Silviculture Activities

Reforestation

Scarification/Site Preparation

To use trenching, dragging or plowing equipment to expose suitable mineral soil for planting seedlings and to reduce undesirable natural regeneration which will compete with the planted seedlings. This may not be required on certain planting sites. This can also be done to promote well-stocked, desirable natural regeneration that requires soil disturbance to establish itself.

Planting

Following a harvest operation not all stands will regenerate naturally in a reasonable amount of time or with the desired species. Planting, then, becomes a viable alternative for the woodlot owner. Planting gives the landowner control over the species and the spacing of the final crop, two critical pieces governing the quality and quantity of the products harvested.  However, planting is not without its challenges. Often it is not a simple matter of deciding to plant an area since some degree of site preparation may be required before planting and depending upon the plant species already established on the site, it may be obvious that competition control will be required later. The woodlot owner must therefore, be willing to do all the things that are necessary to make a plantation a success or there is no point in starting - it will simply be a waste of time and money. There are examples throughout the province where plantations have not been cared for and today it would be next to impossible to find any of the trees that were planted. Nature is very prolific and very efficient at getting ground cover established quickly after a stand is removed. Usually, the species nature establishes are not the species we, the land managers want. Therefore, we have to make a commitment to maintain the plantations before we make the decision to plant. 

Stand Tending/Improvement

Plantation Cleaning (Early)

To control regeneration forecasted to compete with planted seedlings or desirable natural regeneration by applying an herbicide product (registered for forestry applications, using aerial or ground-based treatment methods), or by manually removing it. Herbicide is the most cost-effective method but more and more landowners do not wish to use chemicals on their land, so the only option left is to cut them.  The tool most often used for doing this is the brush saw, with special care being required not to cut the new seedling in the process. This treatment typically occurs within the first few years after planting depending on competition levels.

Plantation Cleaning (Later)

To reduce undesirable natural regeneration on a site using a thinning saw, allowing the remaining planted crop trees to maximize their growth. This treatment occurs once the planted trees are 2-6m in height.

Pre-Commercial Thinning

To reduce the number of trees on a site using a thinning saw, allowing the remaining crop trees to maximize their growth.

Pre-commercial thinning has one of the best returns on investment of all forest management activities. In order to get a good rate of return, the timing of the thinning is critical. If it is done too early competition will establish in the open areas and compete for light and nutrients with the desired species. If left too late the crop trees will not release properly - they will not respond with an increased growth rate.  As a general rule, the trees must be 2-7 metres in height for softwoods and 4-9 metres in height for hardwoods, and have more than 5,000 stems per hectare in order to qualify for pre-commercial thinning.

Commercial Thinning

To improve the growth and quality of desired stems in plantations and pre-commercially thinned stands by removing stems with lower potential and releasing the remaining desired stems. This treatment is done typically when a stand is 25-40 years old.

Alternative Harvesting Operating Plan

Uses partial harvesting systems in unmanaged stands as alternatives to clearcutting, with the objective of increasing the growth, quality, and regeneration of long-lived, shade tolerant species. There are a variety of prescriptions that fall into this category, and they will vary depending on stand conditions.

Woodlot Management Plan/Recommendations

Provides the landowner with information that describes the current conditions of their woodlot, projects future conditions, and prescribes treatments/activities to meet their objectives. Objectives can include timber management, non-timber forest products, ecological stewardship and/or recreation. A management plan can be done on any size property, but is typically best suited for anything larger than 10 hectares. A walk through with a forestry professional on smaller properties is usually sufficient.

Cruising

Inventory Report

Provides the landowner with a volume estimate for their woodlot as a whole, and broken down by stand. This report also includes a map of the woodlot, outlining property boundaries, forest stands, access roads, watercourses, and wetlands.

Inventory and Evaluation Report

Provides the landowner with volume and stumpage value estimates for their woodlot as a whole, and broken down by stand. This report includes a map of the woodlot, outlining property boundaries, forest stands, access roads, watercourses, and wetlands. An evaluation of the current conditions of each of these items will be made, as well as recommendations based on harvesting considerations.

LIDAR Report

A LiDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) instrument was flown over the province in 2018. A laser is shot down towards the trees and the returns are calculated. This data is used in conjunction with the Enhanced Forest Inventory to generate the report. The report includes a map of the woodlot broken into stands defined by species composition and development stage, and tables that include volumes and other metrics. The values in this report are estimates only, and ground truthing must be done to provide more accuracy.