Forest Rangers course offered

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Alberta Sustainable Resources Development offered a Junior Forest Ranger program this summer for the first time in three Aboriginal communities in the province-High Level, Lac La Biche and Fort Chipewyan.

The eight-week course gave young people ages 16 to 20 a chance to experience a career in forestry with hands-on experience.

In the program participants received information about Alberta Sustainable Resources, the forest protection it does, and the types of employment available in forestry.

The young people spent a number of days in fire line camps for the material hazard reduction component of the course, cutting down dead trees and clearing some brush to help reduce the fuel if there was ever a fire in that area. They were stationed in the nearest fire district to their communities. They were also able to acquire a number of certificates during their eight weeks.

For 40-year-old James Atkinson from Edmonton, the Aboriginal co-ordinator for the Junior Forest Rangers, the response to the program was encouraging.

He recommends that young people take this program to get an idea of what this type of career is all about and to see if it is what they want to do in the future.

"What we are trying to do is peak the interest in the Aboriginal youth to get a career in the forestry industry. We want to give them an idea of what it will take to get into that type of career, the types of required education they would need and what kind of work is involved in the forest protection industry. We actually had a few students who are actually changing their career goals in high school and said that they wanted to start taking Forest Technician Training next year and they've actually made applications to some of the colleges in the province. They did not realize that the ladder to get to this point is really attainable," he said.

This winter, Atkinson will be approaching a number of Aboriginal communities across the province to see if there are more communities interested in developing a program. During a visit to these communities he will do a number of presentations and speeches in their schools.

"We've had tremendous support from the First Nation communities, and they've expressed an interest in doing the program again next year. I've already heard from the Lesser Slave Lake Regional Council and I believe that there are a few down south by Calgary who want some more information on the program," he said

Atkinson, whose educational background is in human resources, spent a number of years recruiting seasonal firefighters at the Metis Nation office in Edmonton. Through this experience he saw how important the forests were to Aboriginal people and the amount of work Aboriginal people were getting in the summer fire fighting season. He said he admired their capabilities in the outdoors and the enthusiasm they showed each summer.

"The forest protection division appealed to me because we are saving our forests. I always enjoyed getting people recruited to fight fires. It was gratifying to see the pride in the Aboriginal firefighters as they made some money over the summer and then get to see them again the next summer. I thought it was interesting to see them do something great for their environment," he said.