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CAPF/CAPFT | 200, 10544 – 106th Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5H 2X6 | phone 780.432.1962 | phone 780.432.1177

ALBERTA FOREST PROFESSIONAL NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2015

PRESIDENTS’ MESSAGE

I’m sure many have had a hot, busy, challenging and relentless summer. As we put together this newsletter, we hope that the

members might read it at their leisure with a cold beverage of their choice in hand.

Merger Policy

Both the CAPF and CAPFT councils have had a busy last few

months. Recently, the Act and Regulations Review Committee

(ARRC) has presented a Policy Design Document to Government.

This document outlined the changes to Legislation that we as

forest professionals require to combine us into a single entity. On

August 4th, your ARRC presented the Policy Design Document to

Executive Director Goisa Cichy-Weklaw of Jobs, Skills, Training

and Labour. The merger continues to move forward.

A Model for Governance

Your Councils have also completed a governance review with

guidance from Councilor Todd Nash and his company MNP. We

have identified a number of opportunities for governance

improvement, the largest of which will be moving away from a

volunteer driven organization. To capitalize on the scale of our

new organization we intend to strengthen critical activities such

as supporting the role and value of forestry professionals,

engagement with other natural resource professions and

ensuring protection of the public interest through competent,

professional natural resource management. We are currently

developing a proposed organization structure including staffing

levels and Councilor responsibilities for review at the AGM.

A Brand To Be Proud Of

The Communications Committee, led by Councilor Cam Rollins,

continues to work with Incite Marketing to develop a brand for

our new organization. The extensive research completed by

Incite with members, influencers, employers and public will lead

to a brand that we can all get behind. The brand of our future

organization will resonate with Albertans and will help our

organization move forward and become stronger than ever

before.

One of the most exciting parts of working with an outside

marketing group like Incite, is realizing how proud we are to be a

part of this new combined organization. Members surveyed

indicated that being a forest professional was a source of

pride as well. They most often describe themselves with two

words, “forest” and “management”. As such, Incite’s naming

recommendation for our organization revolved around those

words.

Through much deliberation by both of the elected

Councils and Incite, we are proud to announce the

new name of our organization as the Association

of Alberta Forest Management Professionals. The

Association of Alberta Forest Management

Professionals is a regulator, a connector of

professionals, a resource for members, but also your

voice. The Association will work to advance our

profession on behalf of all members.

The AGM - the first for our combined organization promises to be an exciting mix of organizational growth and technical information. We are excited to share the "buzz" with members and look forward to member response and engagement with the Association of Alberta of Forest Management Professionals.

Milo Mihajlovich, RPF Samuel Elkins, RPFT President, CAPF President, CAPFT

THE COLLEGES OF ALBERTA PROFESSIONAL FORESTERS AND FOREST TECHNOLOGISTS

In This Issue: Presidents Message

Transformation Timeline Page 2

CC Updates Page 3

Exam Updates Page 3

2015 Elections Page 4

The Association of Forest

Management Professionals Page 5

Water Policy Update Page 7

Forestry in the Classroom Page 7

Finance Update Page 8

Page 1

AUGUST 2015

to share some significant milestones and outline a clear timeline to finalize the merger. The Table below outlines the status of the ongoing initiatives;

Grant Williamson, RPF Ray Hilts, RPFT Consultant, CAPF Consultant, CAPFT


TRANSFORMATION TIMELINES

The Annual General Meeting is only a few months away and will be a great opportunity to review what has been done, and more importantly, what is remaining to be done to complete the merger. By the time the AGM rolls around, we are hoping to

ALBERTA FOREST PROFESSIONAL NEWSLETTER

U

Process Purpose Status

Policy Development Document – Act (PDD.Act)

Proposed changes to the Act that are required to facilitate the merger of the two Colleges. It was requested by Jobs, Skills, Training, and Labour (JSTL) as part of the process required to change the Act. Document includes: Mechanics of merging Role of Forest Management Professionals

Governance model Definition of forest management

Complete - Submitted to GoA – Aug.2015.

Policy Development Document – Regs (PDD.Regs)

Proposed changes that are required to amalgamate the existing Regulations into one Regulation for the Forest Management Profession. We will be proposing changes that will;

Strengthen Mandatory Registration provisions Provide a clear process to include other natural science

professionals who should be regulated under our Act

Outline the role of Forest Management Professionals

Update the continuing competence program.

To be submitted to GoA – Sept.2015.

Bylaws Outlines how the organization functions. Completed Draft – To be reviewed after Legislation is approved

Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice

Members must practice in compliance with the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

Member input complete. Legal review complete. Staff / Council to do a final check when the new Act, Regulation and Bylaws are finalized to ensure they are all consistent.

Continuing Competence Program

Required in Act and Regulation. Intent is to simplify reporting procedure and ensure a rigorous program.

CC Sub Committee have completed the first draft of the amalgamated timeline Sept.2015.

Governance Model Describes how we function. Defines:

Council structure and purpose Committee structure and purpose

Overall purpose for the Organization

Todd Nash (through Myers Norris Penny) has completed the Governance Review. The recommendations have been incorporated into our proposed changes to the Act, Regulation and Bylaws.

p

WELCOME, RAY HILTS


WRITING THIS YEAR?

The next PROFESSIONAL EXAM will be

held Saturday September 26th in

Edmonton, Alberta.

To register please contact the

College at [email protected] for the

CAPF Exam and [email protected] for the

CAPFT Exam.

Study sessions will be scheduled.

Please contact your Exam Director

or Registrar for more information.

CAPF [email protected]

CAPFT [email protected]

CONTINUING COMPETENCE

With the merger well on its way, the two Colleges have

formed a joint Continuing Competency Committee to work on

a program that will work for our members and be able to

show our dedication to the practice of forestry to the public.

Our goal for this new program is to simplify the reporting

process and focus on quality rather than quantity. Continuing

competency is much more than undertaking training

mandated by our employers and constantly refreshing safety

courses. To be a Forest Management Professional we have to

consider our lifelong learning objectives. We cannot be

satisfied with our current education. Forestry is an evolving

science that we must take the time to continuously learn and

better ourselves as professionals. That’s part of being a

professional: a commitment to lifelong learning.

The committee has been mandated to provide a program that

will bring both Colleges together. We have drafted the

principles of the CC program and are currently working on the

outlines of the program itself. Our goal is to have a complete

program with the related processes to present at this year’s

joint AGM in October.

Part of our mandate is also to review the possibility of a

Practice Review and how this might tie into a CC program.

Great progress has been made and this will provide great

benefit to the CC program and our membership. We look

forward to presenting this as well at the AGM.

Cheers, hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Hope to see

you at the AGM.

Tyler Caddey, RPFT

Competence Director, CAPFT

THE NEW COMBINED EXAM

In the spirit of the merger, the two exam committees, one from

CAPFT, the other from CAPF, have begun to work together to

create the first joint professional exam session.

New Structure

The exam will be composed of two parts. Part A amounts to

40% of the overall exam in terms of marks, and requires a mark

of 65% in this section to pass the exam. Part B is worth 60% of

the overall marks, and is made up of 12 possible questions, of

which the exam participant must select 6 to answer. There is no

minimum percentage in this section to pass the exam, however,

a 65% overall must be obtained to successfully pass.

The formatting of the questions will differ as well; we have

removed multiple choice, true and false and matching

questions as possible formats and will be moving to short

answer. These short answer questions vary in intensity, from a

simple list, to single sentences, or as much as paragraphs are

required to adequately answer the question.

Writing the Exam

We have also agreed to hold two writings per year, which is a

change for the Foresters, which previous wrote only once per

year. When the Colleges are fully merged, we will have more

applicants, two writings will allow us to reduce the number of

writers per sitting, which reduces strain on our volunteers for

content generation, and marking of the exams. Two writings

will also allow for a re-write for any members who do not pass

the exam the first time, without having to wait 12 months.

AUGUST 2015


continued p4

mailto:[email protected]




Page



Study sessions have historically been held online, and in the

evenings for CAPFT, while CAPF has utilized expert speakers

and held in person study sessions lasting about half a day.

Working towards this upcoming exam we have opted to use

both. The presentations for online sessions have been modified

to align with categories of study that will be present on the

exam, and apply to both Foresters and Technologists. Study

sessions are open for members of both Colleges to attend with

dates to be announced.

The exam will be held September 26th 2015 in a classroom at

NAIT. The room is provided free of charge as good will from the

Forest Technology Program.

It has been a productive six months and a pleasure to work

collaboratively. We would also like to thank all of the

volunteers and contractors who have worked so hard on all

aspects of the merger, including the professional exam.

Derrick Kreger, RPFT

Exam Director, CAPFT

2015 ELECTIONS

CAPFT will be filling 6 elected vacancies and 1 Council

appointed vacancy at the October AGM. The CAPFT

Nominations Committee will make calls for nominations for all

council positions prior to the AGM. During the business

meeting, the nominees will be revealed and a live election will

be held. Nominations will be also accepted from the floor.

CAPF will be filling 4 elected vacancies at the upcoming AGM.

The CAPF Nominations Committee will make several calls for

nominations starting 80 days prior to the AGM date. The call for

nominations will close September 10th, 50 days prior to the

AGM. Online voting will begin September 30th. The elected

members will be announced at the business meeting on

October 30th.

Future Council Structure

Once CAPF and CAPFT have fully merged, there will be one

Council to oversee the single organization. This Council will

CAPFT Elections

Incoming President Mark Solkowski

Positions Nominee

Vice President none received

Finance Director none received

Complaints Director Joel Cornish, RPFT

Hearings Director none received

CC Director David Price, RPFT

Exam Director Derek Kreger, RPFT

CAPF Elections

Incoming President Milton Davies

Positions Nominee

Vice President Alex Bloss, RPF

Councilors Ed Anderson, RPF

Jean-Paul Bielech RPF

Colin Hanusz, RPF

*Via Election Process Ryan Hee, RPF

additional nominees Jim McCammon, RPF

may be received. Chris Vailaire, RPF

continued p5

PLEASE CONTACT THE COLLEGE IF YOU WISH

TO BE NOMINATED

undertake a Policy Governance model and move away

from the current, volunteer intensive, Management

model. The oversight role of the Council means that we

would rely more heavily on staff for administration,

which will be possible with the increased efficiencies…


AUGUST 2015


• Regulation is strong, advocacy is not

• Key messages and value statements need to be developed for

different audiences

• Public awareness and acceptance is on members’ minds, but

there is no defined consensus as to who the public is and what

outcomes awareness will achieve

• Reaching the public with messages is not an academic exercise,

it’s emotional and social

• The public is aware that we exist, but unaware of how it is

relevant to their everyday lives

• There is a lack of consensus as to what the role of the

organization should be

realized by the merger. In addition to the Council there will

be several standing committees to carry out maintenance

such as the CC Committee and Policy, Act, Regulations Bylaws

(PARB) Committee.

The proposed Council structure for the merged association will include: • 11 Councillors of which 3 are Public Members • Chair • Vice-Chair/Secretary • Past-Chair • Treasurer

Shonelle Wilkinson, RPFT

ED/Registrar, CAPFT

continued p6

“We are proud to announce the new name of our organization as the

ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA FOREST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS”

AAFMP

From Page 1

THE ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA FOREST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS

The combining of our Colleges has meant a great opportunity

to redefine our Association in a positive light and build

ourselves a brand we can be proud of. We can all be

ambassadors for our profession and our newly formed

Association. We are the stewards of Alberta’s forests, and it’s

important that the public understand what we do. We have

been working with Incite to develop:

1) New organization name that resonates with members,

public and influencers

2) Key messages:

a. For the organization to utilize to build relationships b. To assist members in becoming advocates for the profession and organization

3) New logo and visual identity

4) New website

5) High-level marketing and communications recommendations

Current Situation Research Findings

• We must define ourselves by our strengths and

responsibilities, rather than by “what we’re not” (lumberjacks,

forest rangers)


Naming Recommendation

Moving Forward

Now that the organization has a name, we are

working with Incite to build a brand. By the AGM,

expect to see a new brand including a logo, social

media and a website. Hopefully this new brand

connects with the more experienced

members of the college, but can also be used to

engage younger audiences. We will use the

key messages and marketing recommendations to

reach influencers across Alberta. For the first time

since I joined the College in 2007, I feel like we

will have a solid marketing plan that will

lead to the recognition of what a Forest

Management Professional does, and a

united voice through our Association.

Cam Rollins, RPF

Communications Chair, CAPF



WATER POLICY UPDATE

Environment and Parks staff in the Water Policy Branch are

launching discussions with ten self-regulated professions in the

environment arena on implementing professional signoff

requirements for various aspects of the wetland replacement

system under Alberta’s recently implemented Wetland Policy.

The first tasks for the group will be to establish a formal

Memorandum of Understanding to ‘frame’ this partnership

and also form a Competencies Advisory Committee to identify

competencies and practical experience requirements for

qualifying regulated members to do signoff work.

Given that this area of work overlaps many of the above PRO’s

scopes of practice, it was important to involve regulated

members of these PROs that are under professional legislation

and fully accountable to the public of Alberta. A similar

approach was used for reclamation and remediation signoffs

introduced several years ago.

As of June 1st, 2015, the Qualified Wetland Aquatic Ecosystem

Specialists (QWAES) designation is no longer valid, and wetland

regulatory submissions must be signed off by a registered

Interim Wetland Science Practitioner. The interim status is

valid from June 15, 2015 to May 31, 2016 after which

practitioners will be expected to qualify for the Qualified

Wetland Science Practitioner (QWSP) designation. Criteria for

QWSP certification will be posted on the Alberta Wetland

Policy Implementation website to ensure practitioners are

appropriately trained. We will keep members posted as further

details relating to professional signoffs become available.

For further details on wetland policy implementation, go to:

http://www.waterforlife.alberta.ca/03356.html

Doug Krystofiak, RPF

ED/Registrar CAPF

FORESTRY IN THE CLASSROOM Foresters and Forest Technologists are needed for volunteer classroom presentations during National Forest Week (Sep 20th to 26th, 2015). Through the Work Wild program at AFPA, a concerted effort is made during NFW to visit school classrooms and talk about forestry. So far requests from teachers in the following areas have been received (bolded

The Professional Regulatory Organizations (PROs)

involved in the discussions will include:

Alberta Association of Landscape Architects (AALS) Alberta Institute of Agrologists (AIA) Alberta Land Surveyors’ Association (ALSA) Alberta Professional Planners Institute (APPI) Alberta Society of Professional Biologists (ASPB) Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta (ACPA) College of Alberta Professional Forest Technologists (CAPFT) and College of Alberta Professional Foresters (CAPF)

communities are areas where we already have some volunteers): •Cold Lake •Stony Plain •Sherwood Park •Beaumont •Manning •Whitecourt •Drayton Valley •Wetaskiwin •Peerless Lake •Hinton •Tofield •Riviere Que Barre •Strathmore •Edmonton •Airdrie •Peace River •Calgary •Grande Prairie Note that we also have a demand for a French-speaking professional to visit a school in the Calgary area. If you could be available to do classroom presentations at other times of the calendar year, please let Ann know. Classroom topics may vary and resource materials are available. If you would be interested in making a classroom visit, especially in the non-bolded communities, please contact: Ann Normand Program Manager, Work Wild Alberta Forest Products Association Office: 780.392.0762 Mobile: 780.405.8209 www.workwild.ca http://www.cif-ifc.org/national-forest-week-2015/


http://www.waterforlife.alberta.ca/03356.html

http://www.workwild.ca/

http://www.cif-ifc.org/national-forest-week-2015/

FINANCIAL UPDATE As mentioned in the Presidents report, our Colleges are jointly

working on mid-term and long-term budgets. These will help

bring our two organizations together during the merger process.

Our Finance folks have met on numerous occasions to work to

bring the financial systems and our financial policies of our two

organizations into alignment. Fortunately, we have been

working with the same accounting firm, the SVS Group,

Chartered Accountants LLP, over the years. They are assisting us

in outlining a plan to bring our budgeting and accounting

processes together. Our goal is to develop a shadow budget

whereby we can jointly achieve a budgeting process and account

for our expenditures as a joint organization while allowing us to

track individually for tax filing and financial reporting. We

recognize that we need to address our legal commitments

(Annual Reports, Financial Statements, Tax filing, Review

Engagements, etc) as separate organizations until the new

legislation is passed.

The process has been challenging but we are pleased, making

significant process and will be able to present a “joint” budget

and review of pertinent policies at the Annual General Meeting.

This process has used and been mindful of the Principles

developed in our joint Memorandum of Understanding to

amalgamate the Colleges, signed in May 2013, and the

Memorandum of Understanding for Interim Governance signed

in June 2014.

Any policy changes that we suggest will require approval of the

Joint Council, prior to formalizing into our Bylaws. These include

alignment for fiscal yearend and the alignment of our dues and

fee structure, all of which will be presented to Joint Council for

endorsement, prior to our AGM. It has been a thought-

provoking process, to say the least, but we are encouraged that,

despite these challenges we move forward and continue to act

as one organization.

Milton Davies, RPF Derek Fisher, RPFT Vice President, CAPF Finance Director, CAPFT

2015 AGM AND TECHNICAL SESSION

In October, CAPF and CAPFT will be hosting our first joint

Technical Session and AGM. We look forward to bringing you a

series highlighting the transformation of not only the College(s)

but the profession and industry as well. We will hear from

presenters on current changes such as the FRI Healthy

Landscapes Program, biodiversity planning, wetland policy

implementation and predicted future wildfire characteristics.

This two day session will be held Thursday October 29th and

Friday October 30th at the Edmonton Expo Centre and will be

concluded with the business meeting and awards luncheon.

Registration will be available on the respective College websites.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Industrial Timber Salvage The Future in Wildfire

State of the Industry Healthy Landscapes

Wetland Policy LARP

CAPF/CAPFT Merger


CC OPPORTUNITIES

Woodlands Historical Resources Course, Peace River – Aug. 26, 27 – WOLF Alberta Employment& Career Fair – Oct. 2, 3 – CAPF/CAPFT Booth (Volunteer) 2015 Ecological Issues and Resource Access Forum – Nov. 23 – PTAC For registration information head to:

CAPFT https://www.capft.ca/events/

CAPF https://www.capf.ca/events.html


https://www.capft.ca/events/

https://www.capf.ca/events.html

EDGAR KOEHLER MEMORIAL AWARD - CAPFT Presented to a volunteer who makes outstanding contributions to their organization and who displays the

HERE.exceptional qualities set by Edgar Koehler. Find the nomination form FRANK APPLEBY PROFESSIONAL AWARD - CAPF To recognize RPFs who have made exemplary and significant contributions to the College. Find the

HERE.nomination form FOREST TECHNOLOGIST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - CAPFT Recognizes an individual who has demonstrated professionalism in the field of forestry that promotes the

HERE.principles of the College. Find the nomination form


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