Pl
ease join the Eastern Ontario Model Forest and its partners on February 17 for the 23rd annual Kemptville Winter Woodlot Conference in Kemptville, Ontario. The theme is ”Growing Diverse Values in Woodlots“. It will feature topical information and exhibits enabling forest owners to explore diverse economic, recreational, environmental and cultural values and benefits of their woodlots!
Please click here for the detailed Agenda: 2010 WWC Agenda
Exploring Economic Diversification Options for Communities Impacted by the Mountain Pine Beetle
Resources North, FORREX and Green Heat Initiative invite you to attend the following workshop:
WORKSHOP – Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Field Tours: 8:30am – 4:00pm – Depart from the Prince George Civic Centre, Prince George, BC
WORKSHOP – Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Biomass Conversion Systems
8:30am – 4:15pm – Prince George Civic Centre, Prince George, BC
4:30pm – 6:30pm – Wine and Cheese/Mini-Trade Show Prince George Civic Centre
WORKSHOP – Thursday, March 4, 2010
Turning Ideas into Action
8:30am – 4:00pm – Prince George Civic Centre, Prince George, BC
To register, please visit the registration website or contact Gord Austin, FORREX (250) 371-3923, gord.austin@forrex.org.
For more information on these workshops, please view our Poster Announcement and the Preliminary Agenda or visit, www.resourcesnorth.org, under the Bioenergy tab. Contact Karyn Sutherland at FORREX regarding agenda questions at 250-828-4967, karyn.sutherland@forrex.org or Zandra Wycotte-Ross for general inquiries at (250) 963-9291, zross.fdms@gmail.com.
At a press conference held in Pine Falls, Manitoba just before Christmas, The Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board and Peter Bjornson, Manitoba Minister of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade, announced significant government support for the Winnipeg River Learning Centre (WRLC). The WRLC, a relatively recent initiative developed with the help of the Manitoba Model Forest, provides post-secondary training in a wide variety of disciplines and careers for the entire Pine Falls region. The WRLC is helping to provide education and training opportunities for residents of eastern Manitoba, particularly for First Nations. The central location of the facility in the Pine Falls region, allows students to pursue education and training opportunities that, up until now, required them to move to larger urban centres such as Winnipeg.
“I am pleased to announce the Government of Canada’s support for the Winnipeg River Learning Centre” said Minister Toews. “Investments such as this are creating and protecting jobs, supporting Canadians who have lost their jobs, helping threatened industries, and laying the foundations for future prosperity”.
The WRLC is receiving $2.7 million in federal funding under the Community Adjustment Fund program and $600,000 in provincial funding from the Government of Manitoba. The funding will be used to completely retrofit their current facilities (the former Pine Falls school), including energy efficiency upgrades such as geothermal heating and cooling, and expand access to training programs. The federal funds are being delivered by Western Economic Diversification.
Since the start up of the WRLC in 2008, more than 200 full-time and part-time students have graduated in from a variety of programs including electrical trades training, small business accounting, health care aid, and educational assistants. A new pilot training program on non-timber forest products will start up in April, 2010, in partnership with Royal Roads University (Victoria, BC). More than half of the graduates to date are Aboriginal. At the press conference, Brian Kotak, General Manager of the Manitoba Model Forest, explained “For our aboriginal communities, the WRLC provides the opportunity to further their education and training, while being able to remain in their home communities. This provides the added benefit of maintaining the important family support network for the students, instead of the student having to move to a city such as Winnipeg, where that family support system may not be in place.”
The Manitoba Model Forest is providing $30,000 per year to the WRLC in support of programming and expenses.
Foothills Research Institute, along with West Fraser Mills Ltd. and Jasper National Park, hosted Dr. Yoshihide Sawanobori, a representative from the Forest Policy Research Institute of Japan, at the end of November.
Research on biodiversity hasn’t been systematically conducted in Japan although some studies exist that have focused on specific areas and species. In order to address these issues the Forestry Agency of Japan has commissioned the Forest Policy Research Insititute of Japan to research and study biodiversity conservation programs in forestry in several countries, including Canada.
The Hinton and Jasper area was one of the Canadian stops for Dr. Sawanobori. The tour included the Hardisty and Anderson Creek Demonstration sites which illustrate the work done to improve stream crossings and enhance fish habitat. Aaron Jones from West Fraser Mills Ltd. also provided a detailed overview of their operations and their biodiversity planning, management and mitigation in forest operations. The tour then moved on to Jasper National Park where they learned about Parks Canada’s strategies for biodiversity conservation. (more…)
What are non-timber forest products (NTFPs)? Mushrooms, berries, plant and animal products, nuts, seeds, medicinal plants – these products and more may be harvested from the forest to produce a wide range of goods, including food and food additives, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, gardening and landscaping material, and to develop craft industries and ecotourism services.
Cultivating economic opportunities from non-timber forest resources requires the careful harvesting and marketing of products, and includes the integration of other values, including wildlife habitat and water and air purification.
On February 18-19, 2010, the Atlantic Model Forest Network, consisting of Nova Forest Alliance, Fundy Model Forest, Model Forest of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the PEI Model Forest Network Partnership, will co-host a workshop on non-timber forest products and forest certification at the Truro Best Western Glengarry. Other partners include the Federation of Nova Scotia Woodland Owners and Infor Inc.
The workshop will feature experts from across Canada who are familiar with business opportunities in the NTFP sector. Non-timber forest product development has the potential to generate sustainable, renewable economic opportunities in Atlantic Canada’s forest-based communities.
Forest certification is a topic of increasing interest to private woodland owners in the Atlantic Provinces. The workshop will look at the impacts that forest certification is having on woodlot management, and review the standards that are currently in place.
Please pre-register for the workshop by visiting http://www.novaforestalliance.com, or by calling (902) 639-2921.
See the poster at:
http://novaforestalliance.com/media/documents/NTFP_Poster.pdf
The Canadian Model Forest Network Board of Directors is seeking an energetic, visionary and results oriented President/General Manager who will lead the evolution, strategic growth, and oversight of an aggressive and expanded business plan necessary to support future sustainability.
Please see the attached for further information:
CMFN President Job Post _Bilingual
Le Conseil d’administration est à la recherche d’un Président/Directeur général énergétique, visionnaire, ayant la détermination d’obtenir des résultats et qui va diriger l’évolution, la croissance stratégique et encadrer un plan d’affaires agressif nécessaire et élargi afin de soutenir la durabilité vers l’avenir.
S’il vous plaît voir ci-joint pour les détails :
The Eastern Ontario Model Forest and its partners are a month away from hosting the 23rd annual Winter Woodlot Conference held in Kemptville, Ontario. This years theme: Growing Diverse Values in Woodlots will feature topical information and exhibits enabling forest owners to explore diverse economic, recreational, environmental and cultural values and benefits of their woodlots!
Please click here to view this poster: 2010 Poster
To help raise the profile of growth and yield, and its link to carbon, the Alberta Forest Growth Organization (AFGO) has announced two workshops as a lead-up to their fall conference “Forestry and Energy – Growing Towards a Carbon Neutral Alberta”.
The first of two workshops on forest carbon offsets is next Wednesday January 20th, 2010. The workshop is taking place at the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton Alberta. For those unable to attend in Edmonton there are confirmed satellite locations in Peace River, Slave Lake and Hinton. We unfortunately are unable to offer a satellite location in Grande Prairie for this workshop. We hope to have all four locations for the May 6th workshop.
More information on Workshop #1 including registration details can be found by Clicking Here
Workshop #2 will be held May 6th, 2010. More information can be found by Clicking Here
The fall conference is currently slated for October 19-21, 2010. More information can be found by Clicking Here
The conference is taking place at the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton Alberta. For those unable to attend in Edmonton there are confirmed satellite locations in Peace River, Slave Lake and Hinton. We are unable to offer a satellite location in Grande Prairie for this workshop because it is unavailable. We hope to have all four locations for the May workshop.
If you are interested in attending this workshop, would like to register or would like more information on the satellite locations click here.
AFGO’s Forest Offsets Workshop #1 coming up January 20, 2010 will now count towards the Registered Professional Forester (RPF) continuing competency program. The 1 day workshop will be worth 5 CU Gen/Tech and 1 CU LPPP (For the one hour of Regulatory overview, LPPP is Legislation, Policy and Professional Practice.)
For more information and to register for this workshop please click here.
AFGO’s Forest Offsets Workshop #1 coming up January 20, 2010 will now count towards the Registered Professional Forester (RPF) continuing competency program. The 1 day workshop will be worth 5 CU Gen/Tech and 1 CU LPPP (For the one hour of Regulatory overview, LPPP is Legislation, Policy and Professional Practice.)
For more information and to register for this workshop please click here.
The next presentation in our Brown Bag Lunch Speaker Series is Friday January 15th, 2010. The speaker is Aaron Jones with Hinton Wood Products, A division of West Fraser Mills Ltd. Bring your lunch, a friend and come hear a partner perspective of the value of this program.
For more information on the brown bag lunch lecture click here.
After a few technical challenges this fall our webcam is back up and running! Watch for new images to be updated regularly throughout 2010.
Current images can be found below or by Clicking Here
To view past images, Click Here (more…)
Soon visitors to foothillsresearchinstitute.ca will be to comment on, discuss, and share content found in our Blog. What makes Blogs different from other sources of online news and information is the ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format. To view past and current content visit FRI’s blog which can be found here: http://foothillsresearchinstitute.ca/pages/home/Blog.aspx (more…)