CWF Spring Meeting 2010
The Start of a New Era; a New Beginning for the Forest Industry!
By Peter Robichaud, executive director, Canadian Woodlands Forum
The Canadian Woodlands Forum (CWF) 2010 Spring Meeting and 91st Annual General Meeting of members were held April 7th and 8th at the Ramada Crystal Palace Hotel in Moncton, NB. The day-and-a-half program offered the 240 delegates that attended lots of great updates, practical information, and the opportunity to meet with other members of the forest community from the Atlantic region, Ontario, Quebec and the U.S.
Gaston Poitras, vice president-sawmill division with J.D. Irving, Limited, provided the keynote address on behalf of the Maritime Lumber Bureau, kicking off day one of the program with a detailed overview of the significance of the region’s reliance on the U.S. market, and what the future may hold in regards to the U.S. housing market, the Canada/U.S. Lumber Agreement, the global markets, and their impact on the forest sector here in Atlantic Canada. With the 'bigger picture' in sight, the plenary session continued with the focus on each respective province here at home providing delegates with an interesting update for the entire region.
Following the Awards Luncheon, the meeting then shifted format with two concurrent sessions, which focused on various technical aspects of the industry, including operational considerations when conducting partial harvests, the status of the next Spruce Budworm epidemic in Eastern Canada, and the status of the Cap and Trade System in Canada. Down the hall, the Logging Operations Group session was underway with Deon Hamlyn facilitating the popular contractors' roundtable discussions on equipment maintenance to a packed room of logging contractors, company woodlands staff, equipment dealers and manufacturers, and suppliers. A number of suppliers also made presentations.
In addition, FPInnovations and the Canadian Wood Fibre Center provided a session on the Hardwood Management Initiative, providing results from a number of research projects, with a great feature presentation from Ralph Nyland.
Logging contractors and their business partners also participated in the business management session, which offered some great updates on financing equipment and other topics, such as creating a safety culture that can result in cost savings for your operation, the benefits of using the new FPDat system, and a great panel offering different perspectives on what the future holds for the logging profession.
During the week, a number of other events took place such as the Log a Load for Kids Canada “Fund Raiser”, the CWF Board of Directors meeting, the Annual Business Meeting of Members, the “Preventing MSI Injuries in Tree Planters” workshop from FPInnovations, the FPInnovation's /Canadian Wood Fibre Center Regional Advisory meeting, and the AGM for the New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association.
|
