Students from Casterton, Hamilton and Portland descended on Casterton Racecourse this week to explore forestry career opportunities in the Green Triangle. Source: Timberbiz
Around 180 students witnessed an up-close water bombing from the Green Triangle Fire Alliance’s helicopter, which has been based in Casterton over the summer.
On display were some of OneFortyOne’s and timberlands Pacific firefighting trucks. The fire prevention arsenal has been active throughout the fire danger season, protecting lives, property and the forestry estate.
Students also travelled out to a clearfell operation, being conducted by Merrett’s Logging. There they witnessed the operation up close, showcasing some of the impressive equipment that is used across plantations in the Green Triangle, saw a single-grip harvester, forwarder, loader and B-Double.
Students were able to hear first-hand from a team of experienced operators about the nature of work in the industry, and the vast range of opportunities available to people working in the industry.
Forestry directly employs 10000 people across the Green Triangle, and a further 20000 induced jobs. A range of positions are open to nearly everyone. Tertiary, vocational and unskilled pathways are on offer, in the forest, harvesting, milling and cubic sectors.
For every cubic metre of timber harvested, a whopping 700 kg of carbon dioxide is sequestered out of the atmosphere. Every year, over 10 million trees are planted into the estate, to replace the trees that had been harvested. The trees planted this year, won’t be ready for harvest for over 30 years. This ensures an industry full of potential and longevity for young people entering into the workforce.
“It is important we showcase some of the exciting career opportunities to students as they consider their opportunities,” Hub General Manager Tony Wright said.
“The Forest Industry is international and there are many exciting opportunities from professional, business, all aspects of STEM, operations and advanced machine processing.”
