News

"Last year, the Canadian Government established a Golden Jubilee Medal of Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Queen's reign. The medal is to be awarded to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, their community, or
to Canada.

In order to have a list of recipients that was representative of all regions of Canada, various organisations were invited to propose the names of candidates for the Medal, including federal, provincial and territorial levels of government. As such, in early September, Ministers and Deputy Ministers were asked to nominate six employees from their respective ministries as potential recipients for the Medal.

I am pleased to inform you that the provincial process has been finalised and that the following (past and present) ministry employees were selected to receive this prestigious award. The text after each is the short summary of that individual's achievements that we provided in
putting their name forward.

* Michael Blackstock: Mike worked on the development of the original Forest Practices Code and in recent years has worked as the Aboriginal Affairs Manager in the Kamloops Forest Region. He has brought integrity and bridge building skills to the region by advocating and developing strong relationships between aboriginal communities and
the ministry. Mike has shown his commitment and innovation in helping field operations staff conduct their business in a manner of respect for First Nation communities and their issues.

* Mike Carlson: Mike was an original founding member of the Cariboo Forest Region in the early 1970's. He held a variety of positions during his tenure in Williams Lake including the position of regional manager. Mike is a tireless advocate for good forest management as well as a highly competent forester with a great regard for the land base. He provided leadership on a variety of complex forestry matters in the Cariboo Forest Region prior to his retirement from the ministry this past year.

* Mike Geisler: Mike is well known for his long term work towards land use planning in the Kootenays as well as the professionalism he displays daily managing the public forest resource. He has represented the ministry from the CORE tables in the 90's through to the recent conclusion and approval of the KBLUP. Mike is well respected, inside
and out of government, for providing leadership on a variety of complex land use issues.

* Jim Gowriluk: Jim is a positive, innovative and hard working individual who is well respected by his colleagues both within the ministry and in the forestry industry. He was a member of the original Forest Practices Code implementation Team responsible for ensuring that the new legislation was delivered effectively. Jim also was nstrumental in designing and implementing the regulatory regime that governs the relationship between major forest licensees and forestry contractors as well as for undertaking a recent major review that led to changes in regulation to make it more effective and efficient. At present, Jim is spearheading the design of the ministry's First Nations
consultation mechanisms related to forest tenure decisions.

* Julius Juhasz: (posthumous) Julius received his degree in
forest engineering from the University of BC Sopron Division. Julius was an excellent example of a good public administrator renowned for his clear, logical analysis of complex issues in the tenure and pricing system in B.C. As a member of the ministry executive, Julius provided sound advice to Deputy Ministers, Ministers and Premiers, as well as
senior leaders of the forest industry. Julius retired from the ministry after 35 years in 1994.

* Jane Lloyd-Smith: Over the last 6 years, Jane has been the key contact for the Community Resources Board in relation to the development of the Bulkley TSA Land and Resource Management Plan. During this time,
Jane introduced leading edge, creative ecosystem management concepts as well as built up a trusting relationship with community representatives. Jane is known and respected for her forestry and stewardship ethics.

In choosing these people, the executive struggled with how to single out just six people in our organisation for special recognition. There are countless individuals in the Forest Service that warrant such recognition. We had to do the best we could to pick a worthy representation of the excellence that this organisation possesses. I congratulate each of the individuals for their personal achievements. I trust they will understand if I suggest we also should celebrate their achievements as symbolic of what the Forest Service collectively has contributed to British Columbia society.


Don Wright
Deputy Minister"

Source: Jan 20, 2003 email from del_blackstock@shaw.ca