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by Jean Sorensen |
Students planning a career in the forest industry may find themselves lost in the woods if they haven't prepared themselves carefully. The conditions in the forest industry have changed; the traditional jobs of cutting down and cutting up trees are no longer there. As a result, working in the forest industry means finding a non-traditional job, and those jobs will demand some kind of post-secondary training whether it be vocation, technical, college or university.
But, first, let's put it all in perspective. We still export lumber. So, why aren't the traditional jobs in the sawmilling and logging industries there? The recession, which caused major changes in the forest industry, struck in late 1979 and hung on until this past year - when companies are beginning to see some brightness at the end of the tube. Forest companies during the recession found that labour was one of their highest cost components in producting forest products. They automated, mechanized, and computerized. Productivity soared, but fewer people were needed to get the wood and process it.
As the recession winds down, those machines are still displacing the people. Phillip Legg, assistant research director for the International Woodworkers of America, Western Canadian Regional Council No.1 (which encompasses 35,000 to 40,000 members in sawmills, plywood operations, and logging divisions in Western Canada), says the union has currently a 27 per cent unemployment rate. (In 1979, the union's membership was 50,000 strong). Legg says extensive rehiring systems have been put into place with companies so that union members displaced will be recalled to new job openings. Should a position open up beyond the hiring list, Legg says "the local (individual) is pretty aware of it."
As one career counsellor now says of the forest industry: "You can no longer drop out of Grade 10 or 11 and hope to go work in the bush. That's gone the way of the dinosaur."
And just as the recession arrived to reshape the forest industry, the whole concept of forestry was going through a reshaping governments and industry shared a common concern about higher utilization of the resource. The target is more intensive forestry, a buzz word for practicing better growing and harvesting methods on our forest lands.
Think of it along these lines. The old forestry was like hunting wild animals; one basically required trackers to spot the game, hunters to kill it, and, someone in food prep to cut up the game and take it to the local village. The game restocked itself. Today's forestry is like farming. Someone is still required to harvest and prepare the trees, but there is a new need for individuals to ensure the trees are replenished, to care for them, develop faster growing species, look after the land that sustains the herd, and find new means of utilizing more of the harvest. As we grow more, more individuals are required to sell our excess onto new markets.
The new forestry requires individuals with skills and an understanding of why things are done and how they fit the over all picture. In B.C., the first growth of trees is being exhausted and restocking forest lands is a priority. Across Canada, the federal government has been signing long-term reforestation agreements with forestry-oriented provinces supplying join funds to replenish exhausted forest lands. This has impacted the whole silviculture (tree growing) field. There is a demand for better trees, nurseries to grow the stock, and independent contractors who hire tree planters to transfer the new trees to the wild.
So, with the forest industry undergoing change and the hand-over of the recession, where are the jobs for young people? Legg advises "reforestation has a lot of potential" and the industry "always needs people on the technical side of sawmilling, logging, and forestry." Forest company personnel officers also suggest that individuals with computer programming skills and mechanical skills (heavy duty mechanic and millwrights) and marketing skills are in good demand. Research and development is another field in the forest industry which can attract bright individuals with an interest in science. The areas include forest product development, finding new uses for wood, tree genetics (several companies in B.C. are working on cloning evergreen trees so that one superior tree can clone hundreds more like it), and solving problems for companies operating in the woods or plant.
Rosemary Bonderud, career counsellor for the Council of Forest industries in B.C., suggests new entrants into the forest industry rid themselves of two stereotypes. First, while the forest industry is considered a male-dominated industry, women are now sharing the field with men. Second, cutting down and processing logs is only one small facet of a large integrated forest industry.
"I let them know there are four levels of employment in the forest industry," says Bonderud, when she addresses schools throughout the province.
The first level she calls "direct entry" jobs which are simple chores such as setting chokers, planting trees, or basic janitorial work in a mill. There is little job training required. "The thing with these jobs is that they are a good place to start for someone who doesn't know that they want to do," says Bonderud. "But, I have to keep stressing that these are not jobs where you can say: "I'm safe." These jobs are also useful for exposing individuals to the true working conditions of the forest industry. A tree-planting stint in wet weather or hot sun will determine an individual's real preference for the outdoors or an air-conditioned and heated office.
The second level of entry is at the skilled trades end: jobs such as millwright, heavy-duty mechanic, sawfilers, and industrial instrumentation.
The third venue is in a technical position. These are two-year diploma courses at a school of technology. "There are so many different options for technologists," says Bonderud. They range from surveying, to a forest resource technician (who usually works with a professional forester), to wildlife management, to lumber and manufacturing technicians. Their job placement may range from supervisory roles in a lumber or plywood mill, marketing, to quality control.
The fourth means is through a university professional program such as a biologist, professional forester, computer analyst, engineer, lawyer, or some kind of degreed position.
Bonderud says the forest industry itself is made up of a variety of different areas that often are not considered when an individual thinks of working in the forest industry. They are:
silviculture - encompasses tree genetics, growing, and planting trees, thinning the stand to allow the strongest trees to survive, and fertilizing.
forest management - determining how logging should take place to provide a balance with other users such as recreational and wildlife and also water shed conditions. Also, what species should be replaced on the site.
harvesting - logging systems which could involve mainly large scale equipment such as feller-bunchers falling and bunching trees for a skidder to move into a landing, or a more complex high-lead system which works with fallers, chokermen, and men in the landing.
manufacturing - plywood, pulpmills, veneer mills, sawmills, fibre board, specialty paper plants, panel board, and furniture plans are all in this group.
transportation - encompassing everything from contact truckers who take wood from the logging site to the mills or to a water dump, to trucking firms that carry finished lumber to domestic customers or rail or port facilities, to tow-boat operators who haul booms to mills. As well, the pulp industry uses large-scale chip trucks to carry chips to pulp mills from sawmills and chip barges which are also hauled by the tow boat industry.
marketing - whether it's a roll of newsprint or a two-by-four piece of lumber, there has to be a salesman to call on international customers.
administration - this level can encompass anything from a president to an accountant to a secretary. They are concerned that all facets of the corporate end of the business are working smoothly.
Bonderud, who receives feedback from employers on hiring practices, says it is "most important" that students seeking jobs in any forestry field should demonstrate good communication skills. "The other thing is that with the new technologies, there is a demand for higher levels of math," she says.
COFI publishes information on the various job roles available in the forest industry as well as training facilities. However, Bonderud asks that requests be made through school counsellors.
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
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