Deb DeLong, RPF, did not actively pick a career in forestry. In fact, she did not really know what the study of forestry was all about when she entered university. “I discovered forestry in the UBC calendar,” says Deb. “The forestry courses caught my attention and fit in with my interest in the natural environment.”

Now Deb is armed with a forestry degree, a masters in wood science and an in-depth knowledge of the practice of forestry. She is a Registered Professional Forester and works as a consultant. Throughout her career, Deb has had the opportunity to experience an enormous range of activities including setting chokers under a helicopter, designing silvicultural systems to maintain a variety of values, and visiting resort towns in the American Rockies to investigate the potential market for BC wood producers.

Alan Vyse, RPF, grew up in northeast England in a community famous for ship building and coal mining. “It seems like a strange place from which to launch a career in forestry,” says Alan. “However, my mother was a keen outdoor enthusiast and took us on summer holidays to a rural area 30 miles out of town.” He grew to love the English countryside and a chance lecture on forestry at school drew Alan’s attention. “The idea of working outdoors among trees, far away from smoke and soot was very appealing.”

Working in tree nurseries with spiky Sitka spruce and measuring Corsican pine trees in the pouring rain didn’t curb his enthusiasm and Alan soon earned his professional forester designation and started his career (which has spanned 44 years and is still going).

He retired from the BC Forest Service a number of years ago but still works on a number of long term research projects. “Looking back on my career, I can say that I’m satisfied that I worked hard to make a contribution to the sustainable management of forests in BC. Nature is endlessly fascinating and it is a joy to observe.”

A fascination with forestry came early for Colin Buss, RPF, as his childhood home was in a forested area and his father would take him and his brother out into the forest to cut trails. “He taught us the names of the plants and some of their uses by First Nations people,” says Colin. “By 14, I was planting trees in our yard and by 15; I realized I wanted to be a forest professional.”

Through his career in forestry, Colin has learned skills such as project management that have contributed to his success in volunteer work and business. Although Colin is now semi-retired, in the past, 90% of his time was spent in the office working on plans, reports and maps and doing public or First Nation consultation. Today, he still writes site plans that other forest professionals have done the field work for. Colin also works on pest management plans for vegetation management.

“When I first started the job was like a paid adventure – flying around in choppers and seeing lots of bears,” says Colin. “Today, I relish the fact that I live on Vancouver Island, arguably the best place in the world”.

Terry Teegee, RPF, got into professional forestry because he desired more challenge in his work. “Labor intensive jobs in the forest sector had become mundane, says Terry. “I realized that if I was going to stay in the industry, I needed more education to advance my skills and knowledge”

He graduated from the University of Northern BC with a bachelor of science degree in forestry. Terry also completed his diploma in forestry technology from the College of New Caledonia. Terry is the elected vice tribal chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (CSTC) as well as the interim general manager of CSTC. Prior to being elected to his current position, Terry was the forestry coordinator for his First Nation community of Takla Lake.

Terry was elected as the British Columbia representative for the National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA) and was appointed to the Fraser Basil Council Board, which is an advocacy group that promotes sustainability in the Fraser River Basin. He is also vice president of Sustut Holdings - a joint venture company owned by Takla, Nakazdli and Tlazten First Nations and is the president of LTN Contracting - a joint venture company owned by Lheidli Tenneh First Nation and Roga Contracting.

In December 2009, Terry attended the Council of Parties 15 (COP 15) convention in Copenhagen, Denmark representing the CSTC and the Assembly of First Nations to advocate for indigenous issues and promote sustainable communities. 

Terry resides in Lhiedli Tenneh (Prince George) with his wife Rena and their two children Rylie and Rowan. Terry is part of the Laxgibuu (wolf) Clan and comes from the house of Niigyap.

Brian Robinson, RPF, was always curious about nature and wondered why there were different types of forest ecosystems across the landscape. “My father always took me camping and hiking in the woods and he wished he could spend more time in nature,” says Brian. “I agreed – and decided when I was in high school that I wanted to go into forestry so I could work in and learn about the natural environment.”

After graduating from UBC with a forestry degree, Brian started his career in the field where he spent time doing ecological classification, intensive forestry and consulting. Back then, on a typical day he would drive, fly or take a boat to a remote setting; walk through the forest, map ecosystems, identify plants and soils and develop site prescriptions.

Currently Brian works as the manager of professional development and member relations with the ABCFP. “I don’t work in the woods anymore so I have fun meeting members and working with staff and committees.” Some of his tasks include: helping to develop continuing competency policy and admission and competence processes, participating in meetings to discuss ethical, practice and operational issues related to ABCFP members, conducting practice reviews, giving presentations, and assisting study groups with preparation for the ABCFP registration exam.

A second generation forest professional, Mary Viszlai-Beale, RPF, spent a great deal of time enjoying the outdoors and was keenly aware of the importance of good natural resource management at a young age. This led her to the career in forestry that she is proud of today.

Mary works as a stewardship officer and a typical week includes not only meetings and responding to e-mails and phone calls but also time spent in the field doing surveys, tenure inspections and harvesting monitoring. She also works with Compliance and Enforcement staff to develop action plans in regards to silvicutural issues. “I enjoy the various challenges associated with developing forest management options,” says Mary.

Todd Manning, RPF, RPBio, is a senior land use planning biologist with the Ministry of Environment working in the field of integrated resource management, more specifically, the area of applied forestry-habitat interactions. “Applied forest resource management is a great way to make a real difference on the land base, both in terms of policies and practices,” says Todd. “In addition to working in an office, I get to go out to the woods and see firsthand, the habitats and wildlife we are trying to manage in a sustainable manner.”

Throughout the span of his forestry-wildlife ecology career, Todd has done interesting work such as radio telemetry (radio-tracking) of grizzly bears in the Rockies and Williamson’s Sapsucker in the South Okanagan, conducting marbled murrelet and northern goshawk surveys on the Coast and forest songbird inventories in many ecosystems throughout BC. As part of ecosystem restoration treatments, he has also inoculated trees with native heartrot decay fungi to enhance and restore habitat for wildlife tree dependent species in the East Kootenays.

“My job allows me to work with many great people from a variety of professions and interest areas, throughout the province," says Todd. "I hope that through my work I am able to make positive contributions toward good stewardship of our land resource.”

After considering a career as a commercial pilot, Steve Lorimer, RPF, decided to enter the field of forestry. He attended the University of British Columbia and graduated in 1972. “Forestry seemed like a good fit as it provided opportunities to be involved in planning and decision making, and to work outside, at least some of the time,” says Steve.

Throughout his over 35 year career, he has been exposed to and participated in many facets of forestry including fire fighting, timber cruising, silviculture, tree improvement, local and regional land use planning, environmental issues, certification, working with First Nations,  involvement in the First Nations treaty process and serving on the ABCFP council since 2009.

Ken Price, RFT, is a GIS technician/First Nation log purchase liaison. “I constantly get challenged in my day-to-day work,” says Ken. “I can honestly say that there are not many slow days and the questions that get asked don’t have yes/no answers.”  Ken provides valuable information to planners and managers so that the correct decisions are made.” I take a lot of pride in being able to understand the issues and help ascertain the correct path to take.”

Ken chose to get into forestry because most of his close friends were in forestry and he likes to spend most of his off time outdoors. “If you want to know what and why decisions are made regarding the environment, you need to get involved,” says Ken. He also recommends that Aboriginal youth explore careers in forestry. “Many Aboriginal youth live in remote areas and have difficulty getting work. A lot of forestry work is done in remote areas and the people making the decisions should be local and enjoy the area they work and live.

Marty Locker, RPF, initially got into forestry out of a desire to work outdoors in northern Ontario and get away from Toronto. He found that he really liked the people he met in the forest industry, the diversity of jobs, opportunities for advancement and potential to travel throughout Canada.

In his current work as a manager of engineering, Marty never has a ‘typical day’. His duties range from working on planning and engineering projects on the Coast to managing operations and log marketing initiatives in the Southern Interior.

"I really enjoy the project management portion of my job," says Marty. "Starting large, difficult projects from scratch and successfully completing them as a team can be both exciting and gratifying, especially when the results meet or exceed expectations."

When reflecting on his career Marty says, "I have witnessed many changes over the past 15 years in the forest industry and I think the most important lesson I have learned so far is that big change usually precedes big opportunity. I hope that the next generation of forester can learn this, be adaptable and work towards capturing the next round of opportunities that our industry will provide."

Shannon Jonasson, RPF, worked as a tree planter before embarking on a career in forestry. “Although I enjoyed working outdoors, after six years of that job it was time for a change,” she says.  So in 1996, Shannon went to work for a forestry consultant. Her employer was very supportive of her desire to further her education and improve her status in the workplace. “I enrolled in the ABCFP’s forestry pupil program in 2000 and completed my schoolwork and work experience in 2008.”

In her job as proprietor of Jonasson Forestry Consulting Ltd., Shannon is involved in many aspects of silviculture (the growing of trees). “I check that the trees are being planted correctly and areas are being properly reforested. I also check that the herbicide is applied properly and to the correct areas.” During the winter when the snow is inhibiting tree growth, Shannon helps establish block boundaries and roads for logging.

Eric Miller, RPF, RPBio , is a founding member of Selkirk Power Company Ltd. and one of the two people responsible for the development of new research, engineering, permitting and development of new technologies for renewable energy projects.

An interest in working outdoors and making a difference in the industry led Eric to where he is now and he states, “I love working in an industry on the brink of incredible growth. With careful consideration of the local community, First Nations and the environment, renewable energy is a great tool to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. I also get to work outdoors conducting terrestrial inventory, locating potential renewable energy sites, and conducting hydrology monitoring and fisheries work.”

For the past three years Holly Edwards, TFT, has been working for Brinkman Forest Ltd with their management of Coast Tsimshian Resources LP’s forest tenure within northwestern BC. Her job tasks vary from traversing, timber cruising, mapping, scaling, and she is currently involved with silviculture, data entry, cutting permits and First Nations consultation.

Silviculture has provided Holly with a new awareness of how all forestry operations are tied together. “Some people will look at a cut block and see devastation, I see opportunity,” says Holly. She also understands how forestry has an impact on society in general. “Today’s forestry sector has been in economical difficultly, but it is still alive due to its worldwide importance.”

Sam Coggins, FIT, decided on a career in forestry for reasons not usually recounted, “I chose forestry initially because I thought using chainsaws and heavy machinery would make me more attractive to women,” says Sam. “Once I started working I realized I liked using chainsaws and heavy machinery and forestry in the UK was a good industry to be in.” After almost 10 years of cutting trees, working with heavy machinery and attaining a technical diploma in forestry and woodland management, Sam decided to go university in Wales. Following a transfer to the University of British Columbia (UBC) and time spent in Thailand as a volunteer for a forest restoration research centre, Sam graduated with a bachelor of science degree in forestry. He is currently a graduate student at UBC researching mountain pine beetles with remotely sensed imagery.

“I work at scaling low-level mountain pine beetle estimates to very large areas and looking into how to integrate remotely sensed data with current survey techniques,” says Sam. He has enjoyed opportunities to give presentations at national and international conferences and work in the field through western Canada. “Forestry has become way more than a way to impress women. I’ll be very proud when my thesis is done and I can use my experience and education to find work in the forestry consulting sector and continue a journey that began when I was 16 years old.”

Som Pun, RPF, works in Fort St. James, BC but was born and raised in a remote mountain village of Nepal where the traditional knowledge based resource management activities are still in practice. Growing up in a subsistence farming community, Som was always interested in pursuing a career in the natural resource management field, particularly in the forestry sector. Unfortunately, he was not able to pursue this goal in Nepal because of socio-economic and political constraints. Due to political unrest, he left Nepal in 1992 and immigrated to Canada. As a refugee in Canada, Som was not permitted to enroll in school or work until 1995 and  found his university level education and teaching experience from Nepal were not fully recognized in BC. He had to complete his grade 12 equivalency before pursuing post secondary education. Despite language and financial barriers, Som obtained his grade 12 equivalency (1996), graduated with a certificate in integrated resource management (1997), a diploma in forest technology (1999) and a bachelor of science degree in forestry (2004). Som became a registered forest professional (RPF) with the ABCFP in 2007.

Says Som, “Not many people in my village have the opportunity to pursue a higher level education, so I wanted to set an example and also prove to myself that I was as capable as anybody else to pursue a career in forestry.”

Over the last 13 years, Som has worked throughout BC and has seen some of the most amazing natural environment on earth. He has enjoyed to opportunity to meet and work with amazing people and learn valuable lessons from them.

In his current work as a silviculture forester with the Ministry of Forests and Range, Som gets to work both outdoors and in an office. Some of his job responsibilities include planning, developing and managing of various silviculture projects, conducting field assessments, overseeing legal reporting obligations as well as reviewing and preparing of various professional documents.

While Tara Reimer, RPF, used to be a layout technician, she is currently in the business plan development stage of opening her own environmental consulting firm.

In her work as a layout technician, she went into the forest and implemented the field work from the plans created in the office. “I layout the cut blocks and roads, completed field assessments including stream assessments and ecological classification, layout wildlife tree patches and other reserves,” says Tara. “I also processed completed field work in the office so that the blocks can be harvested and the roads can be built.

“My favourite thing about working in forestry is spending the majority of time working on my own with my dog,” says Tara. She got into forestry for similar reasons. “I could not see myself working in an office all day from nine-to-five; it seemed too structured for me. I also had a strong desire to learn more about my environment and feel a part of it.”

Tara believes that to be successful in forestry you should see it as a lifestyle rather than as a career. “If your lifestyle gravitates towards nature and the forest and you have a vested interest in the environment ─ forestry is for you.”

While attending UBC with the intent of getting into electro-mechanical engineering, Spencer Siwallace, RPF, flipped through the UBC academic calendar. “All of the forestry related courses caught my attention,” says Spencer. “I transferred to the forestry program with hopes of obtaining a job where I would spend most of my time in the outdoors.”

Spencer did work outdoors for a while but now, as elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, he spends most of his time in the office. “I am responsible for ensuring the direction given by the council is communicated to the administration staff through the band manager,” says Spencer. “The responsibilities include all aspects of life on a reserve from roads/drainage to health to education to housing to forestry and everything in between.”

Johnson Ginger, TFT, had many reasons for getting into forestry. But he feels if he hadn’t had a chance to work with Fred Philpot, RPF, in the 90s he may shave not have realized his goal to become a forest professional. “Fred challenged me with many tasks as a forest technician and was always there to help me when it was required,” said Johnson. “I truly believe that having a forester mentor helped me to want to learn the discipline.” 

Today, Johnson’s mentor is Paul Dagg, RPF, who has been instrumental in encouraging him to learn more about varying perspectives in BC forestry. Johnson works as a geographic information system (GIS) technician and is also on the lands and forestry committee of his First Nation; Huu-ay-aht. “As a First Nation person, I have always felt a special connection with the land,” he says. “In today’s world, understanding the laws that govern forestry in BC is essential. As more First Nations in BC move closer to treaties, Aboriginal forest professionals set a good example to their youth. The forest will always continue to grow, so the need for forestry professionals is always going to be there.”

Darren Loverin, RFT, grew up in northwestern BC and has been in love with the outdoors since he was a young boy camping with his family.  “Back then, the outdoors were my playground and still are through my job,” says Darren.

He is currently an engineering technician and inspects Forest Service roads within the Skeena Stikine Forest District. This work includes coordinating and supervising repairs, organizing regular road maintenance, updating computer systems and spreadsheets, and ordering equipment and signs required for road safety.

“My favorite thing about the job is getting out there and actually going out in the back-forty where not many people get to go.” said Darren. “I’ve had lots bear encounters. Once, I was riding my quad in the middle of four full grown grizzlies, getting pelted with rocks from three of them running on the road in front of me, with one behind! Of course, I also love the construction work. It’s like playing in a sandbox.”

Betsy Cranmer, FIT, is a member of the ‘Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay and works as a silviculture technician on Haida Gwaii. “I am involved in all aspects of silviculture and stand tending,” said Betsy. She begins with organizing a planting season, moves on to silviculture surveys, monitoring and data management then finally sees those trees through to a healthy regenerated stand. 

“I enjoy the tending aspect of silviculture,” said Betsy. She likes watching and being a part of the progression of a newly planted stand of trees.   

“Even though both my parents had brief careers in the logging industry, I got into forestry by chance and the overwhelming need to eat,” said Betsy. “Forestry was completely unknown to me at the time but through schooling at Nicola Valley Institute of Technology and UBC and on the job training, I grew into forestry and over time it became more than just a job.”

Bev Atkins, RFT, has been working in the forest industry for over 30 years. She credits her longevity in the sector to the fact that the job is constantly changing and challenging.

Some of the challenges are based on changing societal values or climate change. Other challenges are brought on by the individual looking for more and different things to do. “Everyone can find something they like in forestry,” says Bev. “If you like research, you can spend your whole career in the lab. If you like the trees, you can spend your whole career in the bush. Or, you can move between the different jobs so you are never bored.”

Bev says that she simply fell in to forestry as a career. She was going to school to become a teacher but got a summer job with the federal government in silviculture. Once she had a taste of forestry, there was no going back to teaching.

James (Brian) Moore, RFT, is a member of the Laxgalt’sap Band in the Nisga’a Nation. In his work as an assistant engineering technician, he builds and maintains forest roads and bridges. Brian also oversees the hiring and supervision related to roads and bridges contracts.

“My favourite things about this job are being out in nature and taking projects from planning through to completion,” said Brian. “I got into forestry so I could work outside and also because there are a lot of possibilities and variety of jobs in the sector.

Angeline Nyce, RPF, LLB, was raised in Gitwinksihlkw, a small village located in the Nass River valley in northwestern BC. The ever-present opportunities to observe and interact in the natural environment plus her family's involvement in the forestry and fishing sectors piqued Angeline’s interest. “I had a desire to be of service and assist in the advancement of forest stewardship and responsible resource development,” says Angeline. Her aspirations led her to earn degrees in forestry and law (with a focus on natural resource, Aboriginal and corporate/commercial law).

Throughout her career, Angeline has worked for government and private businesses in the forest and fishing sectors focusing on areas of planning, operations and engineering, and research. She is currently an associate at the law firm Davis LLP.

In addition to her dual role as lawyer and forest professional, Angeline enjoys volunteering her time to various committees and organizations, including the Association of BC Forest Professionals.

“It is important to give back to others and your community,” says Angeline. “In everything I do, I seek to build ongoing relationships with clients and peers and maintain a balanced family life.”

Karen Schwalm, RFT, has put her life's effort toward working outdoors. She was born and raised in the forests of northern Michigan and has held a number of diverse jobs including chemist and teacher, but her first job was in the family business. “When I was two, my mother would give me a cedar pole to peel and told me it was for my dad’s work because he was a furniture maker and Stihl chainsaw dealer,” says Karen. “I think this early exposure to forestry led me to my career today.”

Karen is a geomatics technician for the Ministry of Forests and Range in Port McNeill. “It seems the older you get, the more tied to a desk you are,” she says. “I enjoy working with technology and I still love my job so I don’t mind spending most of my time inside, now. It is exhilarating when I am able to get outside and do things like fly to remote areas and see the incredible sights that BC has to offer.”

Like many other forest professionals, Steven Kiiskila, RPF, choose a career in forestry partly because he liked being outside and didn’t want to have a job sitting behind a desk all day.

In his work as a seedling reforestation specialist, a typical week might involve talking to silviculturists (those who are concerned with the cultivation of trees) about appropriate seedling stock types for planting under various conditions; inspecting forest seedling growth in a nursery; walking recently planted areas to see how the seedlings are doing; juggling seedling numbers and arranging transportation from the nursery to the planting site; and analyzing seed needs for the next 20 years.

Steven enjoys all of the time that he gets to spend outdoors whether walking around looking at trees or flying in helicopters to get to planting sites. He is also humbled by his opportunities to work with diverse groups of people such as foresters, researchers, tree planters and nursery workers. Says Steven, “I’m part of a long chain of events that lead to reforestation in BC. It’s hard not to feel good when you’re planting trees.”

Encouraged by her father to find the balance between ecology and the economy, and via many family outings to conservation and wildland areas, Chris Hollstedt, RPF, spent her childhood studying plants and ecosystems: “I started thinking about forestry as a career at age 17,” says Chris. “That was when I learned forestry is both ecology and economics.” This calling led her to earn a forestry degree from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Since then Chris has gained  over 25 years experience in the forestry sector and has carved out a diverse career path that includes jobs as a timber cruiser, forest ecologist, research associate, silviculture forester, regional vegetation management specialist and extension specialist.

Dave Wilford, PhD, RPF, PGeo, credits his grandfather for inspiring him to choose a career in forestry. His grandfather loved the outdoors and felt that a job working in the forest was one of the few admirable jobs one could have. “Although my grandfather was too old to take us hiking and camping, he inspired us with his camping stories,” says Dave.

For more than 35 years, Dave has enjoyed a productive career as a forest hydrologist (someone who studies water in the forest—how water from rain and snowmelt moves through forests, forest soils and streams) with the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. Dave’s current area of research is watershed management. “I used to focus more on fish and fish habitat but now domestic water use is becoming more important,” he says.

Whether he is focusing his research on fish or watersheds, one thing is clear: Dave is passionate about his work. He is still excited about doing the research and extension that helps forest professionals who are managing the forests. “I am fortunate in that I still get to do field work and I have been able to work with some great researchers and forest professionals.”

As a child Reg Nolander, RFT, was fascinated by the sights, sounds and smells found within the forests. He knew that trees were a renewable natural resource and felt that working in the forest sector would provide steady employment and contribute to the quality of life for future generations.

“Actually, I always wanted to be a vet,” said Cindy DeRosier, RFT, when asked how she got into forestry. But she’d grown up in a forestry family – her mom worked at Skimikin Nursery in Salmon Arm sorting seedlings and her dad worked at the Federated Coop plywood plant in Canoe. So, despite her veterinary ambitions, it was forestry at BCIT that caught her eye when she graduated from high school in the early 1980s.

Cindy joined the BC Forest Service in 1985 and has worked for them ever since. In 2008, the Forest Service asked her to join the ABCFP and become a forest professional to ensure that they were compliant with the Foresters Act. The Foresters Act defines the practice of professional forestry and states that one must be a member of the ABCFP to engage in the practice of professional forestry.

In the late 1980s Kerry Rouck, RPF, was working in sawmills and logging as his family had done for the past 50 years. At the time, there was a lot of controversy over logging in various areas of BC. As Kerry relates, “ban clear-cutting” was a popular phrase. “This baffled me, as many of the clear-cut areas I saw in my travels were growing vigorous new forests,” says Kerry. He decided that the best way to make a difference was to understand the science of forestry and then get involved on the ground. At 24 years old, Kerry quit his job, sold everything he owned and completed the forest operations program in the faculty of forestry at UBC.

After graduating, Kerry worked in increasingly challenging positions and is currently an operations forester at Gorman Bros. Lumber in Westbank. His job is to coordinate the planning, harvesting and silviculture departments with the purchase program to ensure that  the mill gets the right kind and amount of sawlogs at the right time of year.

Albert Vandenberg, RPF, came to Canada from Holland over 30 years ago. As he experienced nature, he fell in love with the outdoors, especially the forests. He also became aware of the environmental issues surrounding forestry. “I came to the conclusion that I could make a bigger difference by influencing change from the inside as a professional forester than by standing on a bridge with a protest sign, says Albert.”

In his current work as a tenures forester, Albert ensures all requirements are met before issuing cutting permits. He is also involved with the approval process of Forest Stewardship Plans and amendments. Throughout his career, Albert has also had the privilege of managing tree plantations, listening and learning from other forest professionals and teaching summer students. Albert’s greatest career perk is closely linked to the beauty and remoteness of some of the locations he has worked in. “There is an unlimited amount of subject matter for nature photography,” says Albert.  “Over the years I literally have taken thousands of photos of trees and scenery. My wife used to joke that I had more photos of trees than of her.”

Stephanie Ewen, RPF, initially got into the forestry field from a desire for a hands-on education and intended to use the information she learned at UBC to advocate against logging. “I grew up not knowing much about forestry at all, and was often under the impression that all logging was bad,” says Stephanie. “Among many other things, I learned that every tree that is harvested is replanted and I also came to realize how well forest professionals manage and care for our forests in BC.”

Stephanie works as growth and yield analyst and alternates between working in an office and in the field, depending on the season. When the weather is warm and good, she collects very detailed tree growth information that is used to test or develop growth assumptions. During the office season (when the weather is bad), Stephanie works as a consultant and does statistical analyses and adjustments of forest inventories using some of the data she collects in the field.

“One of the best parts about forestry is the people that work in it, and the diversity of jobs within the industry,” says Stephanie. “Forestry offers many opportunities for all types of work including genetics, water management, block layout and harvesting.”

Frank DeGagne, RPF, was working as a geological technician in Northern Manitoba when he decided to pursue a career in forestry. “One of the Geologists suggested I check into the forestry program at Lakehead University, and when I learned more about it, a light went on,” says Frank. “I grew up in a very rural area surrounded by forests, lakes and wildlife yet had never considered there was an actual job in managing resources, besides working in the local mill.”

Currently, Frank works as a land & resource specialist with the Integrated Management Bureau in Surrey, BC. In this position, he works to find solutions to land use issues with various stakeholder groups such as First Nations, tenure holders, the public, local businesses and governments. Frank is also working to manage for biodiversity in old growth and wildlife areas.

Phil Blanchard, RPF, is president and owner of P.R. Blanchard & Associates Limited and has been a forest professional for over 35 years. He decided on a career in forestry after speaking with long-time friend, neighbour and fellow Boy Scout – the late Bob Craig, RPF. “I was in my second year at UBC and had been considering majoring in chemical engineering or pharmacy because I really liked science,” says Phil. “But I also was looking for opportunities to apply science into practice and didn’t want to be inside all of the time.” Bob convinced Phil that forestry would provide a good fit for his interests and abilities and this proved to be true. “My primary area of practice in forest roads, harvest development and tenure management gives me a good balance between field and office work.”

When he is in the field, Phil is often awed by BC’s natural environment and reminded of his responsibilities as a steward of the forest. “When you get the chance to do things like drop down by helicopter onto an isolated beach in the north Queen Charlottes and experience nature in its undisturbed glory, it makes you that much more careful to preserve and care for it.”

An interest in stewardship and the conservation of BC’s natural environment led Mark Sloan, RPF, of Williams Lake into a career in forestry. “I wanted to be involved in making decisions on public forest land,” says Mark. “In order to have the biggest impact on the management of natural resources, forestry was the logical choice.”

Mark attained a bachelor’s degree in natural resources conservation

in the faculty of forestry from the University of British Columbia and then went on to complete a master’s degree at Yale University.

Mark is currently a stewardship forester with the Central Cariboo Forest District of the Ministry of Forests and Range. One forest development and monitoring project he is working on deals with evaluating the regenerative progress and stocking densities of free-growing stands (healthy communities of trees sufficiently uniform in species composition, age, arrangement, and condition) that were replanted between 1960 and 1994. Mark is also focused on resource stewardship monitoring to assess the impacts of forestry activities on public values – such as water quality. “In my future, I want to continue to work in the public’s best interest managing forests with a stewardship focus and make sound decisions based on the best available science.”