Nominated by: George Hayhurst and Crew

Marti has planted many years with Talking Tree and has been with us at Green Peaks for the last 20 years +. Many a planter has taken a page or two from the 'Book of Marti' containing some legitimate or semi-legitimate tricks to increase production.... Always a force to be reckoned with, we hope Marti will continue his career for many years to come.

Guy Lacelle, a respected ice climber who was honoured with the Banff Centre's Summit of Excellence Award in 1999, died last Thursday in an avalanche while ice climbing at the annual Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.  Read more here.

Donald Duchesne 1953-2009

Nominated by: Tanis Williams

I would like to nominate Donald Duchesne to the tree-planters hall of fame. Donald has been in the industry for about 23 years as a planter and foreman, he is a hardworking man passionate about his job, and well respected by everyone he worked with. Don is a great leader when he needs to be, and a great friend with a heart of gold. As a man of few words he has the best sense of humor, he loved sending me in to plant those damn gullies. Don is unable to be on the block with us anymore, it's a shame because he's definitely someone we all miss having out there. 

Sadly, we at Tree-Planter.com were informed today that Donald Duchesne passed away December 17, 2009.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and had the privilege of working with him.

Nominated by: Dave Jenkinson         (Added November 2009)

I would like to nominate Norman White for the Hall. Norman has been planting trees in B.C. for the last 38 years. He began on an hourly crew for the BC Forest Service. He then planted for John Grandy and in 1974 was one of the founding fathers of Evergreen Treeplanting Co-op. He is still active running crews and yes, still bagging up! He's worked the length and breadth of B.C. and from the Charlotte's to Jordan River. Ask anyone who's worked for him - he's the kind of supervisor you want to work for.

Nominated by: Anonymous           (Added October 2009)

I would love to nominate this lady. Super sweet, and a highballer for more than 10 years. She probably planted about 15 seasons in Central BC mostly for Bluecollar Silviculture. She spends most of her down time, rock climbing, skiing and caving between the Rockies and Australia. What an inspiration you are to all of us who know you Re!

Nominated by: Jordan Tesluk     (Added April 09)

Kevin was the founder and owner of Mountain Reforestation, based in Mission. His most recent activity was in the Lillooet region.

Kevin was a guy who held nothing back, and told other people in the industry exactly how he saw it. As such, it was always a pleasure to talk with him about forestry because he was candid and pointed.

Kevin also was a contributor. He supported development of programs in the silviculture industry even when the return to himself was limited. This may escape a lot of planters, but the ability of the silviculture industry to support half-decent jobs for the thousands that fill the sector has depended heavily upon the actions and foresight of a group of company owners that have wrestled with government and the forestry companies to maintain a reasonable level of silvicultural activity.

Keeping this process going has demanded not only time, but a lot of money. Kevin paid his dues in both these regards, big time.

He should be recognized as one of the key builders of the silviculture industry, given his long history 30+ years in the industry.

He ran an elite company that provided above average jobs to a lot of vets for many years. This only speaks to the "silviculture" side of Kevin, and I am sad for those that knew his personal side better than I did, and I can only say that when attending conferences, I always looked for him in the morning to drink coffee with. He will be missed.

Nominated by: Andrew O'Brian (Added April 2009)

Nominated by: Scott Chisholm

For most of us who put in over ten years, LT was THE epitomy of the bush man. LT was the cool & collected customer that kept us all going through the best and the worst of times. LT is still a legend to most who had the chance to work with him. Put him on the list!

Nominated by: Andrew O'Brian (Added April 2009)

Nominated by: Scott Chisholm

Sue was among the best of the real bush women ever ...to get on a quad at midnight with a smile on her face to haul in another 20 boxes so the crew was set up in the morning; she also emitted style and grace with the shovel in her hand .. must be over a million in the ground by now? Anyone?

Nominated by: Gary Jenkinson (Added February 2009)

I nominate Dennis Groody. He has been tree planting in BC for over 22 years, and has planted over 4 million trees in this time. Dennis has worked for Arland, Sundance, Rainbow, Nechako, Sakoya and Sitka.