Woodland Operations Learning Foundation (WOLF) is a not for profit corporation established by forest resource stakeholders and Northern Lakes College (NLC) in May 2001. WOLF captures the most up to date knowledge base, develops learning resources, recruits students, delivers training and provides services and consultation to recognized educators, forest resource agencies and workers within western Canada. WOLF is governed by a fourteen member Board of Directors comprised of organizations that have a share in the future of forest lands in western Canada. WOLF’s President and Directors are elected from its membership, which is open to all stakeholders in forest practice. WOLF’s Board and membership are its managers and the core of its customer base. Northern Lakes College (NLC) was instrumental in the creation of WOLF and continues to support WOLF through agreements to share services and resources. WOLF’s mandate also supports relationships with any secondary or post secondary educators engaged in forest resource teaching. Though WOLF primarily addresses education for governmental and industrial woodland workers, the driver is respect for public interest in and shared uses of forest lands. WOLF specifically offers these educational resources to Aboriginal, Métis and rural communities as well as direct workforce training. Government, corporations and professionals working on public forest lands must demonstrate competent practice and sustainability to meet local public and global market demand for proof of healthy and sustainable forests. Economic and social opportunity, especially for rural, Métis and Aboriginal communities must be developed. Training for sustainable development on public forest land is critical for these communities. Rapid change from global competition, world energy and carbon markets, research, new technologies and regulation render traditional knowledge delivery mechanisms inadequate. Forest resource communities and their workforces face ever increasing levels of complexity implementing these changes, while providing proof of their competent practice. Traditional training practices do not meet adult worker’s learning needs and do not reflect global forest resource markets and governmental requirements for due diligence and third party certification. WOLF is structured to accept the challenge of continuous improvement in capturing and distributing the newest regulation, standards of practice and technologies as competency assessed and certifiable learning resources. WOLF training is developed and delivered using the best practices of its education partners including registration, adult education techniques for instructor training and learner resource development, work practicum, distance delivery technology, equipment operation simulation and competence assessment.
