Vol. 2 No. 1 The Ministry of Forests Employee Newspaper January, 1982

,We Earned ,ItMinistry of Forests employeesregistered a 31.9-per-cent decrease indays lost due to accidents in 1981, ear­ning the Premier's Award for SafetyAchievement. The annual award goesto the higher-hazard ministry or gover­nment agency that shows the greatestimprovement over its previous year'saccident record. This is the "fourth timethe Ministry of Forests has received itsince it was first presented in 1970,Happily accepting on behalf of asafety-conscious staff, from left toright: Wallie Tubb, occupationalhealth and accident prevention co­ordinator, Les Underwood, director ofPersonnel Services Branch, AssistantDeputy Minister Roy Cullen, DeputyMinister Mike Apsey and MinisterTom Waterland. Ken Staniforth photo

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25 Years In Canada

Sopron Looking BackBC SignsPacts WithFeds, USDA

January 8, 1982,marks the 25thanniversary of thearrival in Canadaof the forestry facultyand students of SopronUniversity, in the wakeof the ill-fatedHungarian revolution.It's an occasion forremembering...

"The first logging sites were shockingto see. It was also difficult to ac­climatize to a free economic society.New language, new customs, newforestry - the prospect of adjustmentwas almost overwhelming. "- Laszlo Ad8Dlovich and Oszkar'Sziklai in Foresters in Exile.

But the students and faculty from theForest Engineering University ofSopron, who fled the reprisals thatfollowed in the wake of the 1956Hungarian uprising, have adjusted toCanadian life - and very well.

Twenty-five years after accepting aninvitation from the Canadian gover­nment and the University of British'Columbia, 'the Hungarian foresters

have cut out a place for themselves inthe Canadian forests. '

"At last count there were 23graduates of Sopron work:ng in theB.C. Forests Ministry," says JuliusJuhasz, director of TimberManagement Branch and one of thefirst students to graduate after theschool was transplanted to UBC.Others are scattered throughoutuniversities, government and privateindustry in RC., the rest of Canadaand the United States.

It's a success story with bitter roots.In early November, 1956, when it

became clear that it would be futile toresist Soviet forces pouring intoHungary, 359 Sopron students andteachers walked three miles to theborder and across the minefields intoexile in Austria.

"Our original thought was not toleave for good," Juhasz recalls. "Wewere just going for a few days to re­organize and fight our way back in."

That option quickly faded and theywere confronted by a range of unset­tling choices: return to an uncertainfuture in Hungary, or respond to in­vitations from various countries, ex­tended as a result of inquiries thatSopron's Dean Kalman Roll'er'had sent around 'the world.

Of those who left Hungary thatNovember, 67 decided to return toSopron, 78 went to other Europeancountries and 214 came to Canada.They arrived in Powell River inFebruary, 1957 after short stops in St.John, N.R and Abbotsford.

One of the first shocks the newarrivals encountered was therealization that they would have tocover their own expenses.

Education was state-subsidized inHungary and the Sopron studentsfound it interesting, even annoying, tolearn that in Canada the universitystudent must make his own way.

H. Foley, president of the PowellRiver Company, provided the studentswith jobs. The B.C. Department ofEducation laid on English lessons andthe UBC faculty gave weekly lectureson Canadian forestry practices andhistory.

In September, 1957 after a summerof hard work, the Sopron students andfaculty moved to Vancouver wherethey became a unique division of theUBC Faculty of Forestry.

Looking back on the experience,Juhasz recalls the numerous adjust­ments made, "but in the long termthere proved to be many moresimilarities than differences. Forestry,like any applied science, is a universallanguage. ' ,

The Sopron Forestry Faculty of UBCwas disbanded after graduating its lastclass in 1961, but every year the alum­ni stage a reunion in Vancouver.

This year, to mark the 25th amuver­sary, the Ministry of Forests joins withthe Association of B.C. ProfessionalForesters, the Vancouver sectionCanadian Institute of Forestry andothers to honor Sopron alumni at adinner in Vancouver Jan. 10.

Forests Minister Tom Waterland andfederal Environment Minister John,Roberts have signed a federal­provincial memorandum of under­standing on co-ordination of forest,research.

Purpose of the agreement is to'~ enhance the contributions made by the

forest research programs of theCanadian Forestry Service to themanagement of forest resources inBritish Columbia.

In addition to development ofresearch agreements, discussions areunder way concerning an equitableshariIig of the costs of forest' renewal.The ministers have also agreed toestablish a federal-provincial nationalfire information centre and co­ordinated training program.

The Ministry of Forests, meanwhile,has signed another agreement with theU.S. Department of Agriculture ForestService, calling for increased co­operation between the twoorganizations.

The ministry and the Pacific North­west Region of the USDA Forest Ser­vice agree to:

• An exchange of literature and in­formation on a continuing basis.

·Field trips within Oregon,Washington and British Columbia inconnection with a wide variety ofprojects.

·Sharing of transportation and otherfacilities for specific projects and ex­change vi'sits.

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,New Annual ReportEstablishes Pattern

Author! Author! The men behind the new Ministry of Forests annual report areMike Whybrow (left) and Bill Howard of Strategic Studies Branch. Compiling thereport was a more difficult job than usual because it differs significantly in contentand organization from the annual reports of previous years. Jack Danylchuk photo

Before the,Ministry of Forests annualreport for 1980-81 was released, MikeWhybrow .and Bill. Howard werealready settling down to the businessof preparing next year's report.

''It will be much easier next timearound," says Whybrow, senior in­dustry economist in the StrategicStudies Branch. Howard, seniorresource economist, agrees.

''This was'the first time we producedan annual report on a fiscal-year in­stead. of a calendar-y,ear 'basis," saysHoward. It required half a dozen draftsand lengthy discussions with HartleyLewis, manager of the branch'seconomic section, Ted Knight, directorof Strategic Studies, and DeputyMinister Mike Apsey.

"Most of the problems we encoun­tered were the ones you wouldassociate with doing something for thefirst time," says Whybrow. "For

. example, expenditure tables required abreakdown of spending on individualprograms and the existing computerprogram was not designed to provide.those kinds of answers."

The new report covers the first yearof the ministry's first five-year

. program, completing the cycle ofresource analysis - program of action ­monitoriJ,lg of performance.

The first five-year program did not

specify physical program goals for itsinitial year. However the format of thesecond Jive-year program was changedto include specific goals, and the nextannual report, covering 1981-82, willassess the ministry's performance indetail.

This wili be the pattern for the, future. The annual report will be, in ef­. fect, the ministry's report card. It will

show whether we are on the honourroll, pw1Ung just passing grades orflunking our responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the current report tellsus the following:

-Ministry expenditures for 1980-81totalled $268.2 million, three per cent($7.8 million) higher than forecast.

-The silvicultu!e program accountedfor $71.6 million, with almost 74million trees planted on some 63,000hectares of Crown land.. -Protection took $30 million, of

which 90 per cent went for 'firemanagement. Wildfire damage waskept to 65,000 hectares.

-Expenditures under the range.program amounted to $2.9 million.

-Almost 188,000 hectares were'logged to produce 73 million cubicmetres of wood.

-Forest revenue amounted to $360.8million.

Telephone: 387-5985Editor: Jake Banky

Anyone may use, with creditto source, any item appearing

in this publication.

Challenges Issued For '82

.Duncan Hammers VisitorsMove over Wayne Gretzky, here'

comes Ken Thairs!Leading scorer in the first Forest

Service hockey tournament; Thairsnotched 14 goals in four games fromhis centre position to lead Duncan to afirst place finish, .

The host team completed the two­day tournament with,an unblemishedrecord, defeating Port Alberni 6-3,Powell River 6-0, Vancouver 1~3 andtying Campbell River 3-3.

Vance Capron of DunCaD was namedbest goaltender. Mark Perdu of Van­couv;er was voted the most valuableplayer and Mark Anderson of Powell'River the most sportsmanlike. :

,Port Alberni finished second, Win­ning a 20-'3 decision over Van­couver-highest score in the tour­nament-and defeating Powell Riverand Campbell River by scores of 10-4and 5-3.

Campbell River came third,defeating Vancouver 12-2, and playingto a 7-7 draw with Powell River. ThePowell River side picked up fourthplace with an 8-6 win over Vancouver'which finished the tournamentwithout a victory.

Tournament organizer Pat Hayesreports that challenges have alreadybeen received and the ice. time isbooked for next year's competitionwhich promises to be ~ven better.

"The' tournament was lan over­, whelming success. Next year we hope

I that teams outside the Vancouverregion that eJf1lressed interest will turnout," says Hayes.

Province ofBritish Columbia

Ministry ofForests,

ISSN-071l-8961

SMRPT Calls ForWindy Bay Reserve

Published monthly bythe Information Services

Branch, Ministry 'of Forests,1450 Government Street,

Victoria, British Columbia.V8W3E7

fo-~=.~I.iii - f'f'., •.. - lS-, ~' .. ~ II

The South Moresby Resource Plan­ning Team has recommended anecological reserve be established. atWindy Bay in the Queen CharlotteIslands. .

The SMRPT report identifies two op­tions: ~ ecological reserve coveringthe entire Windy Bay watershed andadjacent Dodge Point, totalling 3,040hectares; or a smaller reserve of 675hectares.

Windy Bay is one of the last largeunlogged 'watersheds on the east coastof the Queen Charlottes. It forms partof Tree Farm Licence 24, held byWestern Forest Products.

G3-81048Pat Hayes photo

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Back To' School For Supervisory StciffSupport Services supervisors from 43 of 46 forest districts spent five days at the Forest Service. Training School in Surrey, discussingand developing strategies.for dealing with problems in payroll, finance, personnel, property and warehousing. Bob Louden photo

ShopTalk----u--you have -questions about the

service, this is where you get theanswers.

What assistance does the ministry.' provide for both long and short term

training and education?According to Harry Powell, manager

of Human' Resources Planning,Training and Development, any ForestService employee can apply foreducation leave and subsidized tuitionfees. Forms are available from person­n~l offices in all regions and in Vic­toria.

A broad range of courses is available.Forest Service technicians without

professional credentials can choosefrom 23 courses offered through theAssociation of British ColumbiaProfessional Foresters Pupil Program.

. Given by correspondence, the cour­ses are available from most communitycolleges' and the University of Brit~sh

Columbia.The Forest Service Training School

offers technical, supervisory andman'<1gerial courses on a centralizedand decentralized basis in all regions,according to 'needs identified by theministry. For courses offered at the

, Training,. School, the ministry pays.board, lodging and tuition as well astravel expenses. Course calendars areavailable from personnel officers.

In addition, regions and branchesconduct training programs that aretuned' to local needs and special in­terests. For example, Systems 'Servicesfrom time to time provides instructionsin the use of computer terminals.

KEN MATTHEWS - RO TimberSechelt fro~ TFO-I; RON SORENSON- RO Silviculture Powell River fromTFO-I Port Hardy; BARRY MILLER ­RO Protection Powell River from FA-4Port McNeill; JIM COULTON - FA-4Powell River from Aux; REINHARDMULLER - RO Silviculture Duncanfrom LSO-Z Nelson; FRED PATTEN­DON - FA-4 Duncan from Aux;MURRAY STECH - TFO-I Duncanfrom FA-4 Sayward; BOB REBANTAP- RO Recreation Duncan from FA-4Powell River; GARY GALLINGER ­TFO-I Port Alberni from FA-4; ALCROSS - TFO-I Port Alberni from FA­4; JIM SPRING ....: Support ServicesSupervisor AO-I Campbell River fromCI-6 100 Mile; KEN COLLINGWOOD- Operations Superintendent Cam­pbell River from RO Silviculture PortAlberni; KEN McMAHON - ROScaling Port McNeill from TFO-2;BARRY BUFFINGTON - RO EnglRecPort McNeill from Highways; STANGRIPICH - RO Protection Port Mc­Neil from FA-Z Nelson.

Vancouver RegionFRANK ULLMAN - RO RecreationChilliwack from FA-4 Duncan; RUSSKNUTSON - TFO-I Chilliwack fromFA-4; STEVE LUSH - FA-4 MapleRidge. from Aux; MARK DUMAS ­FA-4 Maple Ridge from FA-4 GoldRiver; AUDREY TYMO - CI-4 PowellRiver from CI-3 Pemberton; FRANKYOUNG - TFO-I Sechelt from FA-4;

Moving ExpensesPersonnel Services Branch has

clarified) ministry policy on relo~tion .expenses for auxiliary employees.

Expenses are pai<;l only for auxiliarieswho are moving from one geographiclocation to another as a result of .win­ning a competition for a regularposition.

An auxiliary employee who hasworked 200 days in a IS-month periodand is thereby' considered to be an in-.service applicant, will be eligible fortransfer expenses.

Auxiliaries who have not won acompetition for a regular position arenot eligible for relocation expenses.

from Campbell River; KEN HANES ­Tech-2 Smithers; LAURNES EM­MELOT - Yardsman BulkIey; BRIANATHERTON RO InventoryHazelton; JOHN BRINKAC - TFO-ITerrace; BRIAN SIMPSON FA-4Terrace; DAVE DUNSTON - FA-4HazeltoI]. f[(;>m Kamloops.

. Victoria Headquartersj............:-........--------------j LINDA LUKINUK - OA-2 Personnel

from Health; STEPHANIE DONALD­SON - OA-Z Personnel from OA-IAux; LAURA REICHERT - CI-4Systems Services from· Cl-Steno-3;ELIZABETH LANG - CI-3 Tech Ser­vices from OA-2; DARLENE LAIDLER- Sr Exec Secretary Deputy Minister'sOffice from CI-Steno-4 Minister's Of­fice; CLAIRE VESSEY - CI-Steno-4Minister's Office from CI-Steno-3Legal and Admin.

DIANE RENAULT - FA-4 TimberFort St. John from FA-2 Aux PrinceGeorge West; JAMES DAVIS - FA-4Timber Fort St. John from FA-2 Aux;DARRAL ALEXANDER - FA-4Protection Fort S1. John ;::om FA-2Aux; ROBERT WEEKS - FA-2Mackenzie from FA-2 Aux; DOUG·BACALA - RO Silviculture Van­derhoof from Silviculture AssistantPrince George; STEVE DODGE ­Engineering Assistant Fort S1. Jamesfrom Engineering Aide-2 Aux; BARTVANDERLINE - TFO-l Forest CrewC()-()rdinator Prince George West fromFA-4 Prince George East; LYNNHOLLIDAY - Cl-3 Fort Nelson fromAttorney General; NED WILTSIE ­FA-2 Timber McBride, new; TOMBAKULAK - Storesworker-3 fromFA-I Aux; RICH TURGEON - ServiceTechnician Fort St. James, new;LARRY BADOWSKI - TFO-I RO In­ventory Prince George East from FA-4Silviculture.

Prince Rupert RegionANITA WOLFE - RO' SilvicultureHazleton from Meritt; PAUL LARSEN- TFo-l Campbell River from BellaCoola; RAYMOND BECK - OfficialScaler Bella Coola, new; YATEVEENGSTROM - OA-Z Smithers, new;RAYMOND SCHULTZ FA-4Bulkley from Prince ,George;HEATHER DAWSON - FA-4 Mauricefrom FA-2; LEE SCHAEFFER - FA-4Kaluin from Houston; BRUCE HUT­CHINSON - FA-4 ;Burns Lake fromFa-2; ED KING - FA-4 Bums Lake

.It'sYourMove

Nelson RegionTOM MINER StoresworkerKootenay Lake from HighwaysNelson; AL BRADLEY - OperationsSuperintendent Kootenay Lake fromLSO-3 Timber Nelson; AL BARCLAY- RO Silviculture Grand Forks fromFA-4 Silviculture; JANICE SHAW ­OA-2 Admin Services Kootenay LakefromAux. -

Prince George RegionSUSAN McKENZIE - Cl-3 Mackenziefrom OA-l Aux; LAURA GREGER ­FA-4 Fort St. John from FA-2; NOR­MAN SAWYER - Audit Accountant 3Valuation Prince, George from AuditAccountant 2; TERRY IRWIN - LSO-ZAppraisal Officer Operations, new;FRANCIS BOSLEY - Tech-Z McBridefrom Highways; ALEXANDERBARAUSKAS - RO Silviculture FortSt. JQhn from RA-2 Prince Rupert;SHERI WALSH - RO SilvicultureMcBride from Silviculture AssistantPrince George; DON LAWRENCE ­FA-4 Timber Prince George East fromFA-2 Aux; JOHN COOK - TFo-'lMackenzie from FA-4; SHARONREED - Cl-3 Accounts Fort Nelson; .

'"~wogw~

'"z..>

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January, 1982The Ministry of Forests Employee Newspaper

Oh For ALife On The Rolling Pond"It's great," says Bud Stewart, skipper ot the 46-foot Kinbasket Forest. "Where else can you

get a job cruising water that others pay to be on during their summer holidays?" Launched lastyear, the $140,000 vessel extends the Forest Service's,reach to the most remote corners of the35,OOO-hectare pond created by the Mica Dam. It provides an office and floating hotel for timbermanagement, silviculture, fire fighting and pest management crews. GeoffLeepholO

Vol. 2 No. 1

It 'is reassuring that nobody hascomplained about the misspellingof the word "Racqueteers" in thefront page headline of our lastissue. The "c" was inadvertentlyomitted. Nice to know that noneof you can spell either.

•

The ministry magazineForesTalk, which has been win­ning awards with great regularity,hit the jackpot in three categoriesat the awards banquet of the' B.C.branch, International Associationof Business Communicators.ForesTalk took top honours forbest magazine, best layout andbest feature. One of the judgescommented, "Pity there isn't acategory above excellent."

•

Shortly after being named actingdirector of Valuation Branch,Hans Waelti has been confirmedas director. He succeeds BobThomas who retired after 31 yearswith the ministry. Waelti, 55, hasbeen in the service almost as long.He started with Engineering Bran­ch in 1952.

WAELTI: wins Valuation.

gasoline to make gasohol forpowering conventional cars. Theenzymes occur naturally but areproduced too slowly for such aproject. Now the clone can beused to greatly increase enzymeproduction. However, even withthis breakthrough, it will still beseveral years before we are put­ting a tree in our tank.

•

•A prototype tree seedling plan-

ting device, designed and built byAlan Moss and Associates ofKelowna, has,undergone a con­tinuous five-day test under gover­nment observation. Moss says thenext step is the pre-productionmodel which will be strengthenedand modified before a company isformed to build the productionmodel.

In a year-end review of the lum­ber industry, Forests MinisterTom Waterland says RC.'s 1981production of lumber, plywood,newsprint and market pulp willeach be about 15 per cent below1980 levels. He foresees littlechance of a market turnarounduntil the second half of 1982. Butlooking ahead the minister saysprospects are excellent: "Thefuture is strong; it remains to,!"eather the present."

• •Ken Bernsohn; editor of Forest

Insight and assistant editor ofHiballer Forest Magazine, spentfour years writing his new bookCutting Up The North, a history ofthe forest industry in the NorthernInterior. The author says he hasbeen fair - "equally unkind toeveryone.' ,

A substantial portion of B.C.'sforest operations would be bogged

,down in controversy if theMinistry of Forests did not have apolicy of public involvement,Deputy Minister Mike Apsey toldthe Western Forestry and Conser­vation Association in Sun Valley,Idaho. Without public in­volvement, he said, "we wouldsimply be storing up conflict forlarger and possibly destructiveconfrontations.' ,

•Scientists at the University ofRC. have cloned a gene for an en­zyme which will convert sawdustinto glucose. The alcoholproduced by fermenting theglucose can be blended with

Kits for providing photo­identification cards to ministryemployees 'are on order for eachregion. The ID cards will beprovided by the regions, first to

, employees designated as Forest'I" Officers and subsequently to other

employees who may need them.The FOs are expected to have car­ds issued to them before the startof the 1982 fire season..'The first government reinven-tory of a B.C. Tree Farm Licencedid not turn up any surprises.Any inconsistencies were withinacceptable limits. Based on resultsof the audit of TFL 6, it is notlikely the process will be repeatedfor other TFLs unless there are in­dications of serious discrepancies,says Frank Hegyi, director, Inven­tory Branch. Western ForestProducts is licencee for TFL 6which covers 170,000 hectares onnorthern Vancouver Island.

•British Columbia exports about

2,000 kilograms of tree seed an­nually to northern Europe.Lodgepole pine, Sitka spruce andD<;>Uglas fir are the species favoredby Britain, Sweden, France andWest Germany.

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Sorry, we won't need the exor­cist after all. The report of a curseon British Columbia's forest in­dustry turns out to be a phoney.Nora Maxwell of Cowichan Bayhad said the late Chief Dan Georgeput a curse on the industry back in1972 but asked that it be keptsecret until after his death. Shequoted him as saying: "May theyfind their profits turn to ashes intheir mouths, that they cannot sellthe product of their filthy hands."The curse made front-page newsfor a day. The next day, Mrs.Maxwell retracted her statementand apologized. We can all go backto blaming the slump on interestrates.

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