This is the personal blog for Jonathan (Scooter) Clark. If you're interested in learning about Replant.ca Environmental, a company that I run which plants trees in parks and builds community forests, the link is in the right sidebar. If you happen to like techno music, visit the DJ Bolivia link in the sidebar. If trees and block-rockin' beats are not your thing, may I suggest knitting or crochet.
The following information is for new members of the Forums (message board) on the main Replant.ca website. If you're reading this page, I'm assuming that you've just registered for an account. If you haven't, but want to, send me an email with a requested username.
Making Posts
It's important that you make sure you have a check mark in the
“keep me logged in” box when you are logging in. Some
users have reported problems with not being able to post
if this box isn’t checked when you log in. And remember
to log out when you’re done, especially if you’re at a
public computer.
That should answer most other questions
that you might have, and also addresses issues such as my full set of rules for members, preventing defamation, company postings vs job postings, making avatars, a reminder that there's a "search" function, etc.
Social Media links
If you’re a regular facebook user, you
might also want to put a “like” on the Replant.ca page
(mostly designed for non-planters, to showcase photos
& environmental articles): http://facebook.com/replant.ca
If you're currently a planter or potential planter, you
might rather join the Replant facebook group, which is
designed more for gossip and industry-specific
information: http://www.facebook.com/groups/replant.ca
Finally, if you're not a planter yet, but you've either just gotten a job OR you're looking for a job, you should bookmark and visit this link: http://www.replant.ca/training
Thanks for your interest in the Replant Forums! As a reminder, here's a link to the main page:
This post is a follow-up to my pre-season overview post, which talked about the first half of my online tree planter training program.
In 2005, I put an initial series of tree planter training videos online. Those video were getting thousands of views every year, but they were very low quality. YouTube was still in its infancy, and digital video resolutions & frame-rates were very limited. In
2012, I started the project over again from scratch, and by 2017 I was happy with the quality of the content. From 2019 onward, I'll be updating those videos every year at a quality level that is
suitable for sharing with our entire industry. My training series consists of a total of twenty modules. The first six videos are meant to be watched a couple months before the season starts, by people who are potentially interested in applying for a job as a planter. Those videos are designed to let you know what you're getting yourself into if you decide to spend a summer in the bush. You can find them in the link at the top of this post.
The focus of the last fourteen videos (the ones covered in this post) is more specifically related to the process of understanding the characteristics of trees, learning how to actually plant them, meeting quality & density expectations, what to expect from the natural environment, and all the other "hands-on" stuff that you'll be expected to know as soon as you strap your bags on. Although this series was produced in British Columbia & Alberta, most of the information is also highly relevant to planting in other Canadian provinces (except maybe for the procedures for assessing quality & density).
The content in these videos is not targeted solely at inexperienced job applicants. I'm 100% confident that all current experienced planters will find things in these videos that they didn't know. You may wonder why I feel bold enough to make this claim? Simple: because I learned hundreds of new things myself while putting all of this training material together. These fourteen videos are about five hours in total length, so you'll need to set aside an entire afternoon or evening to watch them. I'd suggest that you watch them with a pen and paper, so you can make notes about questions that you can ask recruiters or crew bosses at the companies that you apply to. You should also bookmark this post, because you may want to come back and watch some of these videos more than once. If you watch them well in advance of the season and this is your first year, you'll probably want to watch them as a refresher just a day or two before you hit the field. Several companies are screening these as start-up training material when you first arrive to your new job. There is a print version of this information, available on Amazon. The book is called Step By Step, A Tree Planter's Handbook.
The book actually contains FAR more information than these videos do.
Ultimately, if you get a job as a tree planter, I'd highly recommend
that you buy a copy of Step By Step. More than a dozen major tree
planting companies are using it as the basis for their training
framework, and they'll probably tell you that you have to buy a copy
anyway. Get ahead of the curve, because there is an incredible amount
of information in the book. Here's more information:
Planting A Seedling
Contents: Selecting the best microsite, microsite preparation, opening the hole & grabbing the seedling, planting the tree & closing the hole, planting demonstration.
Meeting Quality Requirements
Contents: FS 704 system overview, throwing plots, specific faults, damage to seedlings, microsite selection, planting quality.
Spacing, Density, & Excess
Contents: What's in a plot, plotted versus planted density, target spacing and minimum spacing, excess, missed spots (a quality fault), penalties.
Site Preparation
Contents: Untreated (raw) ground, trenching, mounding, scrapes, windrows, drag scarification, chemical scarification, prescribed burning, selective harvesting, assessing a block.
Behaviours & Attitudes
Contents: Maintaining the health of the ecosystem, responsible behaviour, safe behaviour, respectful behaviour, treatment of co-workers, stashing.
Wrap-Up
Contents: Field practice, career options, final advice.
Here are some additional links and resources that might be of interest to potential planters:
You may wonder why I'm offering all of these videos for free? You may think, "what does he want in return?" Well, that's a good question, because I actually DO want something in return: I want you all to share this with as many other potential
planters as you can. Make sure they have the opportunity to get a full
understanding of what they're getting themselves into, BEFORE they put their first tree in the ground. If
someone isn't suited for tree planting, it's much better that they
"quit" before they start, instead of three or four days into the season.
In 2005, I put an initial series of tree planter training videos online. Those video were getting thousands of views every year, but they were very low quality. YouTube was still in its infancy, and digital video resolutions & frame-rates were very limited. In 2012, I started the project over again from scratch, and by 2017, I was fairly happy with what I had produced. From 2019 onward, I'll be updating the videos every year to maximize the quality of the content. The training consists of twenty modules altogether. The first six (which are the focus of this post) are meant to be watched a couple months before the season starts, by people who are potentially interested in applying for a job as a planter. If you're looking for the other fourteen videos, which focus more on the hands-on aspects of the job, go to this link. These videos will help you understand what you're getting yourself into! This is NOT an easy job. The number of first-year planters who try the job for a few days or weeks and then quit is pretty high. If you're not going to enjoy the work, it's better that you make that decision before you start planting, rather than after you've spent a few thousand dollars on buying equipment and travelling to your first work site.
I highly recommend that if you're thinking about planting, you watch these videos very carefully before you commit to accepting a position at a planting company. These six videos are just slightly over three hours in total length, so you'll need to set aside an afternoon or evening to watch them. I'd suggest that you watch them with a pen and paper, so you can make a list of questions to ask recruiters or crew bosses at the companies that you apply to. You should also bookmark this post, because you may want to come back and watch some of these videos more than once. There is a print version of this information, available on Amazon. The book is called Step By Step, A Tree Planter's Handbook. The book actually contains FAR more information than these videos do. Ultimately, if you get a job as a tree planter, I'd highly recommend that you buy a copy of Step By Step. More than a dozen major tree planting companies are using it as the basis for their training framework, and they'll probably tell you that you have to buy a copy anyway. Get ahead of the curve, because there is an incredible amount of information in the book. In addition, it's full of reference information that will be useful to experienced planters (such as a chapter about coastal planting, with a list of contacts for coastal companies, and chapters about logging, helicopters, other silviculture work, and a lot of things that the YouTube videos don't address). Here's more information:
But for now, here are the first six videos in the training series. I hope you find them to be useful. I think I would have made about five thousand dollars more in my first season if I had known all of this information before I started planting. Crew bosses take note ... you should share this information with everyone on your crews.
Introduction, History of Tree Planting
Contents: A history of BC's Tree Planting Industry, the modern BC Tree Planting industry.
Why Do We Plant Trees? What Makes A Good/Bad Planter?
Contents: Overview of forest management in BC, administration of logging & reforestation, people who should go planting, people who should not go planting, some common myths about planters.
Long-Term Worker Health, & Nutrition
Contents: Water/hydration, alcohol/drugs/tobacco, fitness & avoiding injuries, personal protective equipment, minimizing the risk of illness, mental health.
Working Safely from Day to Day, Understanding Hazards
Contents: Assessing risk, personal protective equipment, vehicles, natural worksite hazards, weather, chemicals in the workplace, wildfires, bears, other large animals, insects, miscellaneous, industry-certified training courses.
Rules & Regulations that Protect the Worker
Contents: Employment Standards Act, Workers' Compensation Act, Canada Human Rights Act, minimum camp standards, complying with client/licensee policies, employer policies, camp-specific or crew-specific policies, corporate organization.
What It's Like to Live in a Tree Planting Bush Camp
Contents: Overview of basic structure, the daily routine, your cooks & meals, other equipment, when you're not in a tent camp.
Here are some additional links and resources that might be of interest to potential planters:
You may wonder why I'm offering all of these videos for free? You may think, "what does he want in return?" Well, that's a good question, because I actually DO want something in return: I want you all to share this with as many other potential planters as you can. Make sure they have the opportunity to get a full understanding of what they're getting themselves into, BEFORE they put their first tree in the ground. If someone isn't suited for tree planting, it's much better that they "quit" before they start, instead of three or four days into the season.
By the way, keep this in mind: I don't like to get my cameras wet. Almost all of the photos and videos in these tutorials look all sunny and happy. It's a facade. We live in a world of mud, rain, and misery.
Also, after watching all the videos, you'll probably be sick of the background song. But if not, and if you want to hear (or download) the entire song, here's a SoundCloud link:
