AGM News, From the President, Right To Practice

ARPFNB Set to vote on Right to Practice

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Hello

The Association of Professional Foresters of New Brunswick have sent a cover letter and a copy of the proposed Act to its membership as a precursor to a to an online vote scheduled to run from February 21, 2011 – March 4th, 2011.

From the cover letter:

On February 21st , you will receive an email from ClearPicture, a company from Nova Scotia that will conduct a fair and anonymous electronic voting procedure. Please follow the instructions and respect the deadlines indicated. Voting will open on February 21st and close March 4th, 2011. If the Association does not have an email address for you, then you will have received this notice and instructions for voting by post mail.

For years the NBFTA Executive has been working on Right-to-Practice on behalf of Technicians and Technologists working in New Brunswick. Based on a membership vote, at a Nov 2009 emergency meeting, the Executive was giving a clear mandate on how to proceed with RTP. Our mandate was lost for two reasons:

1 – There are no letters of support from stakeholders.
2 – The definition of forestry in the final draft of the Act has changed.

We, as an organization, need to decide what is best for New Brunswick Forests and what is best for Forest Technicians and Technologists.

I have attached the cover letter and French and English versions of the final draft of the Act. This is required reading for anyone who wants to see how this document, if becomes legislation, will affect your profession.

As I outlined in my previous blog post you really need to be involved in this process. We do not want the decisions of a few influencing the lives of so many so get involved and show up at our AGM on April 7th, 2011 at 1PM in Moncton.

COVER LETTER | FRENCH VERSION OF ACT | ENGLISH VERSION OF ACT

You can view the ARPFNB announcement on their website by clicking here.

Bye for now.

Todd MacPherson,

President

AGM News, From the President, Meeting Announcements, Right To Practice

NBFTA AGM Announced

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Dear Forest Technicians and Technologists of New Brunswick;

The 2011 NBFTA Annual General Meeting will be held in Moncton at Ramada Crystal Palace on April 7th beginning at 1 PM Sharp. Although the Agenda has not yet been released, the primary topic will be Right to Practice. Your Executive and, in particular, Chris Finnamore, has been hard at work with this on behalf of the membership.

As you may recall we held an Emergency Meeting of the NBFTA on November 14, 2009 at which time the Membership voted to support Right to Practice Legislation. We, as an Executive, were tasked by the Membership to meet with the ARPFNB and tell them our conditions of support. We did that. To freshen your memories of those conditions I have copied and pasted them here:

It was motioned and accepted that  the NBFTA Executive meet with ARPFNB Executive to confirm support of Right-to-Practice by contributing $5000.00 toward legal costs incurred to date, conditional on :
– no more money be spent on legal fees until stakeholder support is given
– consultation process to begin immediately, including written letters of support from stakeholders including, but not limited to :

  • DNR
  • NB Federation of Woodlot Owners
  • Crown Licensees and Sub Licensees
  • MCFT
  • UNB
  • U de M
  • NBCC Miramachi

The NBFTA Executive met with the ARPFNB Executive on December 5th, 2009 and presented them with our conditions of support. They unanimously accepted the conditions as outlined above.

A joint letter from both Associations was mailed out to approximately 120 stakeholders province-wide late December – early January 2010. No letters of support were received, so at an NBFTA Executive Meeting on October 16th, 2010 it was decided that ample time had passed. The Executive felt that we no longer had a mandate and would bring this to the attention of the Membership at our AGM to decide which way to proceed.

On Friday January 28th, 2011, Chris Finnamore and myself were invited to attend the ARPFNB AGM. At that meeting their Membership voted to change the definition of Forestry from the original draft that the Membership of the NBFTA had supported. With this change in hand, their membership in attendance, which included representatives from two large Crown License holders and one Marketing Board, offered support, through their vote of presenting the document to their membership via a mail-in vote.

The ARPFNB felt that they did not have a strong enough quorum at their AGM to hold a vote to accept the document and begin the public process of having it become Legislation. They decided to send a cover letter and copy of the document to their membership, soliciting a mail-in vote in support of the draft Act.

This may be changing somewhat because recent correspondence that I have received shows that the ARPFNB may hire an on-line voting house to prepare an electronic ballot for their membership who have Internet access.

On Saturday, February 5th, 2011 the NBFTA Executive met and this was the main topic on our agenda. We, the Executive, felt that the NBFTA can not support this new draft of the Act because, with the change to the definition of forestry, we no longer have a mandate from our Membership.

Further, although three representatives of major players in the forest industry voted at the ARPFNB AGM to support the new version of the Act, there are no official letters of support, that our Membership had requested.

Acting on your behalf today, we decided that we would not be joining the ARPF in their mail-out / electronic vote campaign. It was decided that is beyond our scope and mandate and that we need to take the new draft of the Act directly to you, the member, at our upcoming AGM.

If you are a Forest Technician or Technologist working in New Brunswick you need to be at our AGM in Moncton on Thursday afternoon April 7th, 2011. Decisions made at this meeting will chart a course for your career in Forestry. I can not stress enough how important this meeting is. Even if you are not a member, you still need to come. While it would be nice to recruit new members into the Association, you are welcome to come and sit as an observer and listen to the work that has been done, on your behalf, to protect your interests. If what you see and hear inspires you to participate in the process, you are more than welcome to join the NBFTA.

Again, to all Technicians of New Brunswick. I implore you to be present at our AGM. This will be, without a doubt, the most important meeting that we have ever had. You need to be informed. You need to be involved. You need to be there. If you are reading this and are coming, I want you to bring at least one other Technician or Technologist with you.

It is estimated that there are over 1200 Forest Technicians and Technologists currently working in New Brunswick. It is my hope that every single one will be present in Moncton on April 7th. Please do not let the decisions of a few affect the careers of so many.

Respectfully Submitted;



Todd MacPherson, President
New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association

Misc

Free GIS Software

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A while back I took over a website that had been owned by Paul Pringey in the USA. ForestPal.com offers all kinds of free land management software, one of which is the flagship product fGIS. This is a fully functional geographic information system software package and it is 100% free.

It is capable of reading and editing ESRI ArcView shapefiles, displaying aerial photography, and has transparency capability. In other words this software has a lot of the functionality of software that costs $1500 – $2000.

The last public build of this software was in 2005 by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. I now have the distribution rights to this software so please feel free to download it. There is a complete set of instructions that come with the software, so you can be up and running in minutes.

Go to ForestPal.com

Jobs

DNR NB is looking for a Resource Manager

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Here are the details:

Department of Natural Resources

Resource Manager
Pay Band 5

The Department of Natural Resources is seeking an individual to fill the position of Resource Manager in Region 4, Edmundston.

As a member of the regional team and reporting to the Regional Director, the successful candidate will be responsible for: supervision of District Resource Supervisors; coordinating the delivery of the forest management, fish and wildlife management, and Crown land management activities as performed by District resource staff; the delivery of the regional forest fire and public education programs; establishing, delivering and monitoring long-term and annual work plans for district resource operations; monitoring annual district resource operating budget; participating in activities and issues related to recruitment, labour relations, classification, performance reviews, grievances, discipline, staff development, training and safety; managing regional and district offices administration and infrastructures, as well as maintaining an efficient asset management system. Travel as well as working irregular hours to complete assignments is also required.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree in resource management or business administration with a minimum of five (5) years experience in resource management including supervisory experience; or a graduate of a recognized forest resource technical program with a minimum of eight (8) years progressively responsible experience in resource management, including supervisory experience. Technical knowledge and skills and a working knowledge of MS Outlook, MS Word, and MS Excel is also required.

Written and spoken competence in English and French is required. Please state your language capability on your application.

Applicants must clearly demonstrate the essential qualifications to be given further consideration. Please ensure that preferred language for assessment is identified on your resume.

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS: Preference may be given to candidates that: demonstrate related experience in forest fire management and/or natural resource management; participated in labour relations, negotiations, adjudications and/or mediations. Candidates should demonstrate on their application one or more of the asset qualifications in addition to the essential qualifications, as they may be required in order to be given further consideration.

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES: The successful candidates will possess the following behavioural competencies: Developing Others, Effective Interactive Communication, Organizational Commitment, Results Orientation, and Team Leadership.

Salary: $51,194 to $71,474 per annum

We encourage applicants to apply on-line at www.gnb.ca or by mail at the following address by May 26, 2010 indicating competition number NR-10-05.

Department of Natural Resource
Human Resource Services
2nd Floor, Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre
1350 Regent Street
Fredericton, NB E3C 2G6

Telephone: (506) 453-2131
E-Mail address: brenda.m.nicholson@gnb.ca

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and we promote a scent-reduced environment.

We thank all those who apply however only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Apply online by clicking here

CFE Credits, Conferences

Alien Species Invasion

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Professional Development Afternoon

Thursday, May 13th, 2010, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

K.C. Irving Theatre, Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre, Fredericton

David Mazerolle, Botantist, Mount Allison University: Invasive Plant Species
Kathryn Collet, Dept of Natural Resources: Aquatic Invasives
Edward Hurley, CFS, Atlantic Forestry Centre: Invasive Insects
ALL WELCOME

3 CIF Continuing Education Credits, 9 ARPFNB CFE Credits

AGM News, Conferences, From the President, Meeting Announcements

AGM 2010 Announced

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The 2010 Spring Meeting of the Canadian Woodland Forum will be held April 7th and 8th at the Ramada, Crystal Palace Hotel, Moncton. I have attached an agenda for the event.

Also please be aware of two other events taking place at this location:

NBFTA Executive Meeting April 7th (evening) at the Ramada, Crystal Palace, Moncton – time and room number to be determined.

NBFTA AGM will be held at 1 PM on April 8th – at the Ramada, Crystal Palace, Moncton – room number to be determined.

AGENDA: click here to view

From the President, Meeting Announcements, Right To Practice

Emergency Meeting Called February 6th, 2010

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The following was sent by email and regular post late last week. Any of the documentation referred to in this letter will not be publicly available at this time. It is information for members only. If you are a member and have not received your information package by either email or regular mail then please contact me at todd.macpherson@nbfta.org and I will send you the information.

Bye for now

Todd

===========================================

Hello Members

As a follow up to out last emergency meeting and subsequent acceptance of the ARPFNB to our terms, we are now in full support of the current Right-to-Practice Legislation. With that in mind, I am required to call one more emergency meeting for the general membership on Saturday, February 6th, 2010, at 10 AM in room 224 at MCFT.

The purpose of this meeting is to ratify the latest version of the legislation document. After that we will begin a 6-week public relations campaign, as required by law. The ARPFNB is holding their Annual General Meeting a week prior to ours and if for some reason their membership votes against the legislation then I will cancel our meeting. The Private Members Bill can not go forward unless both associations approve the latest draft of the legislation.

I can not stress enough the importance of this meeting. Forestry as you know it in New Brunswick will change forever with the enactment of this legislation. In order for your voice to be heard you must attend the meeting.

Attached to this document is the Act, rough draft of the By-laws, and a letter that was mailed out to various members of the forest community seeking their support of the legislation.

This meeting is open to NBFTA members in good standing only. To participate, your dues must be paid in full at the door.

(Note to Executive Members – I would like to meet with all of you after the emergency meeting to go over the applications for the NBFTA Scholarship. We received two applications so it should not take long.)

If any of you receive this email more than once, I apologize.

See you all on February 6th.

Sincerely;

Todd MacPherson
President
New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association
www.nbfta.org

CFE Credits, Conferences

CFE Credits for FREE – Fundy Model Forest Workshop Announced

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Hello Everyone

I was informed of a conference next Thursday and it is an excellent opportunity to earn CFE credits. The workshop is titled “Implications of Intensive Silviculture and Mixedwood Dynamics on Forest Management” and is being held on January 28, 2010 from 9:30 AM – 4:15 PM at the KC Irving Theatre in Fredericton.

There is no cost for this workshop and lunch is included. There will be 6 credit hours awarded for members. Although this event is free you must register for it by sending an email to info@fundymodelforest.net or calling 1-506-432-7365 or 1-800-546-4838.

You can read the agenda by clicking here.

home of the New Brunswick Forest Technicians Association