5,400-mile Bike Ride Celebrates Green Jobs in Canada

This summer, Zac Wagman of Project Learning Tree (PLT) Canada embarked on a cross-country adventure to celebrate and promote youth working in green jobs that include wildlife management, forest management, forest-based programs, conservation and environmental education.

Wagman started his Green Ride for Green Jobs bike ride across Canada in May and is riding from coast to coast (more than 5,400 miles) for the rest of the summer. Wagman plans to make more than 100 stops, one of them being with Domtar Dryden employees, and highlight 2,000 green jobs in Canadian communities.

“We want to raise awareness of the incredible jobs and career pathways that exist in forestry,” says Wagman. “Nobody I knew growing up worked in forestry or had anything to do with forestry, so I didn’t even know it was an option. Had I known back then how rewarding and fulfilling this industry is, I would have likely gone down this pathway a lot earlier.”

Green Jobs Attract Silviculture Students to Domtar

One of Wagman’s recent stops was to visit with silviculture students working this summer at our Dryden Mill in Ontario. He spent the morning in the field with the students while they performed regeneration assessments.

“The main goal of the trip was to capture footage of the students doing their jobs,” says Wagman. “We also interviewed them on camera in order to create promotional content that we can use to encourage other young people to consider forestry as a career.”

During the visit, Wagman chatted with Emma Berton about her job with Domtar and why she chose to pursue a career in forestry.

“The sustainability and conservation of my job are what keep me interested,” says Berton. “Understanding that forestry is a really important economic part of Canada and being involved in that is really interesting. Especially in the future natural resources are going to be very important, and I want to be part of that forward motion.”

Green Ride for Green Jobs Highlights Industry Opportunities

“The biggest takeaway from the ride has been how passionate the people are who work in this field,” says Wagman. “Everyone is excited to talk about their jobs and how sustainability is at the core of everything they do. It’s been really great to see such positive leadership from folks in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative network. Another big takeaway is how much opportunity there is in this industry. It’s been a common theme along our ride for employers to tell us that they’re looking for young new talent to replace their aging workforce.”

Follow Wagman as he makes his trip across the country promoting green jobs, and follow PLT Canada on Twitter.