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xrkyle
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If your worried about conservation and the environment this may not be the career for you, lest you get a pang of guilt every hour when you dump another 100 litres of jet in your machine.

 

And that's for a light... it only goes up from there

 

So if you don't want to fly for an oil company or move operators into lease sites... remember, you helped put them there in the first place.

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If your worried about conservation and the environment this may not be the career for you, lest you get a pang of guilt every hour when you dump another 100 litres of jet in your machine.

 

And that's for a light... it only goes up from there

 

So if you don't want to fly for an oil company or move operators into lease sites... remember, you helped put them there in the first place.

 

 

EXACTLY!! you are the kind of pilot that will NOT be popular in camp.

 

and before you worry about our little corner of the world? go have a look around and see how 90% of the rest of the world S*#Ts on this planet. i have seen crap in SE Asia, Africa, South America and the Persian Gulf. this world is alot more polluted than you think and if you think thats gonna change you are pretty ignornant............

 

we pilots make our living, feed our families...SURVIVE by flying for mining companies, oil companies, logging companies ect.

 

so excuse me if your topic gets a few of us a little riled............. <_<

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I don't agree that the pilot is 'part of the problem'. Our consumptive society is the problem. At worst pilots working in resource extraction facilitate that society (and, of course, participate in it!). At best, we can acknowledge that someone will be driving the helicopter, and it's 'better' if that someone can influence those around her/him to think and act in a more sustainable manner. The quiet revolution from within...

 

Well, yes I do agree with you here.

 

 

"If your worried about conservation and the environment this may not be the career for you, lest you get a pang of guilt every hour when you dump another 100 litres of jet in your machine."

 

You got that right, but don't get me wrong. I am no an environmentalist. If I were is certainly would not be flying helicopters that burn leaded fuel and even more so would not be on this forum.

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Heli-logging is the main-stay of the company I work for, and I personally have no issues with the way logging and helilogging is done in BC.

 

Trees are truly a renewable resourse and if blocks are logged, sat dorment, then replanted at some point I think It becomes relitivly low impact compared to open pit mining or oil sands operations as far as permanent damge to the ecosystem.

 

The helicopter enables logging to be done in places that have been deemed by the government has the better option in terms of environmental damage but maybe not accesible by road.

 

Than again we are burning 5 or 6 thousand liters of jet fuel a day. But we can pull a million pounds off the hill too. I guess its all relative. :rolleyes:

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I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker when it comes to the environment. I blame it on being a fisherman and seeing the direct impact we have on fish stocks and their habitats. Plus I was born and raised on the west coast so that automatically makes me 33% tree hugger :) Lately, I've been so caught up with trying to reach my goal of becoming a helicopter pilot that I never really gave much thought as to whether it was the right thing to do from a moral and ethical point of view.

 

I think most would agree a large portion of the work helicopters do directly supports activity that is quite harmful to the environment and in some cases harmful to people's health, their culture and their human rights. Ya I know, what doesn't do all that right?

 

Do any of you ever think about if the work you're doing is right or wrong? If so, has it ever had an impact on your decision as to whether or not you take on a contract, job or whatever?

 

I'm not passing judgement saying people in the industry are all raping and pillaging the Earth, we all are to one extent or another. I really want to know if for example, the guy flying Shell employees into the Niger delta, or the crane pilot single stemming old growth, or the guy moving a diamond drill into an alpine meadow has an issue with what they are doing or are giving it any thought?

well lets see, our company aerial seeds, jack pine every year, last year we did aroun 25000 ha,so i thinkwe have done our part to help the enviroment ps, on average 40000 seeds per ha

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Heli-logging is the main-stay of the company I work for, and I personally have no issues with the way logging and helilogging is done in BC.

 

Trees are truly a renewable resourse and if blocks are logged, sat dorment, then replanted at some point I think It becomes relitivly low impact compared to open pit mining or oil sands operations as far as permanent damge to the ecosystem.

 

The helicopter enables logging to be done in places that have been deemed by the government has the better option in terms of environmental damage but maybe not accesible by road.

 

Than again we are burning 5 or 6 thousand liters of jet fuel a day. But we can pull a million pounds off the hill too. I guess its all relative. :rolleyes:

Got to kind of disagree with you there...I Heli-logged for years under every machine imaginable all over BC. I was always astonished how fast that wood came off the hill and how much we could do in a day... and most of that was old growth. Renewable?not in my lifetime. At the same time, I was always supporting the logging because it put food on my table. And if I got a job flying heli-support machine I would commit myself to that job wholeheartedly.

 

Driving into Alberta from BC looking for work and the farther north I went I thought to myself how uglier and uglier it got what with all the Rigs, and construction yards and all that Iron putting holes in the ground. That winter and for many more after I facilitated this flying fetish with rig work and Gas plant operating. I did what I had to do because I WAS HUNGRY. Flying full time now and I know where my bread is buttered and who does the buttering...and that is anybody who will sign my flight ticket. Now everytime I see Iron going down the road I think surveying, reclamation, environmental surveys, wildlife surveys, Forrestry Compliance flights, Land Use, tree counting, tree planting etc., spill containment, wildlife surveys, line cutting, line reclamation, pipeline inspection, and I/R camera work for burn piles, again etc!

 

I respect your concerns wholeheartedly as I too have thunk about it a time or two as another 1000 year old tree came flying off the hill (I even counted the rings enumerable times). But in the end the truth of the matter is that my only environmental concerns regarding my job now would be to do my best every day to make sure that the fuel in my tanks burns good and hot and doesn't end up splattered all over the hillside. As my dad said once when I was sitting at the table with my brother (a geologist) and we were both struggling to get work in our respective fields "Well isn't that the damndest thing...In order for my sons to get work I either have to see the world burn down or WWWIII get shoved down my throat, the truth hurts sometimes"

 

Zazu

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"Trees are truly a renewable resourse and if blocks are logged, sat dorment, then replanted at some point I think It becomes relitivly low impact compared to open pit mining or oil sands operations as far as permanent damge to the ecosystem. "

 

 

Marc, you need to learn to call a spade a spade. Tree planting DOES NOT "renew" the old growth forest that was cut down. It renews the fiber source and that’s it. I am not saying I don't like logging or heli-logging but lets not sugar coat things when the truth serves us better. If you want to keep doing what you do for more than the next 20 years then we all have to be realistic about how much high value old growth forest is left and start to work on what it is that we are going to do to keep ourselves busy when the last of the big trees fall. Just my humble but strong opinion.

 

gc

 

p.s. I do agree that logging in any form is less of an impact than open pit mining or the oil sands project.

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Well I am disappointed to see this topic on vertical. I am sorry for those I am about to offend but this is 80% of my income. Being a pilot working in the ALB, B.C. and the USA for the oil and gas industry I have a hard time swallowing the fact that I am killing Mother Earth.

 

Yes the fuel consumption of the AS350B2 that I fly is not the best, but when you look at the miles of road, diesel, and ground disturbance saved by my helicopter… what is the difference? Hard as we must try to “Save the Earth” I figure we should first try to look at what really is happening in NE B.C. and ALB with all of those “Stupid Drilling Rigs”.

 

Yes you will see cut lines that go for miles on end, and where old drilling pads ounce sat. I have been flying seismic and have a very hard time seeing the existing lines from the year before unless you knew where to look. Winter Roads follow old cut lines as much as they can to use existing tree loss. The industry has changed. Allot of this wonderful country lies north of Fort St John B.C. all the way up to the N.W.T. border and East of the Alaskan Highway. I have flown a lot of this country and have noticed that it is a very large income of B.C.; however, all the money that comes from these “Stupid Oil Rigs” seems to go along way from the gravel streets of Fort St John and Ft Nelson. Come to think of it I have never flown over an environmentalist in this area protesting the oil industry. Does David Suzuki have gravel or pavement in front of his house?

 

Alberta is different in the way that the province is more acceptable. Along with being more acceptable because most of the population works in the “Patch”. I find it hard to listen to an environmentalist from Vancouver trying to tell me how to save a tree by not using toilet paper. What is the answer? I know if it comes d

 

T-Shirt I saw the other day that said:

own to toilet paper and no helicopters…. I will lobby for the helicopter.

“Save a tree and wipe you’re a$$ with an owl”

 

Sorry if I sound “redneck” but where will “It” end? We all work hard in the field not to spill Jet A, Jet B, or Avgas as we try to keep everyone happy. We do more good than bad in my eyes. Should Helicopter companies be issued “Carbon Credits” like the other Canadian industries including grain farmers for the environmental savings we create? If so do these go to the operator or the client? Just wondering, I have never heard of a helicopter company. Getting any help in the fight to help the environment I think would be much appreciated on the pilot’s pay cheque.

 

I know I will get a lot of **** over posting this but sorry I cannot keep my mouth shut anymore.

 

BellBoy

 

P.S. XRKYLE if it is such a problem mind please do everyone a favor and move over so the next 100 hr guy can get the job as PIC

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