A team from West Fraser Timber in Williams Lake is participating in a North American attempt to break the world record for most trees planted in one hour.
Initiated by Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc., 30 teams from the U.S. and Canada will work together on Wednesday, May 20 to try and plant a quarter million trees, said Susan Woermke, a silviculture forester with West Fraser.
“We were invited by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. to participate,” she said, noting all West Fraser divisions are members of SFI.
For the record-breaking attempt, Woermke selected a previously logged cut block at Choate Creek near Horsefly that was harvested in 2014.
“We’ve done all of our obligations and can plant there now,” Woermke said.
“I also chose it because it’s nicer ground. Most of our team members are not experienced tree planters and it’s a hard job.”
As of Tuesday, 34 people had signed up to participate in the challenge locally.
They will be expected to plant anywhere from 25 to upwards of 300 trees each.
“We’ve got four experienced tree planters on the team so hopefully they’ll help increase our numbers,” Woermke added.
The planting will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. Teams range from 25 to 100 people, SFI said.
For its effort, the Williams Lake team will plant 100 per cent spruce.
