Contractor supports increase in Native employment options

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Loretta Hurst loves her job in the forest industry.

"Every day there is something I really enjoy. Either the sun coming up in the morning in my rearview mirror, or coming home at night I see the moon coming over the ridge. Or I see an animal."

Hurst had a goal when she began working in forestry in 1992. She wanted to help other people to obtain solid employment in the industry too, and today that is becoming a reality.

Her idea was to "start my own business, work to a level where I was a sound business, and from there I could start hiring people. That was my goal, and I'm just about there." It's only been two years that Hurst has gone independent, but she has three employees.

She aims to "keep putting out quality work so that we continue to have work come to us without searching. Right now we are really lucky that we are working as much as we are because there are a lot of contractors with no work."

Competition is steep. Hurst says the biggest contractors in the area are "DWB, Chiltech, Prifor."

But she estimates there are another 80 in the area. "Every one of those contractors have about three or four people employed," Hurst said.

Hurst was raised on the Tl'Esqox reserve in Riske Creek, known to local people as the "Toosey" reserve. She began her career working on archeological surveys for her band. Her work habits were noticed, and soon Hurst found additional work with silviculture survey and supervision contractors.

She became a certified silviculture technician, having learned to summarize forestry block reports and to make treatment recommendations. She began to contract independently for Riverside Forest Products in 2000.

Ruth McArthur, district forester at Riverside, said, " Loretta is a key part of the cutting team. She is contract manager for the Williams Lake District cutting program. We rely on her high level of technical expertise."

In 2000, Hurst began her own company, Rafter Three Contracting, which employs three people in addition to Hurst on a seasonal full-time basis. One woman works in the office preparing contracts and block summaries and finalizing contract reports prior to invoicing the mill; another works part-time in the bush with Hurst and part of the time is "loaned out" to Riverside mill; and one man who is being trained to do fieldwork checks cutting quality and surveys new blocks.

A typical season runs April to December. Hurst works up to 14 hours a day, six days a week, supervising Riverside's 13 cutting crews. Much of her work time is spent in the bush surveying harvested blocks and checking quality.

"I've seen a couple of grizzlies and a lot of black bears. I've seen cougar tracks in the snow. I totally respect that we are going out into their territory."

Her biggest challenge is communicating with contractors. "Most contractors don't have answering machines or fax machines. Ultimately I am responsible for anybody out there. I represent Riverside. I have to know where the guys are and what they are doing all the time."

Her official title as silviculture technician also involves an aspect of social work. "You're dealing with different crews and many personalities. You're building self-esteem in people. You're building confidence. You're teaching them how to do their jobs better. It's an all around role."

As a working mother with two teenage daughters, Hurst appreciates the support she receives at home. Hurst says her husband Jack "does a lot. He took over mothering and fathering the girls. That was a decision we had to make. One of us had to go out and pull in money and the other had to stay home and look after the kids and animals. He was better for looking after the animals. He's always been a good father."

Although busy, Hurst still takes time for a little recreation.

"I love to rodeo. I'll work 24 hours a day to go to a rodeo on the weekend. I do fieldwork and take my paperwork to the rodeo with me. I'll pull it out on my back bumper and do it."

Hurst credits her sucess to her grandparents, whom she refers to as mom and dad. "Mom taught me to work hard and never give up. Dad taught me to love nature and the forest. That's where I really got my start. They raised me to be the person that I am."

Hurst hopes the company will grow. "We're financially sound but we haven't grown leaps and bounds. We all make our living and that's just about it. I'd still like to take in more people and teach them how to do the work."