Throngs of tree planters descend on Burns Lake each summer during their breaks from life in the bush. The Lakes District News caught up with some of this year’s cohort as they did errands in town, and later at their bush camp in Topley.
Olivia Wood, 24, explained some of the finer points of tree planting as she folded clothes in the Burns Lake laundromat.
“We just had our first shift, so this is the first day in town for a lot of people,” said Wood, 24.
Many had come into town to shop for things they found lacking in the camp.
One example is duct tape. Planters use the tape to wrap up their shoes, so their laces don’t get caught in the bushes, wasting precious tree-planting time.
The hustle
You get paid by the tree, so time is money. “Any second you’re wasting and not planting trees, you’re not making money,” said Wood.
They work for three days in a row, with 12 hours daily between breakfast and dinner for planting — although a good part of that time might be taken up travelling from the camp to the block of land where they work.
“There’s a lot of little hiccups,” said Wood, noting that flooding on Crow Creek Road — which washed out the main access from their camp to Highway 16 — had added an hour to the daily commute, forcing them to take a detour along a chain of logging roads.
2,000 trees daily
They ultimately aim to plant roughly 2,000 seedlings in a day.
But for a relatively novice group of tree planters, the current goal of 1,500 was already considered quite high.
Wood said the experience was fun, and that they were in high spirits — for now. They still have three months in the bush camp ahead.
Money the motivator
Most tree planters who spoke to the Lakes District News said money was the primary reason for venturing into tree planting.
Wood cited her credit card debt and tuition as a major driving force — she’s an undergraduate in social geography at Concordia University in Montreal.
But other factors include the lifestyle.
“I love camp life, and I love the people that we work with,” said Wood.
And the majestic natural environment is another element. And she said there are opportunities for advancement, including working as a foreman or a tree-checker — a kind of quality control officer.
Sam Steel, 24, said that she’s hoping to travel next year with money she saves up from working in the bush after recently finishing her studies. “I’d like to go to Australia,” said Steel, who is from North Bay, Ont.
Camp employs 60 people
A group of tree planters sat in a broad circle around a campfire in the early evening on May 12, the first day off of the season, at their bush camp in the Topley area. Nearby, a Ping-Pong table was set up and two young tree planters were having a game.
There were about 60 tree planters at the camp, which had an international presence, including some Australians.
Harrison Boyce, a 20-year-old globetrotter from Melbourne, said the experience so far has been fun, as he clutched a can of Caribou near the fire. “It’s excitement over everything,” he said.
Camp supervisor Bryn Gabriel, who was sitting by the fire, seemed surprised by the unannounced presence of a journalist at the camp, but graciously obliged when asked for a tour by the Lakes District News.
He showed off the facilities, including a large tent — similar to the kind that might be used in a military camp or at a travelling circus — which serves as a mess-hall.
Inside, young tree planters were eating, chatting — at least one was working on an illustration in a little book — and one was having her tarot read.
Gabriel explained that the camp has two full-time cooks, and their new “cook shack” — a trailer positioned at one end of the tent— is equipped with an industrial-strength dishwasher.
Brutus the bear dog
The foremen are danger-tree certified, said Gabriel, so the location is out of range of any trees that could fall on one of the planters. Staff trained in first aid are present, along with trucks equipped with evacuation units called ETVs.
There’s also a perimeter of electric wires to keep the bears away. And the camp is also populated by four dogs. “Dogs are nice to have,” said Gabriel. “They keep the bears away.”
One of them is a large but friendly mastiff cross named Brutus. Gabriel and Brutus drive across the country from Ontario each year for the planting season — flying is prohibitive because of the dog’s weight.
“He’s over 100 pounds, so he’s classified as livestock,” said Gabriel. The nine-year-old dog has chased away a few bears in his time, said Gabriel. “He hates ‘em.”
Evacuation procedures in place
As for the flooding that cut off the main access point on Crow Creek Road, leading to the highway, Gabriel called it “inconvenient.”
But he stressed that the camp has evacuation procedures in place in case of emergency, and that a wash-out on Highway 16 would be a more serious concern.
