February 2007 Edition

FORESTRY

February 2007 index

Expanding a sustainable forest economy

The forest in Saskatchewan covers half of the province. At 35.5 million hectares, this is a huge resource. The Saskatchewan Forest Centre (SFC) is responsible for focusing attention on the forest resource and on its varied products through its mandate that promotes the creation, acquisition, and dissemination of knowledge to expand a sustainable forest economy.

Established in 2001 as a not-for-profit corporation, the SFC provides science-based information to the forest sector to strengthen all aspects of the industry. The three main areas of focus at the SFC are reflected in its core work units: agroforestry, value added, and fire/forest ecosystems.

The SFC manages a Forest Development Fund through which researchers, consultants and entrepreneurs can apply to study an aspect of the forest and agroforest industries. In five years, the SFC FDF has seen over 100 projects come to completion with about one million dollars a year of funding and leveraging over twice that.

Since the work in these areas overlap extensively, successful outcomes come together through collaboration. For example, the value added unit is evaluating hybrid poplar as a substitution in different forest products. “Since farmers have shown eagerness to plant fast-growing trees, usually hybrid polar in agroforestry systems, it is important to know the tree’s potential uses,” says Robin Woodward, CEO of the SFC. “Through our Forest Development Fund, Bob Knudson of the wood products research institute, Forintek Canada Corp. has been able to tell us that hybrid poplar substitutes well for many applications, such as oriented strand board, laminated veneer lumber and solid wood products.”

Agroforestry has gained interest from landowners over the past few years. The SFC Agroforestry Unit has established an agroforestry demonstration site network that covers the province, with trees planted from Meadow Lake to Weyburn and Carrot River to Maple Creek on 50 sites of over 1350 acres. The federal government’s Forest 2020 program for private land was delivered through the SFC. The same program for planting trees on First Nation land was delivered through the Canadian Forest Service.

The agroforestry group has also developed an Agroforestry Management Course along with the University of Saskatchewan. Four sessions of the two day course are being held this March and April, including one for First Nations participants in Whitewood, Saskatchewan April 17 and 18.
On the fire and forest science side, staff at the SFC have been studying various issues related to the forest ecosystem, including caribou habitat, reforestation methods and vegetation management.

Through an FDF project, fire behaviourist Kris Johnson assessed 104 northern communities for wildfire threat. This project lead to more work in the area of community threat assessment. A community wildfire threat assessment was developed for Pinehouse Saskatchewan along with a ‘how-to’ guide for all communities. In another, a docudrama video outlines how communities can mitigate wildfire threat.

Two other FDF projects incorporate forest related data into the SFC Virtual Data Warehouse (VDW) from the Prince Albert Model Forest and from the Prince Albert Grand Council. In turn, the projects allow access by these agencies to all data stored in the VDW.

In bringing together vital information and research, the Saskatchewan Forest Centre assimilates the related areas of the whole forest sector, from the forest resource to the finished wood products marketplace.

For more information visit www.saskforestcentre.ca.

Mountain Pine Beetle edges into Alberta

Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) has been making the news recently because it’s been detected in parts of Alberta where it’s never been seen before, including some locations on West Fraser’s Alberta Forest Management Agreement Areas (FMA).

Mountain Pine Beetle Larvae resemble grains of rice.

Pitch tubes caused by Mountain Pine Beetle on Lodgepole Pine.

The expansion of the mountain pine beetle population in Alberta is of enormous concern due to the potential for major economic impacts on the forest industry and potential adverse effects on recreation, wildlife and forest health in general. West Fraser operations are all developing strategies to address the MPB threat and these strategies vary by division depending on the risk.

For example, the Hinton division implemented a proactive monitoring and detection program in July 2006. “We put up pheromone baits distributed throughout our Forest Management Area (FMA)” explained Aaron Jones, Stewardship/Public Affairs Coordinator for Hinton Wood Products.

The pheromone bait is a chemical reproduction of a pheromone naturally produced by the beetle and will attract MPB in the immediate area. Since mid-August, MPB has been found at 12 locations within the FMA, and 3 locations just outside – the biggest concentration of sites is in the north-central portion of Hinton Wood Products’ FMA.

Before spring, Hinton Wood Products will ensure that all the known beetle locations are controlled to ensure that no new beetles emerge next summer. In cases where trees were attacked by large numbers of beetles, trees will be felled and burned. Where the number of attacks is low, the beetles and eggs will simply be cut out of the trees. Harvest planners at HWP are busy laying out new areas for harvesting in the northwest of the FMA. The majority of the beetles were discovered in these areas and they’re closest to known MPB outbreaks. They’re targeting stands that are highly susceptible, which means stands that provide good beetle habitat and where a beetle attack would result in large timber losses. Reducing the amount of highly susceptible stands in areas where MPB is most likely to occur, reduces the amount of forest that can be impacted by the beetle and makes it more difficult for large population levels to develop and spread.

“The potential here is significant for a number of West Fraser divisions,” Jones said. “We’re going to try to do everything that we can to try to slow it down or stop it.”

Can the beetles be stopped? Historic outbreaks in BC were shut down by severe winter cold snaps, but these are far between or absent in recent years. The only other options are to kill beetle-infested trees before the adults emerge, and to reduce the beetle food supply – mature pine trees. Hopefully, the impact of MPB can be slowed down until we get another cold winter.
If you’re out in the forest for work or personal recreation, please report any signs of MPB. There are a couple of signs that indicate a tree has been attacked by a mountain pine beetle. When a beetle bores under the bark, the tree tries to flush it out with sap. As a result, an infested tree will have deposits of cream–coloured sap on its trunk. Also, when the bark of an infested tree is pulled back, galleries left by the beetle will be visible, as well as any larvae which have been laid, which resemble grains of rice.

Please call the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development Beetle hotline at 310 – BUGS to report the location of any signs of Mountain Pine Beetle.