Faye Johnson

Woodlands Manager
Grant Forest Products Inc.

As Woodlands Manager for Grant Forest Products, Faye Johnson makes sure that the company's two Ontario mills get the wood they need—when they need it. That means overseeing the delivery of more than 60,000 truckloads (or two million cubic metres) of aspen and birch each year, and coordinating forest operations and/or wood flow from more than twenty management units from Pembroke to Hearst. Her responsibilities include everything from forest sustainability and environmental management, to permits and contractors, to all aspects of cost, quality and scheduling.

Like many in the business, Faye was attracted to a career in forestry because it offered a way to combine her professional life with her love for the outdoors. "Forestry isn't just about cutting down trees," she says. "It's about managing ecosystems to ensure that the people of Ontario will always have the ability to enjoy pristine wilderness areas, while at the same time meeting their demands for wood and paper products."

One of only two female Woodlands Managers in Canada, Faye graduated from Lakehead University in 1982 with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in forestry. Since then, she has completed the Ontario Advanced Forestry Program—also at Lakehead—and earned the designation of Registered Professional Forester (RPF).

While at university, Faye worked planting trees, collecting cones, putting out forest fires and bossing silvicultural crews, getting what she calls "hands-on" field experience. But during the next decade, she spent only about 30% of her time in the bush. She became a research assistant and then a forester—with the Ministry of Natural Resources, a nursery, the Ministry again and, finally, Grant Forest Products. She accepted the position of Woodlands Manager in 1998. "The more a person advances, the more time they spend in offices and boardrooms—and on airplanes. In that sense, we're like any other industry."

As with most private sector jobs, Faye says that success in forestry requires business sense and the ability to lead others. It also helps to be organized, to have strong negotiation and facilitation skills, and to be a good communicator. "But none of that replaces a solid background in the bush," she says. "If you begin your career behind a desk, you have to put all your trust in computer models and simulations. Field experience cannot be replaced by a model, no matter how good that model is."

One of the things Faye likes best about her job is the variety. As an example, she might oversee a harvesting operation one day, meet with a Local Citizens' Committee that night, and lead a tour for high school kids the following day.

"I especially enjoy working with the public," she says, "because I believe it's important to give people the information they need to make informed choices. If, as a society, we make decisions based on social need instead of science, we have to understand the consequences. If we can live with the outcome, we're probably making the right decision."

To make her point, Faye highlights the protection of white pine in northern Ontario. "If we want to protect white pine forests for future generations, we have to actively manage that species. White pine needs direct sunlight to regenerate—which it can't get in an old growth stand because of the excessive canopy. Turning the stand into a protected area and preventing forest fires will result in the exact opposite of what we're trying to achieve."

Faye Johnson is married with four children, and volunteers with the Ontario Professional Foresters Association as Chair of their Registration Committee. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Nipissing Forest Resource Management Inc., Timiskaming Forest Alliance Inc. and Elk Lake Eco Resource Centre Inc.