ABCFP honours forest professionals for outstanding work and contributions in 2020

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(Vancouver)—The Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) honoured a handful of worthy forest professionals at its 2021 annual conference for their outstanding service and contributions to bettering the practice of forestry across the province.

“The past year was challenging for everyone. Navigating a pandemic stretched people in ways we could never have predicted,” ABCFP president Trevor Joyce, RPF, said at the conference, held virtually last week. “What I witnessed was the resiliency of forest professionals and the strength of the profession as a whole. We assessed. We adapted. We thrived.”

The ABCFP awards are based on nominations submitted by other forest professionals.

''Peer recognition of a job well done or extended excellence over the course of a career is both humbling and meaningful to the forest professionals responsible for caring for one of BC’s most treasured resources,” Joyce added.

Neil Hughes, MSc, RPF, of North Saanichwas presented with the 2020 Professional Forester of the Year award for his outstanding service to reforestation efforts during the 2020 planting season.

Jim Girvan, MBA, RPF, of Ladysmith, and Kenneth Mitchell, PhD, RPF (retired), also from of North Saanich, shared the honour of Distinguished Forest Professional.

The winner of BC Forest Professional Magazine Best Article was Dr. Siomonn Pulla, program head and Doctor of Social Sciences at Royal Roads University in Victoria, whose article “Building a Holistic Framework to Support Informed Consent" looked at moving away from the fragmented and parallel systems of consultation and engagement with Indigenous Peoples.

This 2020 winner of the Jim Rodney Memorial Volunteer of the Year is Guy Burdikin, an RPF from Williams Lake who has volunteered with the ABCFP since 2016 in roles related to climate change adaptation.

The Association of BC Forest Professionals is responsible for registering and regulating BC’s 5,500 professional foresters and forest technologists.


Source: The Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP)