Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Bruce Devitt fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
- Graphic material
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the creator of the fonds
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Fonds
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Physical description
1045 photographs: b&w and col.
1.5 m of textual records
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William John Bruce Devitt was born in Burnaby and grew up in South Shalath before attending the University of British Columbia and completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry in 1957. He then went on to work for BC Forest Service as a professional forester focusing on reforestation projects as well as seed and nurseries of the province. In 1973, he joined Pacific Logging Limited, where he worked for eighteen years in industrial forest management. By 1991, he had become Chief Forester for Canadian Pacific Forest Products Limited and soon after took on the role of executive vice-president of the BC Professional Foresters Association. In 1995, he went into private practice and served as director of Pacific Regeneration Technologies Management Incorporated for fifteen years, retiring in 2002.
Throughout his professional career, Devitt has been active in community affairs and environmental issues related to forestry. He has chaired a local school board, a regional district, and a hospital board in addition to participating on various professional committees at the provincial and national level. In 1982, he was President of the Canadian Institute of Forestry and over the decades received several awards, including the Distinguished Foresters Award (1983), the Western Forestry Lifetime Achievement Award (1991), and the Canadian Forestry Achievement Award (1995). Between 1996 and 2012, he was a member of the Provincial Forest Appeal Commission and in parallel served in the Environmental Appeal Board from 2003 to 2012.
Since 1995, Devitt has been living in the Township of Esquimalt, where he was a Parks and Recreation commissioner and also chaired various committees in charge of the revitalization of the locality’s recreation centre. These efforts earned him the 2005 Canadian Parks and Recreation Association Award of Merit and more recently the Mel Cooper Citizen of the Year Award for outstanding citizenship and public service in the township.
Custodial history
Scope and content
This fonds consists of records related to Bruce Devitt’s activities in the field of forestry in British Columbia as well as his public service in managing critical environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest. The fonds includes news clippings, research papers, letters, transparencies for presentations, and meeting minutes, among other textual content. The photographic material encompasses black and white and color photos in a variety of sizes as well as slides, all pictures pertain to forestry practice in British Columbia.
The fonds consists of the following series: Devitt’s lectures, presentations, and interviews; research notes; survey photography; and Bill Young.
Notes area
Physical condition
Majority of photographs in album RBSC-ARC-1762-PH-576 were separated and housed in individual envelopes for ideal storage. The album and all of its contents are stored in Box 8.
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Finding aids
A small accrual of textual records and photographs was made to the fonds in 2019, and the finding aid has been updated accordingly.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals are not expected.
General note
Photograph identifiers: RBSC-ARC-1762-PH-0001 to RBSC-ARC-1762-PH-1045.
Majority of photographs in the fonds are in box 7 and 8.
Exceptions: RBSC-ARC-1762-PH-01 to 06 (prints glued to report, stored in file 1-01), RBSC-ARC-1762-PH-577 to 593 (prints glue to album, stored in file 6-01)
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The fonds was arranged, processed, and described by Salma Berrada, March 2017.
Finding aid revised to reflect accrual by Claire Williams in January 2019.