This category includes:
Minimal amounts of slash piling is
required for planter access, but, as with all other types of mechanical site prep, the
forest floor is left as undisturbed as possible.
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Within the North Coast
Forest District, more than 95% of areas reforested have mixed-species plantations. Species
combinations are chosen from eight coniferous species and two deciduous species, whichever
are appropriate within a given ecosystem. For each species, further selection must be made
for specific seedlots and stocktype. Seedlots are carefully selected in accordance with
the elevation, latitude and longitude (‘provenance’) from which the seed cones
were picked. The stocktype refers mainly to the age, rooting medium (plugs vs. bare root),
and density in which the seedlings are grown. ‘Sowing requests’ must be made in
the fall, two years prior to the time of planting, since the seedlings are grown in
nurseries for the first year. |
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Brush species which
compete with planted trees are categorized as either herbaceous or deciduous/hardwood. On
many of the wetter sites within this District, brushing is prescribed on new plantations
for the first two years in order to reduce herbaceous competition. This treatment is
mainly achieved by manual removal (using ‘weed whackers’ or saws), but under
certain site conditions, chemical brushing may be prescribed as the best method. When
herbaceous brushing is prescribed, the plantation is normally 1-3 years old, and generally
all herbaceous stems around the planted seedlings are removed. With deciduous brushing,
the stand is usually older, and normally, only competing stems are removed. Many hardwood
stems can often be retained for biodiversity. |
Plantations must be monitored to
ensure that they meet stocking (specific density levels), and eventually, ‘free
growing’, within a legal timeframe. Stocking surveys are carried out at specific
intervals to assess plantations for their density (well-spaced stems per hectare), species
composition, and overall health. A final free growing survey is done (usually 10-15 years
after planting) in order to confirm that a plantation has met specific criteria,
including:
 minimum stocking levels
minimum age, height and average annual growth,
no identifiable health concerns or excessive brush
competition are present, and
the plantation, overall, is expected to continue
into the future with acceptable health and vigour.
On the more productive sites, which
have met their free growing criteria, extra ‘incremental’ treatments may be
considered as economically viable. In the North Coast Forest District, this category
mainly includes:
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This treatment is
prescribed to increase wood quality by reducing the number of ‘knots’ resulting
from branches. Branches are pruned from the lower section of the tree, often in two
separate stages to ensure that the foliage (the energy-production factory of the tree) is
not reduced to a point where growth would also be reduced. |
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This treatment is prescribed to
reduce competition among conifers by removing the least vigorous stems, and allowing the
most dominant and healthy stems to increase their growth rates. The most productive and
economically viable species may also be chosen over naturally regenerated species such as
hemlock. However, spacing prescriptions also provide an excellent opportunity to manage
towards biodiversity by accepting economically viable naturally regenerated species such
as cedar |
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