A hearty congratulations to our staff who successfully completed their drone pilot training and received their Transport Canada issued Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) certificates this week! Three of our staff in Pikangikum are now fully licensed as RPAS pilots and restricted radio operators. They will be flying our drones to get important data of the Whitefeather Forest across the 2025 fight season and beyond. We are very proud of them for flying through course materials and landing certifications in preparation for a full bush season.
Since the launch of the drone program in 2024, Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority has successfully trained and helped certify:
- Five drone pilots
- Five Restricted Radio Operators with Aeronautical qualification (ROC-A)
- One ISED-accredited ROC-A examiner, who can now train and test interested individuals in community.
We continue to leverage the latest in drone, lidar, multispectral, and machine learning technology to develop cutting-edge forest inventory products and to assess and manage forest fire risk. This work is in line with our mandate of Keeping the Land and supporting economic growth in Pikangikum and in northwestern Ontario more widely. Using these cutting-edge technologies enables us to assess, protect, and steward areas rich in ecological and cultural values and to make the best evidence-based decisions in forest and fuels management.
The certification of three Pikangikum pilots and radio operators builds on our track record of successful training programs in Pikangikum. Over the years, the Whitefeather Forest Initiative has supported the certification of five Forest Ecosystem Management Technicians, seven heavy equipment operators, and 20 type-II forest firefighters in Pikangikum. Our training programs continue to expand and we look forward to training additional fire fighters and drone pilots in the coming years.
As the bush season ramps up, we are going to continue to leverage the increasingly specialized workforce in Pikangikum to develop a forest products enterprise, and to increase local preparedness for rapid response to a challenging forest fire regime.
Stay tuned for more updates from the Whitefeather Forest as we progress through the 2025 spring and summer seasons!
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