Western Silvicultural Contractors' Association

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Thursday, May 17, 2012


Feature Articles
  • B.C. Silviculture Employers Turnover Tracked in Special Report
    RM-00055209 Employer Registration Decay in Silviculture 2000-2011 V2.pdf
    RM-00055209 Employer Turnover in Silviculture 2000-2011.pdf
    Apr 12, 2012 - An innovative ten-year analysis of silvicultural firms registered with WorkSafeBC shows that among tree planting employers only 76 of the 244 registered at the beginning of the century were still registered in 2012. This declining trend was offset in part by new entrants to the industry bringing the total number of registered firms planting trees in 2012 to 203. Far more turnover was tracked among brushing, weeding and spacing firms with only 53 remaining of the original 364 registered in 2000. In 2012 the brushing and weeding community of employers numbered 203. Seeming to move in the opposite direction, employers registered for firefighting have actually increased over the past ten years, although there appears to have been little steady work to account for this. A conspicuous spike in fire fighting registration occurred in the big fire year of 2003 which may say as much about the level of qualification to get into the industry as it does about the level of work. The study's observations suggest that barriers to entry may be low across the board. New entrants appear to generally get equal access to the silviculture services market with the established firms and new firms as a whole securing work proportional to their share of the employer base. Read More
  • Wages and Work Culture Important to Recruiting and Retaining Workers
    WSCA_Worker_Survey_2012.pdf
    Mar 30, 2012 - An exit poll taken of silviculture workers last year shows they rate wages almost as important as camp life, working outdoors and treatment by their employers in deciding to remain in or leave the sector. These observations are part of a recently released WSCA report that includes the full set of the 2011internet survey results including workers' qualitative descriptions of what they found the most and least attractive about planting trees, brushing and spacing and fighting wildfires in B.C. Read More
  • WSCA Presents Forest Bio-Economy Proposal to Federal MPs
    Presentation Handout.pdf
    Feb 14, 2012 - The WSCA proposed ways in which the federal government can mitigate the growing wildfire threat and create forestry jobs through encouraging the forest bio-economy in British Columbia. The association made the presentation to MPs at this year's first regional meeting of the BC/Yukon Caucus in Vancouver. Read More
  • Licensee and Contractor Fined in Contractor Worker Death
    Dec 23, 2011 - A Williams Lake beetle trap tree falling contractor and the licensee that contracted him both received fines after the death of a faller on the job this year. WorkSafeBC cited both the contractor and the owner for failing to properly instruct, train or supervise the worker employed by the contractor. The contractor received $2,500 fine for his failings; the licensee $75,000 for theirs. The pair of fines reflect the due diligence that licensees need to exercise around the training and supervision of workers directed by firms they contract work to. Read More
  • Silviculture Report Cites Increasing Planting, Decreasing Workforce
    Summit Report.pdf
    Aug 15, 2011 - The WSCA 2011 Report on the State of the BC Silviculture Industry has identified retaining and recruiting competent workers as a challenge for the sector as it heads into 2012 when planting and stand tending activities will increase. A decade of stagnate or declining bid prices has taken its toll on the silvliculture sector affecting the workforce and the viability of contractors. Forecasts predict up to 40-million more seedlings will be planted next year. The market has to ensure the increase in volume is accompanied by corresponding improvements in margins and wages for the industry according to the report based on two recent contractor summit meetings. Read More
  • Statistical Appendix for State of Silviculture Report Available
    Annual_Report_2011-Statistical Appendix.pdf
    Aug 14, 2011 - This report includes the public data that was used to compile the WSCA Report on the State of the BC Silviculture Sector August 2011 including planting and sowing figures, safety statistics and Statistics Canada numbers. Read More
  • BC Forest Safety Ombudsman Report: Review of Failures Leading to Khaira Situation - July 2011
    Khaira Report.pdf
    Jul 27, 2011 - Please see the associated article under "Rumour Mill", and download the pdf document for the Ombudsman's full report. Read More

WSCA Rumour Mill

News & Media

  • Biomass Availability in B.C. - Canadian Biomass Magazine
    Apr 20, 2012 - There is a significant volume of biomass on the landscape in British Columbia that needs to be removed in order to improve ecosystem resilience, sustainability and reduce the threat from wildfires facing rural communities. Standing in the way of dramatically increasing extraction are significant market impediments and constraints on access to feedstock. Read More
  • Are Dead Trees More Combustible Than Live Ones?
    Oct 25, 2011 - As Justin Gillis explained at length in an Oct. 1 article, huge tracts of forest are dying across the West and around the world as a result of infestations and other phenomena that many link to climate change. A big question for those who manage forests is how these millions of acres of dead trees will respond to wildfire. Read More
  • Tree Planting Record Broken In Philippines
    Mar 1, 2011 - Speedy tree planting may be the answer to the world's dwindling forest problem. This past Thursday, over 64,000 trees were planted in 15 minutes, breaking the world record for the most trees planted simultaneously. Read More
  • Silviculture Work: How Far We've Come, So Far Left to Go
    Feb 14, 2011 - In the spring of 1985, I made my way to Horsefly, B.C., to embark on my first tree-planting contract and hopefully a new career. With a group of strangers from across the country, we started our five-mile walk in — our gear and supplies following in a tractor. Read More
  • Inadequate Reforestation Goes From Bad to Worse
    Feb 3, 2011 - British Columbia is blessed by nature with a vast, ecologically rich forest estate that also has been a source of sustained economic wealth for more than a century. But today there are troubling signs that the most important of natural assets is facing challenges never before seen. Read More

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