Wildfire poses a serious threat to forest management objectives. Here at the PFLA, we promote best management practices (BMPs) that help minimize potential risks and maximize forest health.
Here are 10 wildly successful tips to help prevent, and in the event that it happens, be prepared for, wildfires.
1. Have a plan. Like most things in life, having a plan can seriously mitigate the harm caused by unexpected events. Develop a written or verbal fire prevention and management plan, appropriate to the level of fire risk and hazard on your property.
2. Know your trouble spots. Being aware of potential problem areas can actually help reduce the risk of problems arising. Take stock. Have a clear inventory of low and high-risk areas on your property.
3. Be prepared. Ensure operational personnel are adequately trained and equipped to conduct safe and effective fire suppression duties.
4. Have the right tools. Knowing what to do is one thing, having the proper equipment is another. You and your crew should have access to an inventory of appropriate fire management resources and equipment:
Hand tools
Pumps
Retardants
Water supplies
Tanker trucks
5. Know how to get to your water. Make sure you have clear access to your water source. If a winter wind knocked over a tree that now obstructs your ability to get to your pond, this is a problem.
6. Know when not to operate. Monitor weather conditions and during high-risk seasons avoid activities that cause sparks:
Fires
Machines
Equipment
Chain saws
Cigarettes
7. Know thy neighbour. Consider a cooperative fire management strategy with near-by neighbours. Cooperating can reduce costs while increasing efficiency and person-power.
8. Manage your forest’s fuel load. Fires need fuel to burn. Consider seasonally appropriate prescribed burning to minimize forest debris.
9. Nobody cares about your land as much as you do. Restrict public access during periods of high and extreme fire risk. According to Smokey Bear (see video above), 9 out of 10 forest fires are caused by human beings.
10. Report wildfires immediately. Perhaps this goes without saying, but in case it doesn’t, report wildfires immediately to the appropriate authorities.
If you have any questions or concerns feel free to leave us a comment below, send us an email or give us a call.
Remember when you were in high school? A big part of learning was reading. Books, so many books. History, ideas, theories—all communicated through words and images on paper.
Maybe you were a straight-A student who devoured textbooks, wore out a pathway to the library and couldn’t wait for your next homework assignment.
Maybe you were less enthusiastic about book learning, spent more time navel gazing and expressed your creativity through the wild excuses you conjured to explain why your homework wasn’t done.
Regardless of where you landed on the spectrum of classroom participation, every now and again, an opportunity arose that engaged everyone.
Yes. You guessed it, the ever-popular field trip.
The rare moment when you, and your classmates, buoyed by the promise of somewhere new, piled onto a yellow school bus and bounced your way to a never-before-visited destination.
Forests, First Nations, marine biology, whatever the subject, it suddenly came alive. The abstract world of textbooks brought to life through the tactile experience of sensing, feeling, seeing, real things in real life.
It turns out, of all the communication tools PFLA has at our disposal—events, presentations, networking, Facebook, Twitter, newsletters, website, blog posts, briefings—the most valuable communication tool we have is the ever-popular, time-tested field trip.
Taking key audiences—elected officials, government staff, regulatory agencies, media folks, interested community members—into the woods and showing them, firsthand, how we manage our private forest land is the most effective form of communication we’ve come across yet.
“Show and Tell Forest Tours”, as we like to call them, are a staple of the PFLA communications program.
Most recently, forestry experts from Island Timberlands and TimberWest took the Private Forest Managed Land Council on a tour of their Shawnigan and Koksilah (respectively) operating areas. This latest tour focused on our larger, active owners. We’re already planning our next tour to highlight one of our smaller forest owners.
Domenico Iannidinardo (Manager of Resource and Environment Integration—TimberWest) and Morgan Kennah (Manager of Sustainable Timberlands and Community Affairs—Island Timberlands) hand out information packages.
Private Managed Forest Land Council members study information used in the assessment, planning, and implementation of forest management activities. Detailed data marks tree height values, forest retention areas, fish bearing streams, riparian zones, biodiversity, and terrain hazard stability.
Ken Dodd (RPF), Island Timberland's field planner, and Morgan Kennah, explain some of the tools and processes used in riparian management and planning practices.
Domenico Iannidinardo, Manager of Resource and Environment Integration (TimberWest), describes the planning and implementation process for designing and installing this permanent bridge structure built in 2005.
This is the happy stream the bridge mentioned above crosses.
We can’t emphasize enough what a valuable tool these field trips are in helping people understand our commitment to the stewardship of BC’s private forests.
If you’re a managed forest owner interested in hosting a tour, or if you’re a stakeholder interested in visiting a managed forest, let us know. We’d love to have you participate. Leave us a comment here, give us a call or send us an email.
Your forest is alive. It grows, adapts and changes over time and seasons. With your forest’s flexibility comes the need to regularly revisit, evaluate and reassess your plans. The new year is an ideal time to take stock and plan ahead for the coming year.
First up: a few words about reforestation. Nathaniel Stoffelsma of Arbutus Grove Nursery talks about their process for ordering and growing seedlings in the video below.
Reforestation Planning
Prior to harvesting, develop a reforestation strategy. You might:
Consider the value of reforestation through natural regeneration of residual and suppressed understory trees;
Improve planting stock and fertilizer to boost survival and yield, and at the same time reduce pest management problems and animal browse;
Protect seedling against damage from pests (deer, rodents) through tree species choice, tree guards, fencing and repellents;
Develop an integrated pest management strategy suitable for the size and intensity of your forestry operation.
Also, be sure to:
Obtain any permits necessary for site preparation and pest management (burning, pesticides, etc.)
If you plan on planting, make sure to order your seedlings ahead of time. Inspect the ordered seedlings prior to lifting and shipment.
Reforestation BMPs
Reforest with trees appropriate for the growing site and management objectives.
If planting, employ good quality seedling stock and ensure good storage and handling.
Take reasonable steps to protect the reforested areas from damage by fire and pests.
Employ remedial measures such as fill planting, brushing and other silviculture techniques as necessary.
If using pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, follow directions on product labels and relevant regulations.
Isolate fertilizer from watercourses and where appropriate limit on-site quantities to daily application requirements.
Monitor planted areas to ensure trees are growing with sufficient density to achieve a stage free of competition from other plants.
Monitor successfully regenerated areas for forest health.
What do good quality seedlings look like?
Healthy! Without pale or discoloured foliage. No mould.
Large, abundant dormant buds.
Plug and bare-root stock should have a vigorous, fibrous root system.
Good ratio of roots to shoots.
How to store and handle seedlings?
Keep plants moist and cool.
Handle plants carefully (seedling mortality is directly related to rough treatment).
Avoid desiccation – keep plants safe from heat or high winds.
Changing seasons bring unique opportunities for forest management.
As the vibrant colours of autumn fade, and barren branches dominate the landscape, now seems a good time to remind ourselves of the problems and possibilities found in fallen leaves, shorter days and stormy weather.
Water Management
“Carry a shovel to fix small problems before they become major problems.” – wise words from a Managed Forest owner
The objective of preventative maintenance is to keep water off roads and running in its natural course where practical. After storms and heavy rainfall, branches, leaves and debris can block ditches, culverts and crossing structures. Once it’s safe, drive or walk along your roads and trails. Check to make sure:
Ditches are functional
Culverts are unobstructed
Cross ditches are intact and operational
The photos below show how water bars or grader dips can divert water off your roads and onto more stable vegetated areas.
Late fall is a great time to check your recently restocked areas. Most competing seasonal vegetation has died off, making it much easier to locate crop seedlings, identify gaps and mortality, and pest and disease problems.
Based on your findings, you can plan remedial actions:
Brushing
Spacing
Browse protection
Planting or re-planting
If you determine there’s a need to replace dead seedlings, or fill gaps, make plans:
Assess the extent of the area
Identify numbers and species of trees you’ll need to fully stock the site
Order seedlings and line-up the help you’ll need
If you’re unsure, seek advice (PMFLC and PFLA are great resources).
Deer management is an on-going concern for private forest landowners. Consider the merits of hunting to reduce deer numbers. While deterrents like browse protectors, repellents and fencing can be effective, they require:
Time
Money
Attention
Reducing deer populations is the most effective approach to protect your forest from damage. Here’s a link to a CTV news video exploring the problems of black tailed deer on southern Vancouver Island.
It’s that time of year again – the time when autumn’s cool, damp weather brings enough moisture to make burning safe. Wildfire hazards are minimal, municipal bylaws are lifted and the burning season begins: farming, forestry, industry, residential – there’s a lot of burning going on. Unfortunately, where there’s fire, there’s smoke – often, lots of smoke.
Humans using fire to manage B.C.’s forests is about as old as the forests themselves. Private Managed Forest owners know a lot about prescribed burning – how to minimize community hazards and improve forest health.
With burning season upon us, now seems a good time to share some information about what we burn, and why.
Burning is about keeping our forests, our neighbours and our communities safe.
Forest debris is a fire hazard. The timber harvesting process leaves behind piles of unmerchantable debris – broken tops, limbs, rotten wood.
It’s a much safer idea to use planned, controlled burns to remove the debris than to leave piles of “fuel” lying around for chance encounters with lightening, human ignorance (e.g. cigarettes) and other fire hazards. Over 50% of BC wildfires are caused by human activity.
Burning is a last resort (or, we’d sell it if we could).
One person’s debris is another person’s treasure. In Europe, the material we’re burning is worth $75 per tonne at roadside. It’s true. They get more for firewood than we get for saw logs.
There is no market for the fibre that finds its way into burn piles. If there were a market, we’d happily sell, rather than burn. For now, burning is the most responsible way to manage our forests.
Managed Forest owners burn responsibly and plan our activities to minimize disturbances.
Nobody likes smoke. Nobody. That’s why we plan and manage our activities to minimize the frequency, duration, and intensity of smoke. Here’s how:
Burning dry material creates significantly less smoke than burning wet material.
Log loader operators take time and care to deliberately stack burn piles into beehive shape structures that facilitate drying.
Keep debris piles dry by covering them with tarps.
Check weather conditions before burning – temperature inversion and venting indexes affect how smoke moves (especially for valley dwellers).
Fire and prescribed burning are important tools for managing B.C.’s forests.
Especially, forests full of fire-dependant species like Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. The key is to do it responsibly. To act in a way that minimizes health hazards and maximizes forest health.
A great deal of time was spent to evaluate, analyze and legislate responsible practices. Follow the regulations and guidelines in place to protect everyone. We do.
Next up at the PMFLC forest practices workshop? A trip to TimberWest’s Shoal Island log sort, nestled beside the bustling Catalyst pulp mill in majestic Crofton, B.C.
Under the thoughtful tutelage of Geoff Martin, a log marketer from TimberWest, workshop participants learned about marketing, manufacturing, sorting and handling logs.
A detour past the “sin bin” quickly revealed just how important it is to take good care of your logs. Ignorance can lead to disrespected, damaged and mistreated logs that nobody wants.
Here are Geoff Martin’s Top 5 Tips to Help Capture the Best Value From Your Logs (or, how to avoid the “sin bin”):
1. Educate yourself and work with experts. There’s a lot to know and learn about harvesting, handling, manufacturing and marketing timber. The more you know the better position you’re in to get the best value for your logs.
2. Know where your timber is going before you harvest it. Different markets require different log lengths. Find your buyer and ask their preferred length before you harvest your timber. Harvesting to match the buyer’s preference gets the best value for your logs.
3. Don’t leave your logs on the ground for too long. Think of your logs as “spoilable” fresh produce. The longer your logs lie on the ground the greater the chance bugs, water, rot and weather will cause damage and deteriorate the value of your logs.
4. Don’t put your red alder trees through a log processor. Processors are efficient, but they easily cause damage to red alder logs. In the end, the damage to the logs decreases their value and negates the efficiency of the processor. A chainsaw is a much better idea for maintaining the value of your red alder logs.
5. Spend the time to love your logs! It takes up to 100 years to grow a marketable tree. That’s a lot of time. It makes sense you’d spend some of that time making sure you get the best value for your logs.
Check out the video below for a closer look at the Shoal Island log sort.
Thanks to Geoff Martin for his time, his knowledge and his passion for logs.
Did we miss anything? Leave a comment below: your own tips, advice and helpful hints for maintaining the best value for your logs.
A big thanks to the Private Managed Forest Land Council (PFMLC) for an informative and enlightening forestry workshop, held September 17, 2011 in the Cowichan Valley.
The PFLA was grateful for the opportunity to connect with private Managed Forest owners from around southern Vancouver Island: Shawnigan Lake, Salt Spring Island, Thetis Island, Galiano Island, the Saanich Peninsula and beyond.
First stop: the North Cowichan Community Forest where Darrel Frank generously shared information, tips, best practices and overall forestry wisdom.
Darrell’s key message: Have a clear vision for what you want your forestland to look like and hire good, reliable people to do the work.
The mid-day tour of Maple Mountain proved an excellent opportunity for workshop participants to network, exchange ideas, ask thoughtful question, and engage in lively discussion on topics as wide-ranging as:
Long-term forest management planning
Advance timber marketing
Harvesting: falling and processing, log sorting and trucking
Road building (and unbuilding)
The art and science of culvert design and installation
Identifying and managing root rot
Planting, pruning, brushing, weeding
Fuel management and wildfire prevention
Managing minor crop species (e.g. White Pine)
Managing invasive species (Scotch broom)
And of course, the deer: What to do about the deer?
For a closer look, check out the video below.
Thanks to Stuart Macpherson and Phil Blanchard for organizing another successful PMFLC workshop, and thanks again to Darrel Frank for the informative tour.
What’s 143 years old, last three days and packs enough fun to entertain 20,000 people? You guessed it: The Cowichan Exhibition, September 9th through 11th.
This year’s theme is Trees of the Valley and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
The PFLA is setting up an info booth and we look forward to connecting with folks as passionate about trees, farming and agriculture as we are.
We’ll have lots of information about private managed forest land in BC, seedling samples you can take home, a colouring contest for kids, and yes, wait for it, the PFLA is the proud sponsor of the zuchini racing competition.
We know it’s a challenge, but we’re up for it. We’ve put together a team of experts, we’re gathering supplies, calculating velocities and priming our prize zucchinis.
We expect it’ll be a highlight of the weekend and look forward to seeing you there. If for some reason you can’t make it, fear not, we’ll be sure to post the results here on the blog.
Hope to see you there!
If this sounds like as much fun to you as it does to us, let us know. We need volunteers to help with the info booth, the colouring contest and, of course, the zucchini racing event.
Please contact Rod Bealing for details. Happy to have you aboard!
Location:
Exhibition Park
7380 Trans Canada Hwy
Duncan, BC
(5 km north of the City of Duncan. From Nanaimo travel south 43Km and turn right on Mays Rd.)
For more info visit the Cowichan Exhibition website.
The Private Managed Forest Council (PMFC) is holding a one-day forest practices workshop this fall in the Duncan – Chemainus area of southern Vancouver Island. We thought you might like to know about it. Here are some of the details along with a few good reasons to attend:
When: Saturday September 17th, 2011
Where: North Cowichan Community Forest and
TimberWest Forest Corp’s dryland sort at Shoal Island.
Why:
An opportunity to observe various operational practices
It’s open to all managed forest owners
A chance to learn helpful lessons for owners managing their own forests
Networking possibilities with other managed forest owners
The field trip to the North Cowichan forest is a great chance to observe a number of innovative forest practices that suit small-scale operations. The visit to TimberWest’s dryland sort is an interesting opportunity to see how bush run logs are scaled and sorted by species and grade.
There’s no charge for the workshop. The PMFC is still finalizing the agenda, and they’ll send out a confirmation letter at the end of August. In the meantime, if you’re interested in attending please let the PMFC know by August 15th, 2011.
Contact them by phone, email, or visit their website:
PO Box 31059
314-3980 Shelbourne St.
Victoria, BC V8N 6J1
Ph: 250-386-5737 Fax: 250-721-3392
Web: www.pfmlc.ca
Email: execdirec@pmflc.ca
Another success! PFLA organizers were delighted by the turnout and participation at the 2011 Private Forestry Forum.
Held June 16th, 2011, at the Prestige Conference Centre in beautiful Sooke, BC, a series of engaging presentations sparked interesting debates, encouraged thoughtful questions, and provided an opportunity to connect with forest landowners (large and small, coastal and interior); government representatives; industry experts; communication specialists; and international presenters.
For those of you who missed it, here are some of the highlights:
Tom Niemann, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations: Wood Market Update & Outlook presentation.
Highlight: Amazingly detailed, colourful and comprehensive graphs and charts depicting the forest sector’s business cycle over the past 10 years.
Key point: This is not a regular business cycle – both the product mix and the markets have changed. Tom advises policy makers, foresters, and landowners to think creatively about adjusting product mixes to match market demands.
Matt Walsh, New Zealand Carbon Farming: International developments in forest carbon trading.
Highlight: An international demand for carbon credits (created by voters and consumers pressuring governments and corporations to off-set negative environmental impacts) means “sinking” a forest, and selling carbon credits rather than logs, may prove as, if not more, lucrative.
Key point: International examples from New Zealand and California indicate the carbon credit industry is developing quickly. By 2012, we’ll see open trading in carbon credits in order for companies to meet their Kyoto Protocols. The Darkwoods carbon pilot project (June 2011) marks the first carbon sink deal in BC (Using the Trees to Save the Forest).
Mike Brooks: Detailed scan of B.C.’s political landscape.
Highlight: Continued political uncertainty puts two of PFLA’s key issues – maintaining policy distinction for private managed forestlands and positive change on log export policy – at risk.
Key point: There’s hope. We’re harvesting well under the average allowable cut, each year, in this province. This is a new concept for citizens. Undercutting public lands reframes the debate about log exports in a new light. It’s important to find a way to communicate this new message to the public.
Laura Coward, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, spoke briefly about recent shifts in government ministries. Laura reaffirmed the government’s commitment to work with the PFLA to ensure that government remains alert to the perspective of private managed forest owners.
Ron Davis, Private Managed Forest Land Council also provided a brief update on the council’s activities over the past year.
Did we miss anything? Want to know more? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
