeling most recent graduates will be able to relate when I say I couldn’t wait to be finished with my post-secondary education. No more papers, midterms, finals, and – my personal pet peeve – homework. University is nothing like a part-time job where when your shift is over, you go home and don’t have to think about it.
July 19, 2016 5:42 pm Leave your thoughts
Peanut butter and chocolate. Drake and Rihanna. Canfor Pulp and Licella. Innovation happens when complimentary factors converge. That’s what Martin Pudlas, VP Operations at Canfor Pulp said at the International Bioenergy Conference & Exhibition held in Prince George earlier this month. Significantly more relevant than Drake and Rihanna, he was talking about Canfor’s joint venture with Australian biofuel production start-up Licella.
July 19, 2016 4:46 pm Leave your thoughts
This week we will be concluding our effluent testing. Two other tests that we do in addition to the metals scan include measuring the chemical oxygen demand (COD), and the amount of chloride and sulfate anions.
Chemical Oxygen Demand:
Significance:
The chemical oxygen demand (COD) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water.
July 19, 2016 4:26 pm 1 Comment
As the beginning of July approaches, the city of Williams Lake builds as almost indescribable atmosphere. Canada Day weekend in the city marks the annual Williams Lake Stampede, which is second in Canada only to the Calgary Stampede. This year the community celebrated 90 years of rodeo tradition and the city was abuzz with beautiful window murals,
July 19, 2016 3:51 pm 1 Comment
One thing that it appears we are unable to escape in forestry, is beavers. These small animals have a devastating effect on our forests. Most of the imagery we use is but a few years out of date, but when we’re sent to layout a block in preparation for harvesting, its almost scary the number of times that a block is either flooded or needs adjusting due to a beaver’s impact.
July 8, 2016 9:36 am Leave your thoughts
Last week a new phase of my job began: Crossing inspections. Millar Western owns hundreds of kilometers of road and within those roads are thousands of culverts and bridges, most of which are nothing but cross drains for the ditches, but some cross over larger streams or small rivers. There are two main reasons they need to be inspected; the first reason is from a financial standpoint,
July 7, 2016 7:50 pm Leave your thoughts
You spend the summer in Vancouver for the first time ever and not cram your weekends with tourist-like activities. A few weeks ago my friend and I decided it would be fun to explore some of Vancouver’s favorite attractions. The Capilano Suspension Bridge was our first stop and what a cool experience that was.
July 7, 2016 7:46 pm Leave your thoughts
“The core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences”.
–Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild
Two weekends ago my roommate and I visited our friend Ashley in Smithers. As we drove out from Prince George late Friday evening, I was mesmerized by the landscape around me. The lush countryside freckled with swamps was bathed in orange and pink hues.
July 7, 2016 7:33 pm Leave your thoughts
Back this week with a special unboxing for you guys. Just got this cooler from the Prince George Mill.
Let’s open it up and see what we have inside!
Bang bang!
Looks like we got a delivery of effluent samples from the mill for chemical analysis.
July 7, 2016 7:03 pm Leave your thoughts
One of our lunch time hobbies has always consisted of identifying uncommon plants we encounter or learning more about the common ones, like is it edible. Usually no. But now that fun past time has evolved into a legitimate project for school. A plant ID collection for a forestry course at University of Alberta, since I’ve just transferred in. I’ve gotten a huge head start,
July 7, 2016 6:58 pm Leave your thoughts
British Columbia wasn’t always made up of lumberjacks, like myself (I don’t actually cut down the trees, I just help in the production process, but I like the idea of being a lumberjack). Back in the 1800’s BC’s biggest attraction was a glittery yellow-y rare element called gold. And the man who struck gold in the Cariboo, was Billy Barker.
July 7, 2016 6:53 pm Leave your thoughts
Déjà près de deux mois que je suis à mon poste de stagiaire et j’appréhende déjà les deux prochains. La semaine dernière, on m’a invité à participer à un événement avec d’autres employés des ressources humaines chez Résolu. Nous avons été convoqués à Saint-Félicien, pour 1h de l’après-midi. Une fois assis autour d’une grande table, les gens se sont présentés.
July 7, 2016 6:19 pm Leave your thoughts
This past week (June 20th-23rd) I’ve been in camp at the Eagle’s Nest Resort on beautiful Anahim Lake, located about three and a half hours west of Williams Lake.
West Fraser is fairly new to this operating area; initial planning began only in 2012 and the first actual harvesting commenced in March of this year. West Fraser has worked very hard to do right by the First Nations and the small communities of the area before operations began,
