The Council of Forest Industry is awarding a dozen students around the province who are pursuing forestry careers, including one from Quesnel.
Joseph Frisby will receive a 15-hundred dollar scholarship towards his studies.
Susan Yurkovich, the-President and CEO of Council of Forest Industries, says it is a program they are proud of and is a definite bright spot for them as well…
” There are lots of challenges today, but what’s really exciting is talking about young people who are making a choice to come to this sector.  Lots of people before them and lots of people in the future, we welcome them and we want to encourage people to do that, which is why COFI and its member companies are providing a little financial support to help make those decisions just a little bit easier.”
Yurkovich says they view it as an investment…
“It’s an investment for sure, and when you look at the sectors, we’re in a very challenging time from an economic perspective and when you look at the sectors of our economy that can help lift out of what is a very difficult economic situation.  Forestry is one of them and it’s a foundational industry in the province of British Columbia, but it’s also an industry that has been able to work largely through this pandemic and to keep people safe, and I think that is really important because the world is looking for more wood products from sustainably managed forests that can help with the carbon challenge we’re all facing.”
Yurkovich says they have a very thorough vetting process for these scholarships…
“COFI has an education program.  We have a full-time teacher Jim Costley who’s on staff and he does a very thorough vetting of our applications.  We look at all the different qualifications, where they come from, we want to make sure that we’ve got representation from around the province.  He has a complex evaluation process and then we look at the final candidates, and I think what we’ve got here is a really great group of young people who are in a bunch of different programs, and we’re really excited to help them as they progress on their educational journey.”
Frisby is studying natural resources and forest technology at the College of New Caledonia.
COFI established its forestry scholarship back in 2007.