9 March 2018
Volume 18 Issue 3
Warning: Some facts published in this edition may contain information. Some information published in this edition may contain facts. This paradox seems unavoidable.
Make Forests Great Again: WFCA 2018 Conference a Big Success
The above headline might have made a good slogan for this year’s WFCA annual conference if it didn’t seem to resemble some ongoing populist cant south of here. After all, if making forests great promotes diversity, abundance and resilience across our forest and range landscape, that’s a good thing—as opposed to, say, just making forests big, which is another way it might be understood. Nevertheless, at last month’s WFCA 2018 annual conference we came close to describing a possible future where our forests and their dependent communities of plants, animals, and us would thrive. We began discussing climate change and forestry, being global warming is the intractable undertow that is driving many of the environmental events playing out on our landscape. Without trying to summarize all the proceedings in this short piece, let’s say that our Minister of Forests, panelists and presenters combined to offer some optimism, some clarity and some urgency in dealing with our current circumstances. Of course, having been at the conference is the best thing when it comes to understanding the gist of what was said. Second best, or thereabouts, is looking at the conference’s three days worth of slides and presentations, They can be found on our website here. Thanks to the nearly 200 who participated in this year’s event, which, by all biased accounts, was time well spent.
Musculoskeletal Injuries— Now The Videos
What else is there to read on the landing?
Who would have thought trying not to injure yourself could be so much fun? Or at least as entertaining and informative as two recently released BC SAFE Forestry Program videos make it seem. Total Physiotherapy has gained street credence among planters because, remarkably, their approach actually works to prevent and treat MSIs, particularly stubborn ones due to tenosynovitis and other related and repeated strains. According to physiotherapists Mike McAlonan and Jared Lalik speaking at last month’s WFCA conference their insights into preventing and treating planting injuries came from reverse engineering the various common complaints and symptoms presented to them by workers. In other words they looked at what had to be happening, or not, with the joints, tissues, tendons, and muscles in the first place to make people hurt. They found that through maintenance like stretching and strategically correcting motions, posture and planting techniques, including interventions like taping, they could increase workers ability to cope and manage working hard. The best expressions of these insights, intended to instruct workers, supervisors and first aiders, are now available in a pair of videos and set of illustrations made by Total Physiotherapy available here. Printed posters are also available for free from the BC Forest Safety Council website.
Forestry Safety Advocate Says Declining Bus Service in North Poses Risks to Workers.
The Highway of Tears, as Highway 16 is known these days, along with other routes in northern British Columbia will likely see changes in the level of bus services between communities this spring. This could make it harder for some itinerant silviculture workers to get around between projects possibly putting them at risk. Greyhound has applied to discontinue routes between Prince Rupert, Prince George, Valemount, Dawson Creek, Whitehorse and Fort Nelson expected to be effective May 31 of this year. Although BC Transit has established public service routes between some of these communities, and there is rail service to some, Forestry Safety Advocate Jordan Tesluk is asking employers to make sure their crews can safely find their way to projects and camps. The risk is that some workers may hitchhike exposing them to the awful predations that women, in particular, have suffered along many of these highways. Tesluk has issued this year’s first forestry safety alert here.
Write If You Get Work Department: Forest Practices Board is Looking for a New Chair
The Forest Practices Board has requested expressions of interest from candidates willing to consider being its next chair. After serving four years former Chair Tim Ryan has left for other pursuits. We wish him the best and thank him for his excellent service to our forests and the province. Now we sit with a new government, a pending report on professional reliance and a few other pressing considerations around forest policy in B.C. All this while our forests are under assault from climate change with its complex uncertainties. Whoever takes up the chalice at this point—and the sooner the better—arrives at a potentially transformative pivot in forestry in B.C. We here at the RoundUpDate urge our readers (who are extremely talented themselves) to consider if they, or someone they know, might be a good fit for this role. Remember, yesterday being International Women’s Day, that our government appreciates diversity, both gender and otherwise for these kinds of appointments. For more information visit: www.bcfpb.ca The closing date for the REI is just a few days away – March 11, 2018. So think and act fast.