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Feature Editorial:
First Nations Forestry Program
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Feature Editorial:
First Nations Forestry Program
In partnership with First Nations
Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants has a history of successful relationships within the Aboriginal community, providing forestry and business related services to First Nations in western Canada. Within the past five years the company has worked with over 20 First Nation groups and has developed long-standing relationships with many of them. In 1998, a partnership with the Pikangikum First Nation of Ontario led to the creation of Whitefeather Forest Management Corporation. This joint venture was established to provide technical forestry support for the Whitefeather Forest Initiative, a model designed to build skills and capacity within the Pikangikum community. Today, this relationship is recognized internationally as an exemplary paradigm to facilitate sustainable forestry programs within First Nation communities.
For many First Nation communities across Canada, the forest plays an integral role in their social, spiritual, and cultural lives. It also offers a foundation upon which First Nations peoples and communities can develop an economic base, while maintaining their traditional connection with the land.
In 1996, the First Nations Forestry Program (FNFP) was developed to improve economic conditions in status First Nation communities with full consideration of the principles of sustainable forest management, and to assist First Nations with building their capacity to manage forest resources. Jointly funded and managed by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the FNFP is the only federal program in Canada that focuses exclusively on First Nations forestry.
"The FNFP provided critical help with the development work. It was the glue that held the project together during its development stages. It helped tasks of a technical nature get done."
- Andrew Chapeskie, Taiga Institute for Land Culture and Economy, Ontario
(for the Whitefeather Forest Land of Economic Opportunity, Pikangikum First Nation)
The program encourages sustainable forest management by providing financial assistance to Bands, Tribal Councils and other First Nations groups or companies involved in improving economic conditions in status communities. This funding assists them in carrying out forestry-related activities throughout the country, both on and off reserve lands. First Nations forestry contributes to the development of timber and non-timber commodities for local, provincial, national and international markets. These commodities generate direct revenues for First Nations and provide employment income to their members.
The Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada is responsible for implementing the program. Overall responsibility for the program is through the National Management Committee, and the delivery of the FNFP in each province or territory is the responsibility of Provincial and Territorial Management Committees. These committees assess project proposals, develop regional communications and outreach strategies, promote and champion First Nations forestry, develop annual work plans, and other program elements for their respective regions.
Since its inception, the FNFP has helped fund about 1,650 projects. This program builds upon the Government of Canada's commitments to ensuring a clean, healthy environment and to creating and sharing opportunity with First Nations to build a better future and stronger communities. In March 2003, INAC and NRCan issued a joint announcement that the FNFP would be renewed for the five-year period 2003-04 to 2007-08. The renewal of the program reflects the government's continuing commitment to support community economic opportunities. It continues as a national program designed to increase First Nations capacity in forest resource management, pursuit of opportunities to participate in the forest sector, and the enhancement of institutional capacity.
For more information on the First Nations Forestry Program, contact info@fnfp.gc.ca or visit their Web site at http://www.fnfp.gc.ca. For more information on Timberline's involvement with Whitefeather, or other First Nations forestry projects, contact us at information@timberline.ca.
~FNFP background sources: FNFP website(s) and informational brochure
Victoria branch achieves ISO 9001:2000 certification
Bill Kuzmuk, Timberline Victoria
Following the successful implementation of an ISO 9001:2000 registered quality management system (QMS) for the GIS and Inventory departments in Timberline's Edmonton office, the Victoria Branch now has an ISO 9001:2000 registered QMS.
The scope of Timberline's Victoria operation is: Information specialists providing spatial analysis and modelling decision support to the forest and resource sector.
Achieving certification in Victoria is a milestone for Timberline, because the entire Victoria Branch is included in the registered system. All Victoria projects and administrative processes are conducted within the framework of the QMS. A set of operating procedures, work instructions, and checklists are utilized within the system to ensure that every project or process is executed with the highest quality standards. This approach will provide the highest quality service to our clients. A process of corrective and preventative actions, client feedback and management review of the QMS make certain that there is continual improvement of our business processes.
During the development of the system, Barry Lewis, Quality Manager at Timberline's Edmonton office, provided valuable input based on the experience gained since obtaining ISO 9001:2000 certification for Edmonton's GIS and Inventory QMS. In addition, Doug Webb of Impact Business Solutions in Calgary, was instrumental in assisting Victoria staff with updating their documentation, quality processes and feedback mechanisms prior to the final certification audit. Quality Certification Bureau Inc. of Edmonton conducted the certification audit in May of 2004.
Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants Ltd.
Victoria Branch
Information specialists providing spatial analysis and modelling decision support to the forest and resource sector.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is responsible for the development of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families of quality and environmental management standards, and more than 14,000 International Standards for business, government and society, and a variety of other standards intended to facilitate the international exchange of goods and services.The ISO 9001:2000 focus on the customer ensures that an organization who employs a supplier with an ISO 9001:2000 certified QMS can be assured of a high standard of quality while spending less time monitoring that supplier because the supplier's management system has already been audited by an external Registrar.
For more information, contact Bill Kuzmuk at Timberline, Victoria.
Click here to read "ISO 9000 - Improving Business for Forest Companies" (Timber Lines, March 2002)
http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/
Center for International Foresty Research - a source for news and publications concerning forestry topics from around the globehttp://www.demo2004.ca/
DEMO InternationalTM 2004 event website - North America’s largest, active exhibition of the latest technologies in wood harvesting equipment and sustainable forest operations
http://www.safnet.org/aboutforestry/envrbene.cfm
A "top ten" list of the environmental benefits of forestryhttp://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en/index_e.php
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System homepage - includes daily fire weather and fire behavior maps, as well as 'hot spot' maps throughout the forest fire seasonhttp://www.bcforestinformation.com/
Useful website for factual information on B.C. forest practices, including interactive maps and an impressive photo galleryKnow of a link that others would be interested in? Email it to our attention.
Urban forestry
Students see forest for more than the trees
Gerry T. Bulmer, Athabasca Advocate Staff
If you noticed groups of tree huggers wandering the streets of Athabasca a few weeks ago, rest assured, they were just looking out for the health of the forest and the community. In a joint project between the Athabasca Communities in Bloom Committee, Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants and the Edwin Parr Composite High School Biology 20 class, students joined Timberline employees in documenting and mapping possible ‘heritage’ trees in the downtown area on June 10-11.
“Mike Gismondi (Athabasca town councillor) approached us to help with the urban forestry part of the CIB competition,” said Chris Onysty, planning co-ordinator with Timberline. “Timberline is a forestry mapping company that has been around for over 25 years,” she added. The goal for the project, with the assistance of the students and to give them experience, was to document and map the location, species, health, height, diameter and age of trees that could be considered heritage trees. Heritage trees are recognized as the big, old ones. “We hope to go over tree ID with the students. There are a lot of different species. The students have some tree ID books. It’s always a learning experience,” said Onysty.
Teams spread out, each led by a qualified Timberline employee who directed and coached the EPC students with measuring activities. “We are looking to identify trees that need to be protected from construction, disease, insects, weather or humans, and to identify some that are old and just about ready to take down before they die and fall down, causing damage,” explained Onysty. “We want to put a policy in place to replace them with new trees. The goal is to try to do it in a way that they’re not coming down all at once.”
Mike Pozniak, a senior employee with Timberline, led his group of students as they measured trees around the Old Brick School and down along the Tawatinaw river valley. They exited the forest at the north end of the valley close to 50 St. “There’s all kinds of stuff in there,” said Pozniak. “Garbage and underbrush. We’ll have to recommend to the Communities in Bloom Committee to go in there and clean it up.”
EPC student Kyle Nazaruk said the day was fun and interesting. “We asked our leader questions, talked about certain areas of the town, and she told us what her job with Timberline involves. It was a good way to learn about trees and a great way to get outside,” said Nazaruk. “It was wonderful to take a Biology class into the field with experts,” said teacher Paula Evans. “Knowing that we were contributing in a small way to the town’s Communities in Bloom (project) was an added bonus. “I learned a great deal myself. It is a shame there is no curricular emphasis on botany in the high school biology program.”
Student Vanessa Annand was awestruck by the experience. “The tree inventory opened my eyes a great deal to the complexity, variety and resilience of trees. It was so striking for me to walk along the riverside and see, as if for the first time, the trees living, growing, reproducing, healing, offering shelter and homes for many creatures and vital oxygen to breathe,” said Annand. “I believe that if every person in the world can alter their perception of trees, even slightly, the fate of these silent life-givers will be a better one, making our fate a better one as well.”
Timberline receives safety award
Committed to a safe and healthy work environment
Jeanne Donnelly, Timberline Edmonton
Based on safety performance for 2003, Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants, Alberta Region, has been selected as one of 350 recipients (out of 110,000 employers) of the Work Safe Alberta 2003 Best Safety Performer Awards. This annual award is to recognize Alberta employers with exceptional safety performance in workplace health and safety. Recipients of the award must have:
- Achieved at least 120 consecutive person years with no lost-time injuries;
- No workplace fatalities in the previous three years;
- An Alberta WCB account and hold a current Certificate of Recognition under the Alberta Partnerships in Health and Safety program;
- No outstanding compliance orders under the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act and are not currently being prosecuted for a violation.
Timberline's Alberta offices are located in Edmonton and Athabasca, accounting for approximately one-half of the company's staff. Typical field projects in the region often employ Timberline's capabilities in forest and vegetation inventory, silviculture, ecological land classification and mapping, GPS services (urban interface, fire location and mapping), sampling programs, harvest planning and block layout. Approximately 50% of employee time involves the collection of data in the field utilizing all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, motorized boats, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter services. Personnel are often faced with adverse terrain conditions, blowdown, fire hazard and animal encounters.
Timberline is proud to be a recipient of this award recognizing our ongoing commitment to employee safety. For additional information, contact Jeanne Donnelly at Timberline, Edmonton.
Work Safe Alberta is a joint government and industry initiative. For more details about the program, click on www.worksafely.org.
Outside the box...
Forestry consultants take on the unconventional
Dave Downing, Timberline Edmonton
Timberline's Edmonton Ecology and Resource Analysis departments had the opportunity to participate in several interesting projects outside the realm of conventional forestry over the last few months.
- Our Ecology department has been working steadily to finish the ten-year Weldwood Ecological Land Classification (ELC) project, previously reviewed in "A Journey of 20 Million Steps" (Timber Lines, September 2003).
- At the request of the Northwest Territories government, we reviewed the ELC system currently in place for the Taiga Plains ecozone through which the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline is to be routed; we recommended improvements to the structure and information content of that system in support of protected areas, wildlife, and forestry management.
- We provided a comprehensive summary of livestock effects on timber resources as background scientific information to the Alberta Provincial Grazing-Timber Integration Committee; this group includes representatives from the forest and ranching industries and the Alberta government, and is responsible for developing policies to deal with timber-livestock interactions on Alberta public lands.
- We conducted a statistical analysis of long-term soil acidification monitoring sites on behalf of Alberta Environment.
- We presented an assessment of the role of native cultivars in reclamation and restoration of public lands throughout Alberta for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Public Lands and Forests Divison.
- We employed an advanced statistical technique to determine the most efficient way to sample plots; this project was undertaken at the request of the Alberta government.
All of these projects were well received by our clients, and we thank Weldwood of Canada (Hinton Division), the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the Alberta Government for providing us with these opportunities.
For more information on the above projects, contact Dave Downing at Timberline, Edmonton.
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