MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
by Geoff Clarke

Well, it’s been a great five-year run for me on the CIF-RMS council. I am going to take a short break and give some others a chance to lead and be involved in a great organization. I want to thank everyone that I have had the chance to interact and volunteer with over the last while. I want to thank my employer, Timberline, for allowing me to commit some time to this worthy organization. There are a few of us who plan to take a break when our terms end at the end of April. After six years, Alex Drummond (UofA) and Bill Black (ASRD) who has contributed five years on council are taking a well deserved breather. As many of you heard during our Annual Business Meeting, due to other commitments, Phil Robert, is stepping down after he completes his term as chair.  Gord Giles (ASRD) and Peter Bothwell (CFS) have completed very active two-year terms. Thanks to each and every one of you for volunteering your time and energy!

Geoff Clarke presents Alex Drummond with a token of appreciation for his term on the executive

It may sound like many individuals are stepping down, but this is normal for a 100% volunteer council with staggered two-year terms. The very capable, Don Podlubny (Manager of the Foothills Model Forest) will lead the CIF-RMS as chair, Ken Plourde (Alberta Pacific) has stepped up as National Director, while Anand Pandarnaith (Meyers Norris Penny) has been acclaimed vice-chair. Both Anne McInerney (SRD) and Amanda Smith West (Forestry Corp) are returning as Treasurer and Secretary respectively, rounding out the RMS executive for the 2006- 07 business year. Wendy Crosina (Weyerhaeuser) and Cynthia Chand (Bearing Point) will carry over from last year’s council. Rick Strickland (ASRD), Janis Braze (Timberline), Jeff Renoylds (AFPA), Beverly Wilson (ASRD), Lorne West (CFS), and Mark Kube (ASRD) are joining the group.

I sincerely wish you all the very best!

Geoff Clarke, R.P.F.

Outgoing RMS Director

 Technical Sessions

We experienced a shaky start with the fall session. We had hoped to hold the first of a four part series in Hinton this past fall. The series was to be titled “Managing Multiple Forest Values”. The session was specifically going to touch on the Cultural values, followed by sessions looking at the Economical, Ecological, and Social perspectives. Even with a sponsored field tour & BBQ, we couldn’t wrangle together enough bodies before we had to make the call to first, postpone, and then later cancel the session. We were not sure if it was the location, timing, topic, advertising, or procrastination that led to its demise. Either way we would like to thank West Fraser Timber for willing to sponsor the event.

We held our Winter Technical Session in Edmonton at the Coast Terrace Inn on the south side of Edmonton. On February 24^th approximately 90 people attended our session on Salvage Logging in Alberta. The concept was proposed by one of our members, Ellen Macdonald, and was well attended. As always, a diverse group of speakers provided a variety of views on fire salvage and its impacts on wood quality, birds, bryophytes, etc.., oil & gas salvage, as well as the provincial government’s perspective on the topic.

Presenters: Uldis Silins, George Dribnenki, Max Matthews, Mike Norton, Alex Drummond, and Ellen Macdonald  

Scott Milligan from SRD discusses policy regarding salvage logging

A full room was on hand for the RMS winter technical session

Our spring session was also held in Edmonton in conjunction with the College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists Annual General Meeting. The technical session focused on Stream Crossing Evaluation and Construction Best Practices. 171 pre-registered and another 20+ walk-ins congregated at the Mayfield Inn & Suites on Thursday, April 20^th, 2006. There was a series of great presentations; David Park (Alberta SRD Fisheries Management) and Ivan Stefanov (Fisheries & Oceans Canada) discussed their respective roles with fisheries and stream crossings in Alberta; Alberta Pacific’s Mark Spafford provided an inside look at Al-Pac's stream crossing program and their Certification Program; Lee Baton (WOLF) highlighted their curriculum development for stream crossing for forestry workers and supervisors; while Chad Croft from Gartner Lee Ltd. provided insight into navigating fisheries regulations in Alberta. A new alternative to traditional culverts was presented by Ron Hammerstedt of Envirospan International and to wrap it all up, Jerry Bauer, from the Foothills Model Forest described the purpose of the foothills stream crossing program. A big thank you to all our speakers, our attendees, to Silvacom for sponsoring the coffee, and to Richard Rothwell (Watertight Solutions) for moderating the session.

Student Activities

Student Information Sessions

We recently held information sessions for students from both NAIT and the UofA.  On November 8^th Geoff Clarke (representing the CIF & RMS) and Wayne Williams (director for CAPFT) held a luncheon with approximately 25 second year students. On March 22^nd, Michael Splinter (President of CAPF) and Geoff Clarke provided supper to approximately 30 students from various classes. Lured by free pizza and pop, we provide students with the background of our organizations, an overview of our mission, code of ethics, and business plans. In return we were bombarded with a series of great questions from inquisitive future forest managers.

Grad / Silver Ring Ceremonies

That time of year has rolled around again where a new contingent of foresters and forest technologists transition form paying out money to begin earning it. On April 1^st, 2006, we presented the silver rings, welcoming 25 new graduates from the University of Alberta to the profession of Forestry. Alex Drummond presented the CIF Merit Award (Gold Medal) to Stacey Hannley.

Similarly, Phil Robert and Geoff Clarke awarded the silver rings to 27 NAIT graduates on April 22^nd. The CIF book prize (a book with a $200 cheque) was awarded to Mark Gibb. The CIF Merit Award (Gold Medal) was awarded to Cassie Corbin. 

The Rocky Mountain Section was pleased to donate $1,500 to both NAIT and the UofA to assist with their respective Silver Ring/ Graduation ceremonies.

This past year we spent $500 to help send a team of UofA students to Texas to attend the SAF conference. We also spent $1,000 to sponsor two teachers so that they could attend the Forest-Ed West conference. This is a conference put on by Inside Education to educate teachers in the K-12 system about forestry.

Feedback has always been very positive. The following is an excerpt from a letter received from one of our sponsored teachers.

"Thank you very much for sponsoring me to attend the Forest EDWEST Conference at Banff in late January.  It provided me with much information that I will share with my colleagues and students.

The time was very profitably spent as the sessions were very appropriate to my needs as an educator.  I was to take home information that is very up-to-date and that provides insight in to the social, economic and technological issues facing citizens of this very resource-rich province.  We want students to be able to analyze the risks and benefits of any development to protect our air, water and soil while providing meaningful employment and the benefits of a great education and healthcare system.

I hope that your institute will continue to provide educators with the opportunity to learn about the efforts of the forestry industry to achieve sustainable development so that there will always be a well-informed dialogue between all interests in our society.  I also hope that the industry will provide funds for students to become involved in all aspects of forestry during their high school years.  I have found that most students are currently limited in their knowledge of careers and that there are many of our graduates that would choose forestry as a career if they had some first hand experience."

Corporate Membership

We will roll out our corporate membership drive this spring. This will replace our annual fund raising letter. Keep an eye out for this.  100% of the monies raised will be spent on students. This may be in the form of sponsoring the grad / silver ring ceremonies, the purchase of their rings, and out of town trips to attend conferences such as CIF AGM, SAF AGM, or technical sessions. 

Public Information and Awareness

The PIAC group is making huge strides in our attempt to inform the public about our forests, forestry, and sustainable forest management. Our group has decided to primarily target the regular Joes and Janes of urban Alberta. In this quest, we are creating many relationships with organizations such as the AFPA, Inside Education, our professional colleges, and public relations personnel form various forest companies to gain synergies and strengthen the extent to which these messages reach. If you are interested in assisting with these efforts, please contact us.

The Rocky Mountain Section Website

We appreciated your patience over the past while we found a solution for our website. For the last while we had been without a webmaster / webmistress. We are pleased to say that our site is now housed under the CIF National website and will be maintained by John at head office. We will be actively updating it over the next few months and hope to have it up-to-speed by the end of May. The new link is:

http://www.cif-ifc.org/rms/

CAPF, CAPFT & CIF-National and RMS Relationships

A message from Chris Lee, R.P.F., CIF President

As you may be aware, the Canadian Institute of Forestry, over the years, has developed special arrangements with most of the professional associations in Canada with respect to voluntary joint membership. In Alberta, there has been a partnership with the College of Alberta Professional Foresters (CAPF) and the College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists (CAPFT). One aspect of the partnership has been that the Colleges collect a single fee that includes both CAPF or CAPFT and Canadian Institute of Forestry dues. In return, there is a dues fee reduction to those members.

As partnerships evolve, there comes time for change.  Recently, the Council of the College of Alberta Professional Foresters (CAPF) discussed a change in the CIF partnership agreement.  The Canadian Institute of Forestry Rocky Mountain section council members and CIF national office prepared a proposal for CAPF council to consider. As a result, CAPF council has agreed to facilitate membership in the CIF, by offering to collect dues at the time of membership renewals. CIF membership options will be clearly stated CAPF materials and a reduction in CIF national dues will still be provided to the members. The CAPF dues remittances for 2007 will be sent in May, and will reflect this change.  The  CAPFT council  has not had enough time to review the partnership agreement proposal and will be discussing the partnership agreement proposal over the next few months. 
 

As you are know, Rocky Mountain section has been instrumental in providing continuing education opportunities to Alberta professionals for over 50 years.  Rocky Mountain Section hosts and supports the Silver ring ceremonies at the University of Alberta and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology that welcomes new professionals to the practice of forestry.  In additional to important professional networking that is provided by the Canadian Institute of Forestry provincially and nationally, members also receive The Forestry Chronicle, an internationally respected professional and scientific journal. 

We look forward to maintaining a strong relationship with all forest practitioners across Canada.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly at clee@nrcan.gc.ca  tel: 613-947-9030 or Don Podlubny, Don.Podlubny@gov.ab.ca  tel: 780-865-8332 Rocky Mountain section chair , or John Pineau, CIF Executive Director jpineau@cif-ifc.org, tel 613-234-2242.

| Spring 2006 | http://www.cif-ifc.org/rms/