Low Impact Forestry- Profiles

Clark Wilson

McNamee, NB
Contractor
Ecoregion - Eastern Lowlands
Ecodistrict - Bantalor

Clark Wilson's family have lived for six generations on the Miramichi River, at McNamee, where they have made their living as farmers, woodsmen, merchants and river guides. Clark has lived at McNamee, but has also found himself living as far away as British Columbia in order to find full-time employment. But like many of his peers, he has always been drawn back to the River. In his efforts to make a living in his home community, Mr. Wilson is developing a business based on offering a full range of low impact woodlot management services to landowners in the Boiestown-Doaktown area.

Mr. Wilson attended Maritime Forest Ranger School following high school and has worked at forestry operations in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia as well as his native New Brunswick. In addition to his considerable experience in conventional harvesting working work, Mr. Wilson has, from time to time over the past couple of decades, contracted pre-commercial thinning on private woodlots around McNamee. However, he says that, this treatment addressed only a very narrow aspect of silviculture that could substantially increase the productive capacity of the land.

Demand for Low Impact Forestry Services

Over the past ten years or so, Mr. Wilson has done management plans in his neighbourhood for both York-Sunbury-Charlotte and the Northumberland County Forest Products Marketing Boards. He felt a certain level of frustration recommending silviculture treatments that neither the woodlot owner nor conventional harvest contractors were able or wanted to do. He was also exposed to a number of woodlot owners that wanted nothing to do with conventional clearcut harvesting, but found that very little of the management work was done because there was very few contractors doing any kind of harvesting other than clearcut harvesting.

It became clear to Wilson that there was good business opportunity in offering low impact forestry services. He first stepped into low impact forestry contracting by hiring two horse crews to harvest residual over-story and mature balsam fir from a woodlot at Bettsburg south of Doaktown.

Looking at the stand of scattered immature hardwood and spruce and isolated white pine, Mr. Wilson commented "Well this may not look like much, someone coming in would say it is a mess. We had to take the poorest wood off and saved the advanced regeneration. I figure that in five to ten years we will have to come back to do another harvest on the over-story. At that time a pre-commercial thinning will be required in spots as well. I figure that I can keep coming back to harvest every ten years for ever into the future, and I will be able to harvest increasingly more valuable sawlog and veneer logs out of the yellow birch, spruce and white pine."

"It is ironic that if I had followed conventional forestry thinking and wanted to take advantage of current assistance programs, I would have clea cut this woodlot, and planted spots that were not regenerating well. After about ten years there would be pre-commercial thinning of the 'mostly balsam fir' and a small pulpwood thinning 30-40 years after the pct, then another 20-40 years to another harvest."

The low impact approach to woodlot management provides many benefits for the woodlot owner as well as the whole economy of the region. The owner earns a smaller amount of stumpage spread over many more years, which the tax man does not bite into as hard as a one time clearcut harvest. The woodlot provides more diverse wildlife habitat and provides better water quality which is so important to the Miramichi watershed.

White Pine is Found Near the Rivers

The Southwest Miramichi River dominates the geography and life around McNamee. Settlers came to the banks of the Southwest Miramichi around the turn of the century, drawn by the timber resource and established mills and farms. The river fishery provided sustenance for early settlers and later was the basis of a sports fishery that is an important cultural as well as economic tradition to the community.

The spring ice runs bring the community to the river. "Where the ice catches and piles up, the water will run under it and scour out new pools and change the habitat for the fish. What we do in the woods along the streams that feed into the river is very important to the river ecosystem. Our forest practices have an impact on sedimentation and water temperature, both of which are vitally important to survival of the fish and their eggs."

The forest in this area is part of the Bantalor Ecodistrict of the Eastern Lowlands Ecoregion. It tends to be dominated by black and red spruce. The moist slopes are dominated by these two spruces in association with balsam fir, eastern hemlock, red maple, and yellow birch. The moist flats have more black spruce and less hardwood. Black spruce is found with tamarack in low lying areas with poor drainage. White pine is commonly found along the rivers in the area growing in coarse-textured soils. After major disturbances, the forest tends to come back in red maple and gray and white birch sometimes mixed with jack pine.

Wilson’s Management Approach

The woodlots Wilson has worked on tend to consist largely of these early successional mixed with balsam fir, indicating past fire and clearcutting.. Balsam fir and red maple are perhaps the more prominent species on the woodlots where Mr. Wilson works. He points out that previous harvest history and the spruce budworm encouraged these species to seed into open patches in the forest. However there are tolerant species; red spruce, yellow birch, hemlock and white pine spread throughout most of the woodlands. It is these tolerant species that Mr. Wilson holds in high esteem and is striving to encourage their regeneration. In his harvests Mr. Wilson is careful to maintain good quality white pine, spruce and yellow birch.

White pine grows on moderately sloping well drained sites. Mr. Wilson likes to leave young trees closely spaced near white pine seedlings. He points out the shade inhibits balsam fir regeneration somewhat and increases the opportunity for the pine to get established. The close spacing also encourages height growth as the young trees compete for the available light. Finally the close spacing encourages the young trees to self prune as lower limbs, starved for light die off and future diameter growth will add on as clear wood.

"Hardwoods have a deep root system that are good and wind firm and they pull nutrients from deep soil zones. They also host a greater diversity of wildlife than a straight softwood stand. I like to see the wildlife, and I think anyone who comes to the woodlot appreciate it as well. That diversity makes for a healthy forest that can resist pest attacks. The diversity also means that if a pest population does grow out of control and attacks the forest killing one or two species, we are not watching the whole stand dying. There is an awful lot of young balsam fir growing in this province. We know the spruce budworm has a population cycle, so we can bet it will get the fir again. I want to have as great a variety of tree species as possible."

In addition to the horses, Mr. Wilson has used a crew with a 440 John Deere skidder for doing sensitive harvesting. The skidder went on a woodlot where there was an over-story of hardwoods, hemlock and an under-story of younger trees, primarily balsam fir. "The guys on this crew are older, and quite thoughtful about doing a good job and leaving a stand of young trees behind. When they first looked at the job they were skeptical that they could make it pay on the low volume that was being removed. The first incentive I gave them was to up the piece rate for harvesting. Then I showed them a stand of good quality wood that was also scheduled to be harvested. The over-story harvest took a lot of supervision on my part, and I was very happy with the result. I was able to pre-commercially thin immediately after the harvest and the result is a very healthy stand of young and middle aged mixed species."

"While the harvest was underway, I would identify special trees that were not to be harvested. Cavity trees, healthy mature hemlock and some big hardwoods were left standing. In a textbook scenario these trees should have been removed. But I and the woodlot owner want to see a wide variety of wildlife present. The hemlock have a long life potential and their value is low today. They will hang on for many years and when markets improve I can come back and harvest them. As for big old hardwoods, I rationalized leaving them by visualizing the number of young, fast growing trees that would be destroyed just getting the big trees down. Add to that, the fact that the hardwood would be worth very little as fuelwood after I got it to the yard. Some times those low value trees are most valuable left standing!"

Plenty of Opportunity for Semi-Commercial Thinning

Mr. Wilson sees a growing opportunity for commercial and semi-commercial thinning in stands that were pre-commercial thinned since the late seventies. However he was perplexed as to what kind of machine to use that would be efficient for extracting small diameter pulpwood and studwood during thinning operations. His search for a machine lead him to a Kubota four-wheel drive farm tractor and a Hardy forestry trailer and loader.

The tractor/trailer can haul about 1.5 cords from the thinnings to roadside and is well suited to the generally, gently rolling landscape. Mr. Wilson had extra guarding fabricated to protect components on the tractor and also had a local shop fabricate a cab for operator comfort. The tractor also doubles for driveway snowblowing at his home when deep snow sends the unit out of the woods.

One of the perplexing issues with semi-commercial thinning operations is the matter of economics. Mr. Wilson says that the operations are labour and supervisory intensive, yet there is very little return on the low volume of pulpwood that is produced. If the costs of production can be achieved, there is very little stumpage value for the woodlot owner. Yet, he says, the work is very valuable, leaving the best quality, highest value trees in a condition where their value will rapidly increase. At present there is little support from silviculture programs for these treatments. There is a universal incentive for the contractor and the woodlot owner, in that there will be high quality wood faster, but without a long term agreement between the contractor and the owner, there is no guarantee who will be cutting the wood and reaping the benefit of the future harvests.

Mr. Wilson hopes that completing commercial thinnings on stands that were pre-commercially thinned in the early 1980's, will bring him more business from woodlot owners that have similar stands. He continues to be concerned that the economics of the silviculture treatment will be marginal, and that there will be difficult business decisions that will have to be made by woodlot owners, to proceed with the very valuable work.



		*Clark Wilson* McNamee, NB Contractor Ecoregion - Eastern Lowlands Ecodistrict - Bantalor
Clark Wilson's family have lived for six generations on the Miramichi River, at McNamee, where they have made their living as farmers, woodsmen, merchants and river guides. Clark has lived at McNamee, but has also found himself living as far away as British Columbia in order to find full-time employment. But like many of his peers, he has always been drawn back to the River. In his efforts to make a living in his home community, Mr. Wilson is developing a business based on offering a full range of low impact woodlot management services to landowners in the Boiestown-Doaktown area. Mr. Wilson attended Maritime Forest Ranger School following high school and has worked at forestry operations in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia as well as his native New Brunswick. In addition to his considerable experience in conventional harvesting working work, Mr. Wilson has, from time to time over the past couple of decades, contracted pre-commercial thinning on private woodlots around McNamee. However, he says that, this treatment addressed only a very narrow aspect of silviculture that could substantially increase the productive capacity of the land. Demand for Low Impact Forestry Services Over the past ten years or so, Mr. Wilson has done management plans in his neighbourhood for both York-Sunbury-Charlotte and the Northumberland County Forest Products Marketing Boards. He felt a certain level of frustration recommending silviculture treatments that neither the woodlot owner nor conventional harvest contractors were able or wanted to do. He was also exposed to a number of woodlot owners that wanted nothing to do with conventional clearcut harvesting, but found that very little of the management work was done because there was very few contractors doing any kind of harvesting other than clearcut harvesting. It became clear to Wilson that there was good business opportunity in offering low impact forestry services. He first stepped into low impact forestry contracting by hiring two horse crews to harvest residual over-story and mature balsam fir from a woodlot at Bettsburg south of Doaktown. Looking at the stand of scattered immature hardwood and spruce and isolated white pine, Mr. Wilson commented "Well this may not look like much, someone coming in would say it is a mess. We had to take the poorest wood off and saved the advanced regeneration. I figure that in five to ten years we will have to come back to do another harvest on the over-story. At that time a pre-commercial thinning will be required in spots as well. I figure that I can keep coming back to harvest every ten years for ever into the future, and I will be able to harvest increasingly more valuable sawlog and veneer logs out of the yellow birch, spruce and white pine." "It is ironic that if I had followed conventional forestry thinking and wanted to take advantage of current assistance programs, I would have clea cut this woodlot, and planted spots that were not regenerating well. After about ten years there would be pre-commercial thinning of the 'mostly balsam fir' and a small pulpwood thinning 30-40 years after the pct, then another 20-40 years to another harvest." The low impact approach to woodlot management provides many benefits for the woodlot owner as well as the whole economy of the region. The owner earns a smaller amount of stumpage spread over many more years, which the tax man does not bite into as hard as a one time clearcut harvest. The woodlot provides more diverse wildlife habitat and provides better water quality which is so important to the Miramichi watershed. White Pine is Found Near the Rivers The Southwest Miramichi River dominates the geography and life around McNamee. Settlers came to the banks of the Southwest Miramichi around the turn of the century, drawn by the timber resource and established mills and farms. The river fishery provided sustenance for early settlers and later was the basis of a sports fishery that is an important cultural as well as economic tradition to the community. The spring ice runs bring the community to the river. "Where the ice catches and piles up, the water will run under it and scour out new pools and change the habitat for the fish. What we do in the woods along the streams that feed into the river is very important to the river ecosystem. Our forest practices have an impact on sedimentation and water temperature, both of which are vitally important to survival of the fish and their eggs." The forest in this area is part of the Bantalor Ecodistrict of the Eastern Lowlands Ecoregion. It tends to be dominated by black and red spruce. The moist slopes are dominated by these two spruces in association with balsam fir, eastern hemlock, red maple, and yellow birch. The moist flats have more black spruce and less hardwood. Black spruce is found with tamarack in low lying areas with poor drainage. White pine is commonly found along the rivers in the area growing in coarse-textured soils. After major disturbances, the forest tends to come back in red maple and gray and white birch sometimes mixed with jack pine. Wilson’s Management Approach The woodlots Wilson has worked on tend to consist largely of these early successional mixed with balsam fir, indicating past fire and clearcutting.. Balsam fir and red maple are perhaps the more prominent species on the woodlots where Mr. Wilson works. He points out that previous harvest history and the spruce budworm encouraged these species to seed into open patches in the forest. However there are tolerant species; red spruce, yellow birch, hemlock and white pine spread throughout most of the woodlands. It is these tolerant species that Mr. Wilson holds in high esteem and is striving to encourage their regeneration. In his harvests Mr. Wilson is careful to maintain good quality white pine, spruce and yellow birch. White pine grows on moderately sloping well drained sites. Mr. Wilson likes to leave young trees closely spaced near white pine seedlings. He points out the shade inhibits balsam fir regeneration somewhat and increases the opportunity for the pine to get established. The close spacing also encourages height growth as the young trees compete for the available light. Finally the close spacing encourages the young trees to self prune as lower limbs, starved for light die off and future diameter growth will add on as clear wood. "Hardwoods have a deep root system that are good and wind firm and they pull nutrients from deep soil zones. They also host a greater diversity of wildlife than a straight softwood stand. I like to see the wildlife, and I think anyone who comes to the woodlot appreciate it as well. That diversity makes for a healthy forest that can resist pest attacks. The diversity also means that if a pest population does grow out of control and attacks the forest killing one or two species, we are not watching the whole stand dying. There is an awful lot of young balsam fir growing in this province. We know the spruce budworm has a population cycle, so we can bet it will get the fir again. I want to have as great a variety of tree species as possible." In addition to the horses, Mr. Wilson has used a crew with a 440 John Deere skidder for doing sensitive harvesting. The skidder went on a woodlot where there was an over-story of hardwoods, hemlock and an under-story of younger trees, primarily balsam fir. "The guys on this crew are older, and quite thoughtful about doing a good job and leaving a stand of young trees behind. When they first looked at the job they were skeptical that they could make it pay on the low volume that was being removed. The first incentive I gave them was to up the piece rate for harvesting. Then I showed them a stand of good quality wood that was also scheduled to be harvested. The over-story harvest took a lot of supervision on my part, and I was very happy with the result. I was able to pre-commercially thin immediately after the harvest and the result is a very healthy stand of young and middle aged mixed species." "While the harvest was underway, I would identify special trees that were not to be harvested. Cavity trees, healthy mature hemlock and some big hardwoods were left standing. In a textbook scenario these trees should have been removed. But I and the woodlot owner want to see a wide variety of wildlife present. The hemlock have a long life potential and their value is low today. They will hang on for many years and when markets improve I can come back and harvest them. As for big old hardwoods, I rationalized leaving them by visualizing the number of young, fast growing trees that would be destroyed just getting the big trees down. Add to that, the fact that the hardwood would be worth very little as fuelwood after I got it to the yard. Some times those low value trees are most valuable left standing!" Plenty of Opportunity for Semi-Commercial Thinning Mr. Wilson sees a growing opportunity for commercial and semi-commercial thinning in stands that were pre-commercial thinned since the late seventies. However he was perplexed as to what kind of machine to use that would be efficient for extracting small diameter pulpwood and studwood during thinning operations. His search for a machine lead him to a Kubota four-wheel drive farm tractor and a Hardy forestry trailer and loader. The tractor/trailer can haul about 1.5 cords from the thinnings to roadside and is well suited to the generally, gently rolling landscape. Mr. Wilson had extra guarding fabricated to protect components on the tractor and also had a local shop fabricate a cab for operator comfort. The tractor also doubles for driveway snowblowing at his home when deep snow sends the unit out of the woods. One of the perplexing issues with semi-commercial thinning operations is the matter of economics. Mr. Wilson says that the operations are labour and supervisory intensive, yet there is very little return on the low volume of pulpwood that is produced. If the costs of production can be achieved, there is very little stumpage value for the woodlot owner. Yet, he says, the work is very valuable, leaving the best quality, highest value trees in a condition where their value will rapidly increase. At present there is little support from silviculture programs for these treatments. There is a universal incentive for the contractor and the woodlot owner, in that there will be high quality wood faster, but without a long term agreement between the contractor and the owner, there is no guarantee who will be cutting the wood and reaping the benefit of the future harvests. Mr. Wilson hopes that completing commercial thinnings on stands that were pre-commercially thinned in the early 1980's, will bring him more business from woodlot owners that have similar stands. He continues to be concerned that the economics of the silviculture treatment will be marginal, and that there will be difficult business decisions that will have to be made by woodlot owners, to proceed with the very valuable work.