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FOREST MANAGEMENT: Selective Logging Impact Studied

Summary: Canfor embarks on a unique study to learn more about the effect of partial cutting in riparian areas in northern forests.

BY JIM STIRLING
Copyright 1996 Contact publisher for permission to use

A unique selective harvesting operation this winter is destined to cast more than light on the forest floor. It will improve understanding about how riparian areas in northern forests can best be managed for both biological diversity values and wood fibre production. The selective harvesting is part of a long-term biodiversity research project underway by Canadian Forest products Ltd.'s Fort St.John/Taylor Division in northeastern British Columbia.

"The general goal of the study is to supply concrete information on the current use of riparian habitats prior to logging and determine the effect on the habitats and their use following group selection or path cuts," says Dave Menzies, Canfor's divisional forester in Fort St. John. Canfor plans to monitor for a minimum of five years how the whole gamut of wildlife responds to patch logged areas compared with clearcuts and untouched control blocks. The study will also gauge the effects of selective harvesting systems on the structure, function and composition of the forest itself.

"I think the study will help us identify the effects of partial cutting. We'll gain experience and have more knowledge about what's actually going on out in our forests and what species are using them. There's little comprehensive information about that. And in that way the study will help us do a better job of patch cutting," adds Menzies.

The Canfor study has other potential long-term benefits. If the company can develop an acceptable way to manage riparian areas in full compliance with the BC Forest Practices Code, the potential productive land base is increased. About 1.5 per cent of the 4.7 million hectares of the Fort St. John TSA is in riparian stands deferred from logging for ecological concerns and lack of data. "Canfor will realize a net annual product value of more than $1 million from the deferred areas alone," states an interim report by Simons Reid Collins of Vancouver, Canfor's forest resource consultants on the project.

The Ministry of Forests research branch will run a concurrent related study on the silvicultural implications of patch cutting. It will include seedling performance, natural regeneration, vegetation competition and the incidence of windthrow, the latter an inherent concern with some selective harvesting systems.

Menzies says he's unaware of any similar study of selective logging types and effects in the boreal white and black spruce biogeoclimatic zone. The area chosen for the study is about 160 km northwest of Fort St. John. It was selected because it's used by a variety of wildlife species, and it contains creeks and rivers coursing from the northern Rocky Mountains which sustain fish populations, he explains.

The three stand treatments being used in the study are an unharvested control, clearcuts already harvested and three blocks to be patch cut this winter. The old-growth blocks are 34 hectares, 20 hectares and 50 hectares respectively and have similar soil and vegetation characteristics. The patch logging openings will be in 0.2 hectare and 0.75 hectare sizes. Each treatment will be repeated up to three times on each of the selective study blocks. One third of the patches of each size will be clear felled. One half of the patch treatments of each size will contain stub trees (live or dead trees primarily for bird use). A half of all patches will be mechanically site prepared and all will be replanted.

All treatment blocks will contain about 30 per cent of their respective areas in patches; half 0.2 hectare and half 0.75 hectare in size. Forest structure studies will measure and monitor the live, standing dead, and dead and dying wood in each stand and patch treatment category. An essential aspect of the biodiversity study measures the use of riparian areas in all treatment categories by forest birds, fur bearers and large mammals.

More limited work with amphibians is also possible. Simons Reid Collins, Canfor's consultant, has completed some preliminary baseline research. For instance, last winter researchers identified 14 species of mammals in 1,906 sets of tracks, from surveying 60 km of transects in three clear-cut and six old-growth riparian stands. Fifty three species of birds were identified during 32 days of sampling during the breeding season in the same number of clearcuts and old-growth stands. Some field work information-gathering methods continue to be refined. Some interesting insights into animal behaviour have been indicated by the project.

There's a lot more use of some clearcuts by furbearers, says Menzies. Creatures like weasels have forsaken the old growth and have moved into clearcuts to feed on deer mice attracted to the areas. Canfor has applied to Forest Renewal BC for assistance in funding its project. At the time of writing, the application was reported close to final approval. Menzies says the project has proved expensive and data analysis of the incoming baseline information has been time consuming. And much more will follow as the project intensifies with annual monitoring as the wildlife populations relate to the patch-logging treatments. Menzies reports considerable interest in Canfor's initiative from other forest companies in and out of BC. And that, too, is likely to increase as the group selection/biodiversity study matures.

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