Hello Everybody!
June 10, 2019 6:14 pm Leave your thoughts
WOW, so I’ve been fortunate enough to have been accepted as a 2019 Green Dream Intern! I am honestly so excited to share with you what my everyday work day looks like, the community I live in and what the community has to offer.
A little bit about me (I’ll keep it short, we want to hear about the cool stuff, right?). I recently moved to Sundre, Alberta in April of 2019 so that I could work for Sundre Forest Products – A division of West Fraser. I also had to ask people where Sundre was exactly, so don’t worry! I’m located in between Calgary and Red Deer, and a little bit west towards the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
Figure 1. Photo of me in a reforested cut block.
I graduated with honors from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, Alberta, April of 2019. I took the 2-year program which provided me with a diploma in Forest Technology. I loved this program as it’s ONLY 2 YEARS before you’re already out working in the industry! The time honestly flew by! I have a 4-month contract with Sundre Forest Products, and I will be looking for full-time employment with West Fraser once my contract is up. But in the meantime, I’m thoroughly enjoying my summer here working with the silviculture crew.
Some of my interests include hiking, biking, snowboarding, writing, reading, fishing, camping, softball and spending time with my friends! My favourite music is anything alternative! If you would like to know more about me, feel free to leave a comment ?.
I already have so many cool details I want to share with you guys, but I can’t spill ALL the beans on my very first post. So, for this post I’m going to share what my typical work day looks like and some sweet activities we’ve done so far.
My life here in Sundre consists of a few tasks which include stocking surveys, planting layout, working with ArcGIS, herbicide application, supervising tree planters and helping wherever I can. You probably already know what a stocking survey is but I’m going to tell you again anyway. We perform these surveys when the seedling on the block are 3-5 years old. These survey’s are only for our mill and are not a government standard. The reason why we do these surveys is to ensure that the block is regenerating successfully and that the block will pass an establishment survey in years 5-8. The surveys are super simple to complete and you have an opportunity to get outside EVERYDAY! (That’s definitley my favourite part).
When we do plant layout, it’s typically laying out a boundary for either seed zone changes or a fill plant where more trees need to be planted. I forgot to mention that these activities and surveys are done using a super convenient app called AVENZA that uses your location to help guide you to complete your tasks. I am so thankful of AVENZA because I’d be using a compass and string box if we didn’t utilize the app. This makes tasks more efficient and productive too!
I can’t say too much about herbicide application yet as this will be my first year being part of the plan. I missed last year because I had to back to school in August! I’m very excited to learn something new and I will be sharing my experiences and noodle knowledge with you guys!
Figure 2. A few of our quads here in Sundre.
One of my absolute favourite parts about my job is all the ATV’ing we do to access most of our blocks. We had a quad safety training day this year where the silviculture crew and I toured some of our FMA. It’s an incredible tour as you’re literally placed into real life problems where you work as a team to overcome. I feel like I learned a lot of tips and tricks from my coworkers, especially tips like water filling up the air filter (yes it actually happened) and how to dry it next to a cozy campfire.
Figure 3. Typical day in the cut block.
Sundre is located within the upper and lower foothills subregion; this makes for some steep climbs in certain areas but at least you can skip the gym for that evening! The main species that Sundre Forest Products utilizes is pine, spruce and occasionally fir. We are a lumber mill, so our focus is primarily on coniferous species, but we still monitor and record deciduous populations as well.
Well that is my day-to-day work life in a nutshell! I love this area because of the warm weather, mountains, lakes, rivers and recreation areas. I feel like there is ALWAYS something to do outdoors to keep you busy whether it’s biking, hiking, riding an OHV, horseback riding, softball or just simply exploring!! If you every have an opportunity to visit Sundre, definitely do! It’s a small town with a lot of character and places to explore. I’ll leave you guys with a few more fun photos my team and I took so far this year.
Question for YOU: If you could pick a perfect song to describe your summer, what would it be??
Cheers,
Gabby ?
Figure 4. Team silviculture. (L to R) Britni, Fraser, me, Zena, Karalee and Dylan. Just missing Ed!
Figure 5. Quad training day. Nice view of some blocks.
Figure 6. Summer student Zena and Supervisor Karalee having a laugh at me.