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.
Each year PFLA recognizes a managed forest owner for outstanding commitment to, and demonstration of, private forest stewardship in British Columbia. The award acknowledges, and celebrates, the exemplary contributions that individual forest owners make to overall forest stewardship excellence in the province.
This year’s recipient will be presented with the prestigious award at the PFLA 2012 AGM (June 20-21, 2012 in stunning Langford, BC — more details to follow).
Please submit nominations to info@pfla.bc.ca before June 1st, 2012. Include the name of the nominee, and a brief description illustrating why they’d make an excellent recipient of the Private Forest Stewardship Award.
The short video below shows last year’s recipient, and host of the 2011 PFLA forest field tour, Ken Robertson, at work in his managed forest (Van Isle Forest) near Victoria, BC.
Coming soon to a town near you: the long-awaited, often-anticipated PFLA hometown meetings.
The meetings are an invaluable opportunity for PFLA to meet face-to-face with private forest landowners. Check below for proposed agenda items, as well as dates, times and locations for each stop on the PFLA hometown tour.
In short, you can expect an update on PFLA activities, a review of important public policy developments, and the opportunity to discuss market access and advocacy issues relevant to managed forest owners.
Most importantly, this is a chance for PFLA to listen to your questions, your concerns and your experiences — an opportunity to gather input, feedback and suggestions that will help guide our future efforts.
* PFLA members and non-member managed forest owners warmly welcomed.
Proposed Agenda Items
Introductions and review of agenda.
PFLA activities update.
Overview of the current political landscape.
PFLA Strategic Plan and Communications Strategy.
Local matters and other business.
Canadian Association of Forest Owners (CAFO)
Regulatory Committee / Policy Developments:
Private Managed Forest Land Act — effectiveness audits and proposed revisions to the PMFL Act.
Fire Fighting Cost Sharing Agreements
Off-Road Vehicles Act
Species at Risk Act
Water Act
Migratory Birds Convention Act
Offsetting & Mitigation Policy
BC Assessment & Conservation Covenants
Victoria
Thursday, March 8th, 4:00 pm
Conference Room
Executive House
777 Douglas Street, Victoria,
Ph: 250 388 5111
Nanaimo
Wednesday, March 14th, 5:00 pm
The Modern Street Café
221 Commercial Street, Nanaimo
Ph: 250 754-5022
Vancouver
Wednesday, March 28th, 5:00 pm
The Water Street Café
300 Water Street, Vancouver
Ph: 604 689-2832
Kelowna
Thursday, March 29th, 5:00 pm
The Grand Bay Cafe
The Delta Grand Okanagan Resort
1310 Water Street, Kelowna
Ph: 250 868-5612
Galiano Island
Saturday, March 31st, 12:00 noon
Location details coming soon!
Courtenay
Wednesday, April 4th, 5:00 pm
Old House Restaurant
1760 Riverside Lane, Courtenay
Ph: 250 338-5406
Castlegar
Wednesday, April 11th, 11:30 am
Fireside Inn Hotel
1810 – 8th Avenue, Castlegar
250 365-2128
As always, we look forward to hearing from you. Please let us know if you can make it — email: info@pfla.bc.ca or give us a call: 250-381-7565. Hope to see you there!
Here it is.The long-awaited third clip in our series of short, snappy edited videos from footage of a recent trip (thanks to Dave Barker) to a private managed forest on southern Vancouver Island.
First, we saw single-tree selection harvesting in action. Then, we saw Dale at work in a harvester-processor. And now, we have front row seats for a small-patch clear-cut operation using a cable harvesting system (grapple yarder + mobile backspar). Check out the video below!
Thanks to Dale and Grant from Malloch Logging for showing us around. Visit the PFLA Facebook page to see related photos of Dale and Grant hard at work.
Another successful event at Cowichan Exhibition Park! The first-ever Islands Agriculture Show, held February 3rd and 4th, 2012 in breathtakingly beautiful Cowichan Valley, BC.
We’re pleased to announce the show proved yet another excellent opportunity to connect with community members, elected officials and ministry staff as interested and excited about agriculture and farming as tree farmers like us.
Along with the friendly buzz of a lively community, Exhibition Park was filled with loads of things to see and do: a slew of tractors and machinery, exhibitions from all areas of the agriculture industry, display booths from federal and provincial ministries, prize draws, over 1,500 visitors, and just enough candy to keep everyone happy.
The Bealing family (Josh, Chloe, Rod, Adrian) was on-hand to ensure information about private forestry in BC was doled out with the passion and flair it deserves — pamphlets, fliers, key fobs, magnets and good old-fashioned conversation.
Thanks again to the organizers for another successful event.
When opportunity knocks, we answer. That’s why, when Dave Barker invited us to visit a private Managed Forest on southern Vancouver Island, for the rare opportunity to see single-tree selection harvesting, we yanked on our boots, donned our hard hats, grabbed our cameras and leapt at the chance.
Dave’s managed the property since 1979. He knows everything there is to know about it. He says they’re ecologically lucky. The Coastal Western Hemlock zone is wetter and cooler than the Coastal Douglas-fir zone. This means, instead of a pure fir forest, they have a significant, healthy Red Cedar understory. With thinning, the forest will evolve, over the next fifty years, into a mixed fir/cedar stand.
The strategy on the property is to manage for a combination of forestry and recreational use. While fir poles are their focus, they produce close to 40 products – 5 cedar, 2 maple, 2 alder and about 30 fir grades – for 4 different suppliers. All the while, maintaining the wilderness esthetic and conservation values important to the owner.
The silvicultural system they use combines small patch clear-cut and single-tree selection harvesting. We were lucky enough to get a chance to see both operations in action (stay-tuned, small patch clear-cut video coming soon!).
Not only is single-tree selection harvesting a rare event, but using a feller buncher in the process is particularly unusual. Of course, it’s not about the machine, it’s about the operator. In this case, it’s about Bill.
The video above shows the finesse, grace and ease with which Bill maneuvers the feller buncher through the forest. The machine’s gentle tracks have little or no impact on the forest floor and cause minimal soil disturbance.
Like the harvester-processor we saw Dale operating, the feller buncher is made by Madill and built right here on Vancouver Island.
Thanks again to Dave and Bill for showing us around.
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.
Famous private forest owner, Merv Wilkinson, has died at the age of 97.
The PFLA celebrates Merv for his love of the forest and his dedication and devotion to the practice of innovative, hands-on stewardship of private forest land. We like the fact that Merv believed in seeking balance between environment, community and commerce whilst doing it ‘his way’.
Here’s a link to the full Times Colonist article highlighting Merv’s contributions as: private forest landowner, ecoforester, community member, honourary degree holder, recipient of the Order of Canada and the Order of BC, and awesome father.
Our condolences to his family and our sincere respect for his passionate contribution to private forestry in BC.
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.
