These pictures were all taken by Jonathan Clark during the first several years of his tree planting career, from 1990 to 1994, while working for Tawa Enterprises and Pacific Regeneration Technologies (PRT).




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Scooter, in about 1994, looking at a tree that he planted in 1990. It's not looking too healthy, but at least it's growing. In 1998, the same tree had straightened out and was significantly taller.



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Doug Thorne, the "Mediocre Warrior," examining a mushroom, possibly a Morel (1990).



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The driver (was it Roxanne?) had a few too many drinks, so the bus had to pull the station wagon out of the ditch (1990).



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Kerry Simmons (1990).



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A shot of some cutblocks as seen from the Yellowhead Highway #16, west of Prince George, in the early 1990's. If you're familiar with the area now, you'll note these hadn't been logged too long beforehand, but nowadays, the blocks are pretty green from a distance with the new trees that are growing there.



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A very young and frazzled looking Mike Hoar "lone vet Scirolli" standing on the top of a mountain in Clearwater, in July of 1990.



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Travis Tait, writing a letter home from our first ever camp site, on the Kenny Dam in May of 1990.



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Doug Baxter, one of my first two co-foremen in 1990, proudly proclaiming that yes, it was his truck, and yes, he was the one who put it in the ditch. "First Time I've ever ditched her boys, First Time ever and don't you forget it!" Too bad he ditched it again the following day, in the same ditch.



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Gassing up the truck. In 1990, we had a fleet of station wagons, a cook bus, and two old open-back Dodge trucks. Vehicles broke down on a daily basis.



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Richard Lawton, the other of my first two co-foremen, in 1990. Richard is sitting here on a sheep block in Clearwater, dreaming of the possibilities.



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My first camp - Kenny Dam, May 1990. My most notable memory of that camp was a wind storm that picked up a full 32-foot canvas mess tent and put it 20 feet up in the air.



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My first morning of work. Or should I say, lack of work due to snow, while wondering what I'd gotten myself into (1990).



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Some of the crew doing a victory pose over Lance, who fell victim to alcohol in the parking lot of the Ranch Motel in downtown Prince George (1990).



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Lance Woolaver, this time a little more coherent, taking his turn at washing dishes (1990).



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Here's a shot of the mess tent after we started to take it out of the tree, from the windstorm in our first camp.



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Rob Skanes, Andy, Jim, Mike, and Lance (June 1990).



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Building a bridge for the rolligon, so it could make it into our block (1990).



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A shot of a washed out bridge in Dome Creek, June 1990. Torrential rains, the worst in BC since WWII, caused massive flooding, and washed out over a dozen bridges. A number of planters died during the storms when the van they were riding in drove off a bridge and into the river (the driver didn't realize it was washed out).



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Foreman Richard Lawton, checking trees in 1990.



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Kerry Simmons and Scooter, posing on a block (maybe in Dawson Creek) somewhere between 1991 and 1993.



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D'Arcy and Gerard passed out together on the floor of the Ranch motel, in the infamous "room 15". You'll note that both beds are empty at the time, so we're not sure why they were both on the floor.



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Mark "Koko" Kokoski, around 1993 or 1994, checking out a tree that he had planted in Dome Creek during the floods of 1990. Somehow, it survived, and although it was still pretty small at the time, the plantation was doing fine in 2000 and many of the trees had reached about six or seven feet in height.



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Koko again, this time posing outside his tent on our first ever day of work, at Kenny Dam in 1990.



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Cyril Biswas, planting up the side of a pretty steep hill. The background behind this story is that I dared him (by offering to plant a box of trees for him) to plant up the side of this hill, which was covered in devil's club, wearing only a shirt and boots. He did it (around 1993 or 1994).



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Peter Crowse and Shaun posing over a dead cow's skeleton that they found in 100 Mile House (1991).



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Koko as a foreman, breaking down boxes at a cache on the Dawson Proposal that PRT did for the Ministry of Forests.



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Pulling a van out of the ditch after Jamie Daugharty put it in the ditch. You'll be interested to note that the bearded jungle man in the front of the scene is actually supervisor Jim Logan (around 1993).



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Part of my crew with cook Gary Steeves (third from left), in 1992.



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Working on my Jeep. The distributor didn't seem to like the damp, wet weather. Probably 1991, in 100 Mile House.



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A shot of Captain Huey "Get to the back of the boat or you're all going to die!" Jarvis, piloting our barge up the river in Fort Nelson, I think in 1991.



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Another shot of the barge, as we were about to embark upon the five hour river ride to hell. Mind you, flying out at the end of the contract, in a one-hour chopper flight in 35 degree weather with a 150lb. airsick half-wolf/half-husky sitting on my lap wasn't much better.



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Scott Jeffrey, sitting on a block in Dawson Creek in 1992 or 1993.



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A random mountain and clear lake, probably in the Banff or Jasper provincial parks.



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Ralph and Conrad retrieving a quad that died at the back of one of the blocks (around 1993).



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Koko posing in the rain and snow in 100 Mile House (around 1992).



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The lineup for supper, in a dark mess tent in May of 1992.



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A photo showing a number of cut-blocks in one specific area. This concentration of cutting can be found almost everywhere throughout moderately accessible areas of British Columbia.



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My rookies in 1994, including Pete Betts in the driver's seat, and Andrew "Swaggart" Thompson leaning forward in the back seat, although you can't really pick him out. Mike Pettit is in the rear passenger side, and I think Andrew Jones and Jamie Giberson are the other two in the truck.



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Lindsay Jeffrey, who also cooked for us for a while, and later went on to cook for Mudslide for a number of years (1992).



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Scooter, checking a tree.



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Checker Andrew and Foreman Paul Kelly.



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Foreman Jamie Daugharty, terror of the seven seas, with his car which was held together with plot cords, yellow rope, and duct tape.



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Pulling a truck out of the mud, on a job somewhere working for Willie Crewys.



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A few of the girls relaxing in front of the fire on the night off - Anita, Sherry, and Sheri-Lynn (about 1994).



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Phil Hunt, sitting in the front seat of the van while being driven to a new piece. Phil was a tenth-year planter at this point (1992) and went on to move to Edmonton, becoming an artist specializing in the design of interior gargoyles.



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A shot of the rolligon early in the morning. The planters are just starting to get out of the van, reluctantly, for the ride into the blocks (about 1994).



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Paul Kelly and Mark Kokoski, cleaning up camp equipment at the end of the season in 1993.



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A scene on the Liard River outside of Fort Nelson, in 1992. The five hour barge ride and isolated camp broke the morale of many dozen planters.



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Peter Crouse, probably taken in 1992.



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A bald eagle's nest, left behind in a wildlife tree over a block at Lakeland Mills in 1990.



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Mark Kokoski, with hair, planting on a block in Groundbirch in 1992.





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