October 18/96

Looking a bit like Edward
Scissorhands, Cameron Campbell
holds a set of pruning saws.

Forestry
Training
Program
“Worth
Recommending”

I ast July, Cameron Campbell
aded his seat on a road grader for

a seat in the classroom. Cameron, 30, is
one of 12 students in Capilano
College’s Forestry Crew Training
Program in Squamish. The program is
funded by Forest Renewal BC (FRBC)
and in partnership with International
Forest Products Ltd. (Interfor).

“It’s meant to give forestry workers
basic training in proper forest
management practices,” says project
coordinator, Gordon Esau. Courses are
given in forest ecology, map and
compass skills, silviculture, and
brushing, spacing, and pruning, to
name a few. Expectations are high and
the program is demanding, but the
students have really risen to the
challenge, says Gordon.

The program began July 2 and will
end this month when the students

graduate on October 18. All participants
are employees of Empire Logging, the
Squamish division of Interfor. When they
signed up for the course, most of them
were on the low end of the seniority list
with few skills. Cameron, who has
seniority, saw the opportunity to learn
new skills and leave the road grader
behind.

“When we walk through the woods
now, we all view it a little differently,”
says Cameron, who’s been a logger for
14 years.

“The training program we’ve been
running them through changes the
process of how foresters work. They
won’t be setting chokers anymore, for
example,” says Gordon Prescott,
planning forester for Empire Logging.
(A chokerman sets chokers by attaching
straps to a log. The straps are connected
to a line sent out by a machine called a
tower and when the choke is set, the
tower pulls the log out of the bush to the
road.)

Prescott initiated the partnership with
Capilano College last spring after
receiving funding approval from FRBC.
Together, Prescott and Lynn Jest,
director of the College’s Contract
Services and Extension Division, drew
up a proposal to deliver the training
program at the Squamish campus.

Graduates of this course are
guaranteed work for a full year in this
field. After that, they will have training
and experience that most other loggers
don’t. This will provide them with
greater employment opportunities and
possibly credit for their training should
they decide to pursue further education
in another forestry program.

Cameron says he will “definitely
recommend this course to other loggers.”
That’s good news for Nancy Nowlan,
training consultant for the College’s
Contract Services Department, who says
that “because of the success of this
program, we will be discussing future
forestry training programs with other
forestry companies in the region.”

Meanwhile, Cameron is eager to get
out of the classroom and back into the
forest where he can use his new skills to
assist in the development and care of

established forest plantations.
Submitted by Lauren Mulholland

Long Distance Calling

R emember that the 250 area code
comes into effect on October 19.
Check all your pre-programmed
machines, such as faxes, modems and
automatic dialling systems, to ensure that
your calls go through. The 250 area code
will apply to all areas of the province
beyond the Lower Mainland, Sunshine
Coast, D’Arcy and Hope.

‘overseas,’ says Beverley, who supervises

the practicums. “It’s a great opportunity

for the ‘students and for our ae The

country | arming | how different cultures
produce and use media, and our program

gains valuable media contacts throughout
the world.” :
A video was recently produced in

Vietnam about an orphanage near Saigon

for deaf children. In Thailand, a student

did some video production — for
Rajamangala: Technical Institute in

Bangkok. This student also taped an

international conference, which included
faculty from our own

lege.

@nformer