The arrival of tree planters in Burns Lake gives many local businesses a shot in the arm.
Perhaps the greatest economic effect is on the local grocery stores. Russell Perrault, store manager at the Wholesale Club, said that a couple of the cooks from bush camps place orders for their foodstuffs in advance.
The store receives those orders by phone or email, packages them and puts them aside for weekly pickups. “It makes it easier for them, easier for us,” he said, adding that items can be ordered specially, so “they get what they want.”
Those transactions are worth roughly $2-3 thousand each, said Perrault.
Overall, purchases at the Wholesale Club appear to increase by about 3-5 percent when the tree planters are in town, said Perrault. “It helps,” he said.
Smaller businesses also gain from the presence of tree planters.
Asked about the impact on sales, Dollar Store assistant manager Emma Peters said: “It goes up.”
Tree planters’ purchases tend to include “gloves, drinks, snacks, rope, other useful things,” she said, adding that they arrive in “flocks,” often congregating in the parking lot of the Wholesale Club.
Dispensers of such necessities as coffee, cigarettes and fast food also experience a boom during tree planting season.
“This morning was non-stop,” said café owner Matthias Lexow. Just then, a group of tree planters walked in to check out the pastries, as he prepared shots of espresso for customers. “I didn’t even have my own coffee yet.”
Lexow also noted that tree planters tend to arrive in groups. Along with locals and tourists, this results in rushes of activity. “It creates very busy times,” he said.
At the Town Pantry, manager Pankul Katoch said the extra business is noticeable, and that tree planters tend to stock up on cigarettes and chewing tobacco.
It’s hard to know how much they add to the bottom-line of the business, “but it does make a difference,” he said.
Many people working in local retail outlets said they enjoy the presence of the itinerant workers, noting that it offers a chance to learn about people from different parts of the country.
“I love tree planters,” said Linda Saugstad, who manages the local A&W. She was planting petunias outside the franchise when she paused to praise the roving workforce.
“They’re polite and they’re patient and they’re hardworking and they frequent our restaurant,” she said.
“I think they’re this wonderful boost to our economy,” she said. As for their effect on business at the A&W, she said they boost sales “significantly,” though she wouldn’t disclose by how much.
Saugstad formerly owned a motel frequented by tree planters, including two young men who told her they had each planted one million trees in the Burns Lake area, she recalled.
“The last I heard one had graduated from law school and the other had completed his medical training,” said Saugstad. “They paid for it all tree planting.”
She added that she enjoyed the spirit and individuality of tree planters. “I look forward to their presence every year,” she said.