However, given the immediacy of the forest sector's financial crisis it is incumbent upon all parties—government, labor, communities, industry—to examine at all levels ways and means of responding to this crisis. Government's impact on the sector is certainly not limited to the Ministry of Forests. For example, we deal daily with the Ministries of Environment, Lands, Revenue and Aboriginal Relations. We deal with local and regional governments. And the federal government also plays a large role in our operational practices. While this review is underway we will also have to factor in the climate change agenda and its impact and implications.

The situation is critical. Action is urgently required. While no one can be faulted for the down market and the high dollar, we can be faulted if we collectively do not take immediate steps to correct the current situation.

The two day convention will provide panel sessions and events of interest to industry CEOs, Vice Presidents, marketing and production managers, senior representatives from suppliers and equipment firms, law firms, financial institutions, senior federal, provincial and local government officials, chambers of commerce, Mayors, MLAs and MPs, as well as local, regional and national media. This event will bring together key industry, government, customer and community representatives to identify opportunities, challenges, strategies and successes.

There will be something for everyone. Confirmed speakers and topics include: a forest certification panel discussion on "Selling the Brand" featuring Antony Marcil, President and CEO of FSC Canada, Kathy Abusow, President and CEO of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Ahmad Husseini and Paul Wooding, Canadian Standards Association; Dr. Mark Jaccard, Professor SFU, and member of the Climate Action Team on "Hot Air: Meeting Canada's Climate Change Challenge"; Mikael Eliasson, Development Director, SERTA Group, Sweden and Chair of CEI Bois, the European Confederation of Forest Industries, speaking on "Fight Climate Change: Use Wood".

We'll also feature a "Customer Wants & Needs" panel and have invited Premier Gordon Campbell and Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman to provide us with their customary addresses highlighting important government initiatives related to forestry.

See our website at www.cofi.org for latest information as well as a listing of the convention exhibitors and our valued sponsors. Don't miss the Thursday Evening Networking Reception. Join us for an evening of fine food and spirits as we indulge in "A Western Roundup".

For registration information, see www.cofi.org/whats new or contact Diana Gillrie by phone at (250) 860-9663 or by e-mail: ac2008@cofi.org.

What do people value in B.C.'s forests, and how do these values differ across communities? Drs. Howie Harshaw and Stephen Sheppard from the University of British Columbia have spent several years conducting research to answer this question; their ultimate goals are to quantify these values and understand how they differ across communities, incorporate these values into social indicators for forestry planning, and recommend strategies for maintaining resilient, sustainable communities. Approaches for measuring sustainable forest management, such as the Canadian Standards Association's (CSA)' Criteria and Indicators framework, require forest companies to track indicators of social sustainability within local communities.

For forest companies to track meaningful indicators of social sustainability, they need a good understanding of what local communities value in their forests. For example, if people in the surrounding community place a high value on recreation opportunities and wildlife harvesting, companies should be tracking some measure of these opportunities to ensure that they are not being negatively affected by forestry operations. Harshaw and Sheppard have tackled this topic by canvassing local communities around nine of Canfor's divisions in the interior of BC, a process which revealed some interesting and unexpected findings about how communities in this area of the province use and value the forests (see www.forrex.org/publications/link/ISS45/vol9_no1_art1.pdf for a summary of the findings).

Harshaw and Sheppard are now collating information from this and other surveys that they have conducted in BC to pinpoint useful indicators of social sustainability in forestry that go beyond the usual data pulled from census reports to really look at the issues relevant to forest-dependent communities. For more information on this project, see the project website: www.sfm-pos.ca.

Maintaining soil productivity is also a critical component of sustainable forest management: the recovery of an ecosystem after disturbance depends heavily on maintaining soil-based processes. But appropriate quantitative measures of soil health that are linked to overall forest productivity are lacking. To address this gap, Steve Day, strategic planning and certification forester with Canfor, has been working with researchers from UBC to develop a quantitative measure of soil productivity based on forest floor mass and soil organic matter (SOM). After extensive field testing, this measure is now being used within a predictive ecosystem model (FORECAST) to project targets for that indicator and compare them against thresholds of long-term productivity.

As Day explains, "Being able to project a measure of soil productivity is particularly important in the face of the mountain pine beetle outbreak, to help us understand the impacts of current management decisions on future soil productivity." For example, the interior of British Columbia is braced for a dip in timber supply in the near future, which increases the pressure to regenerate the forest as quickly as possible. As options such as replanting pine at low densities, fertilizing dense pine stands, and establishing mixed-species stands are being weighed within this context, forest managers need to understand how the various options will affect future soil productivity. Day explains, "The research will ultimately tell us which management strategies for mountain pine beetle can produce the highest mid-term and long-term volume without unduly compromising soil productivity."

Providing funding for relevant, applied forestry research is critical to FIA-FSP's success. Annual research investment priorities are guided by a 14-member Forest Science Board and several advisory committees comprised of operational foresters and scientists from industry, government, universities, and First Nations, as well as extension professionals. The Board also oversees and contributes guidance to a provincial forest extension program that is designed and delivered by FORREX Forest Research Extension Partnership.

Employers must identify, eliminate and control hazards before a worker is assigned to work alone or in isolation. Employers must also develop and implement a procedure for checking the well-being of any worker assigned to work alone or in isolation.

For more information including copies of the approved changes showing amendments and with explanatory notes, proposed OH&S guidelines, an 8 page Employer's Guide, Frequently Asked Questions, go the WorkSafeBC Safety at Work webpage: www2.worksafebc.com/Safety/ProposedAmendments.asp

In developing this site, we sought the advice of teachers on what they wanted in terms of content for both themselves and their students. What we have launched today certainly meets some of those needs, but it is only just the beginning! This site will soon be expanded to include information on forestry careers and post-secondary education, web links for forestry research, downloadable lesson plans linked to the Ministry of Education's newly developed ‘Sustainable Resources 11 and 12' courses, and much, much more!

The initial response from teachers is overwhelming. What they like most about this new site is that, not only is it comprehensive, but that it is easy to use and features both them and their students in many of the forest education programs.

If you are interested in seeing this new site, check us out at www.forest-education.info. We welcome any comments you may have.

For more information contact:
Chris Lear, COFI Northern Operations, by phone at: (250) 614-4352 or by e-mail at: lear@cofi.org.

January is statistically the most dangerous month for log truck crashes, due in part to increased traffic, winter driving conditions and darkness. Forestry TruckSafe reports that from January to March 2005, more than half of all crashes occurred in January. Although most truckers do use their radios, the Ministry of Forests and Range is aware of three instances where drivers of loaded logging trucks did not use their radios to call their locations. This forced drivers of other vehicles to take to the ditches to avoid collision, instead of waiting safely in a turn-out. In one of these cases, it is believed the driver didn't have a radio installed in the truck, contrary to standard practice on the road.

The public can also help keep log haulers safe by giving trucks plenty of room to stop and turn. Due to their size and weight, trucks can't manoeuvre like personal vehicles. A loaded truck needs about 90 metres (300 feet or the length of a football field) to stop on dry roads. In winter conditions, stopping distances can be double that. Likewise, drivers are advised not to follow trucks too closely – the truckers can't see vehicles close behind them, and will kick up snow and mud, reducing visibility for following vehicles.

For more information about trucker safety and to the latest safety alerts, see Forestry TruckSafe online at: www.bcforestsafe.org.

A guide for the public, entitled “Forest Roads: Guide for Safe Travel,” is available online at www.for.gov.bc.ca/hth/engineering/documents/brochures/Guide-for-Safe-travel.pdf.

The Wood WORKS! BC Wood Awards have been established to honour excellence in wood-based construction projects, and to recognize the people and organizations that are pioneering and preserving the use of wood in British Columbia. Category descriptions and nomination forms are available at the BC Awards Gala website at www.wood-works.org. The winners will be announced at Wood WORKS! Awards Gala on Monday, February 25th, 2008, at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, Vancouver. All nominees will be invited to attend the event. All nominees will also have their projects featured at the Vancouver Wood Solutions Fair, the one day educational event on wood products and construction, Tuesday, February 26th at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre.

For more information, please visit www.wood-works.org.

FPInnovations – Feric:

What's New in Road Construction?

A spring workshop addressing road construction issues and techniques is in the works. It will be convened in several locations, linked by video conferencing. Stay tuned as more information becomes available.

For further information, contact Darcy Moshenko (darcy-m@vcr.feric.ca), Albie Thomson (albie-t@vcr.feric.ca), or Ed Proteau (ed-p@vcr.feric.ca).

Canada Wood Council

Annual Wood WORKS! Awards Gala – Vancouver February 25th

Wood Solutions Fair – Vancouver - February 26th

For further information go the CWC website: www.cwc.ca.

Forest Practices Branch

1-day workshop: "Understanding and Enabling Adaptive Management in Natural Resource Management", Prince George, February 7th

For further information contact: Alanya Smith: (250) 387-8922; alanya.c.smith@gov.bc.ca.

BC Forest Safety Council

Training:

External Auditor Training (BASE Audit)
Small Employer Occupational Health and Safety Training (SEBASE Audit)
New Faller Training
Supervisor Training Courses

For further information and registration go to the Safety Council website: www.bcforestsafe.org.

Family violence is a health and safety issue and it can have a direct impact and cost on the workplace in terms of morale, productivity, and absenteeism. Free one-day sessions (lunch provided) throughout the province are being offered that will prepare union stewards, health and safety reps, and management to respond in a meaningful way to the hidden workplace issue of family violence. Participants will be able to implement effective and proactive responses to family violence issues that employees or co workers might be dealing with. Participants will gain the ability to identify the risk of violence while learning how to safely and respectfully intervene.

Participants will be given a CD ROM that includes a power point presentation to be used at the work place; fact sheets for employees/co-workers; other materials that can be revised and printed. The resources that have been developed for the sessions will facilitate easy delivery of violence prevention education to all industry employees. Information provided will also include how to provide assistance to both the abused and abuser; how to support co-workers who know of abuse going on around them but who feel helpless to do anything; and how to facilitate referrals to existing community supports.

The pilot session will take place in Terrace on Thursday, February 14th at Northwest Community College located at 5331 McConnell Avenue.

In early March sessions will be held in the Vancouver Coast and Rockies Region in:
Powell River – Wednesday, March 12th at Malaspina University College, 3860 Selkirk Avenue;
Hope – Friday, March 14th at the Hope Golf and country Club, 900 Golf Course Road; and
Delta – Monday, March 17th at the Delta Town and Country Inn, 6005 62B Street.

Subsequent sessions will be held in Nanaimo, Campbell River, Kamloops, Kelowna, Fernie, Nelson, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Fort St. John, and Prince George.

This initiative is being delivered by www.endingviolence.org and www.erabc.com. Funding is provided by the Ministry of Community Services.

For more information call (604) 633-2506, (250) 559-8831 or email:renewing@qcislands.net