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This week:

66 | vest Silviculture
Prescription for

Block 1 of Cutting Permit 001 in
your coastal Forest Licence,"
Herby Squish said to a confused-
looking Milton Jovial. "Don’t
worry. It’s not really all that com-
plicated, It’s commonly abbre-
viated P.H.S.P. and all it is, is a
plan for harvesting, and replanting,
and maintaining a designated area
of forest.

"This particular Block is south of
Beetle Mountain and there are
some special considerations you
should be aware of. In particular,
the swampy area near the southern
end of Gearbox Lake. There are a

his is your Pre-Hat-

- few cedar in there, but you'll need

to address some environmental
concerns if you’re going to keep
everyone happy."

With this said, Squish placed a
map on the desk and went into
greater detail. There are two eco-
systems in this cutblock, which is
at an elevation of between 270 and
350 metres, he told Jovial. The
first ecosystem consists of 43.3
hectares on a side hill with 10 to

HS.P.

20 percent slopes, suitable for
year-round logging. There are a
total of 5.2 hectares of roads and
landings in this area, leaving a
treatment area of 38.4 hectares.
The second, he continued, is a

total of 18.2 hectares in two sec- ©

tions suitable for winter logging
only. One, in the north of the
cutblock, is relatively flat land
with a few hectares of brush on
top of an embankment which
slopes down to a swamp. The
other is a smaller area of wetland
in the southern end of the block.
Within these two areas are 2.4
hectares of roads and landings and
5.1 hectares of swamp and rock,
leaving a treatment area of 10.7
hectares. Logging these sites in the
winter, when the ground is frozen,
will minimize environmental dam-
age.

"Now," Squish said to Jovial. "If
you'll look at the Pre-Harvest
Silviculture Prescription form,
you'll find it begins with a couple
of charts listing the ecological and
site information I’ve just
described, and then goes on to list
appropriate methods for pest

Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 10, 1991 A7

management, harvesting, site pre-
paration, reforestation and brushing
and weeding. Towards the end is
soil information, a list of non-
timber values, a reforestation flow

chart and a copy of the map."

Squish then began to explain the
highlights of each section to Jovial.
Mistletoe, a parasitic plant, is
currently present in western hem-
lock growing on the site, and the
cure for this is to make sure no
hemlock is planted on the peri-
meter after harvesting. The will
prevent the mistletoe from moving
back in.

Tomentosus (root rot) is evident
in about 10 percent of the spruce
and this will be corrected in
second growth by planting hem-

The Way I
See It...

by Stephanie Wiebe

Living 1,400 kilometres away
from my parents, siblings and
five hundred other relatives, I
sometimes get homesick. It’s not
so much the location of home,
it’s the stupid little things I tend
to miss the most. I miss our
moronic family games.

As an adult, sibling rivalry has
changed. We no longer chase
each other around the house,
threatening the physical safety of
one another and mother’s good
china. We’re more mature now,
aiming at psychological
weaknesses, pushing towards
potential insanity.

At family gatherings, I might be
in a deep living-room discussion
with Aunt Phyllis, discussing
Canadian politics and the state of
the world, when my younger
brother will casually walk up to
us, interrupting with, "And all

Pifer —

Continued from page A6

she could ‘‘see no logical
benefit in not having a good
relationship’? with members of
the news media.

There is no reason why she
should not. But the relationship
she forges with the people of
the province is the one she and
her party had best worry more
about than what the scribes
and pundits are saying.

Methinks that unless: Mrs.
Johnston distances herself from
the Vander Zalm taint,
regardless of their alliance in
Surrey municipal politics and
beyond, that relationship will
remain a cautious, concerned
one,

this science, 1 don’t understand."
Then he’ll walk away. Aunt
Phyllis will shake her head and
glance at him sideways, but she
understands the twisted genetic
lines he comes from, and we
resume our conversation.

But my mind is only half there.
My brother has given me a line
of lyric from an old song, and the
unspoken challenge is for me to
guess which song, After a while,
my sister will walk by, smiling
smugly, and say, "It’s just my job
five days a week." At this point,
Aunt Phyllis will roll her eyes
and look across the room at my
mother. My mother cringes in a
corner, trying to recall the exact
moment when aliens came to
earth and transformed her adult
children into idiots.

The room quiets to a soft hush
of conversation. Suddenly, I leap
from the sofa, scale the coffce
table and shout, "Rocket Man!
Elton John, nineteen-seventy-
two!" Aunt Phyllis quickly downs
her gin and tonic.

The game is on. It’s my turn.
Ha! I'm older than he is, with a
sharp memory full of ridiculously
stupid trivia. He’s talking with
Uncle Paul, and I saunter past |
them, dropping, "You sure are
looking good." Uncle Paul says,
"Thanks", but my brother knows
what I really mean. And he’s
stumped, Unfortunately, I have
another brother, hovering nearby,
with an even older mind full of

_ more idiotic and useless trivia
than mine. He picks up the chal-
lenge, and in a smart-alecky tone

he says, “Little Red Riding Hood,
by Sam the Sham and the
Pharaohs, 1966." My mother
quietly leaves the room.

Because this game continues
"behind-the-scenes" throughout a
two-week visit, one must con-
stantly be on guard for hidden
lyrics.

I] sometimes wonder if other
families play dumb games like
ours. Of course, we do all the
usual things, too — gathering
around huge amounts of food,
playing baseball or cards, watch-
ing videos, and re-gathering
around huge amounts of food.
But throughout every activity, at
any time, an adult sibling might
walk by and say, "I have my
books and my poetry to protect

me." Three other adults will hear

this casual sentence, picked up
like radar, and stare into space
until one of them suddenly yells,
"7 Am A Rock, Simon and Gar-
funkel, 1972!" Then we can
resume our normal states.

My sister is the smart one.
We'll begin a rousing family yard
game of baseball, and she'll bat
the ball into left field. As she
runs past first base, she’l! call
out, "I was born in the back seat -
of a Greyhound bus!" A good
trick —- while the fielders are
staring into the sky, trying to
mentally place this lyric, she’s
across home plate before anyone
can answer, "Rambling Man,
Allman Brothers, nineteen .
seventy three."

So far, the grandchildren seem
immune. My parents constantly
pray that the defective genes will.
skip a generation. I have to agree,
it would be cruel to pass on this
family obsession. But I fear it’s
too late. On our last visit, we
clearly heard my nephew ask,
“Hey, where have all the flowers
gone?" We can only hope he was
looking at an empty vase.

Forestry
Insights

by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Arnold and Doug. Davies

lock, not spruce, within 10 metres
of spruce stumps. Pissodes strobi
(spruce leader weevil) is present in
nearby stands and might pose a
future problem. As a preventative
measure, therefore, a mix of
spruce and hemlock will be
planted to stop the spread of the
weevil if it attacks.

"You'll find similar infections on
your interior licence," Jovial
added. "But there’s one other pest
there as well... Hylobius warreni.
That's Warren’s root collar weevil
to you. Evidence that this pest is
present can’t be detected until the
trees are six to eight years old so
we'll add a little insurance by
planting ‘more trees. Probably
something like 1,600 stems per

hectare to hedge against the antici-
pated mortality caused by the
weevil.

"Broadcast burning is a cheaper
cure that will eliminate hemlock
mistletoe and reduce root collar
weevil,” said Squish, "but this can
create another problem so I’ve
recommended against it. Burning
can promote Rhizina undulata, a
fungus that attacks seedlings, and
that could destroy every seedling
you plant.”

As far as harvesting is concerned,
Squish told Jovial, the site would
be clearcut by hand rather than a
feller buncher and yarding would

be done by ground skidding to

landings using rubber tire skidders
or cats on steeper ground. Refer-
ring to the map, he explained that
landings had been located to mini-
mize skidding distances and cul-
verts would be used where skid
trails crossed wet draws, Also, the
perimeter of the cutblock had been
designed to provide a windfirm
edge; post-harvest blowdown,

’ therefore, shouldn’t be a problem.

Moderate slash is expected to
accumulate due to the decadent
condition of standing timber, and

on the coastal licence this will.
mean using a back-hoe with a:
thumb attachment to remove it in

order to improve access for plant-
ing and to create more plantable
spots. There would be no mechani-
cal site preparation on the wetter
sites due to the possibility of en-
vironmental damage caused by soil
compaction.

In the interior, slash accumula-
tions would have to be removed to
reduce the fire hazard as well as

improving access for planting. This

would be done by yarding tree

length to landings, topping and

limbing at landings, and then burn-
ing ata time when the fire hazard
was low.

Reforestation on the coastal
cutblock would take place one year
after harvesting and would consist

of 25 percent spruce, which would
be planted primarily on the wetter
sites, and 60 percent western hem-
lock and 15 percent lodgepole pine
on the drier sites. Two growing
seasons after planting, a survey
would be conducted to determine
the survival rate of the seedlings -
and fill planting would be carried
out where necessary in order to
meet ministry stocking standards
of 1,400 seedlings per hectare.
Fourteen years after harvesting a
Free Growing Survey would be
required.

"And here’s another one where
you might hear an environmental
outcry, so be prepared," Squish
said. "The potential for brush to
choke out seedlings is high in the
05 ecosystem but less likely in the
03 ecosystem. Therefore, four or
five years after planting I have
recommended spot treatments with
VISION (a weed-killer similar to
Round Up and frequently used in
forestry) to be applied with
backpack sprayer. A 10-meter
Pesticide Free Zone will be left
near any creeks and streams and
those areas brushing and weeding —
will be done manually."

This brought Squish to non-tim-
ber values. Clutch creck is 4
salmon rearing habitat and because
of this a copy of the Cutting Per-
mit application would have to be
sent to the provincial Ministry of
Environment and the federal
Department of Fisheries and
Oceans for their comments.

There are no known rare or en-
dangered animal species in the
area, but there are a number of
moose, black bear, small mammals
and woodpeckers. For this reason,
leaving snags (standing dead trees)
which provide homes for birds and
moose winter range would be an
item to be considered. Squish
explained that moose would be
forced to seek other feeding areas
after harvesting, but in time forage
would increase in the cutover area.

As for recreational value, the —
area had never been used for it and
recreation was therefore not a
consideration, but Block 1 of Cut-
ting Permit 001 was within a trap-
ping unit and it would be neces-
sary to advise the registered trap-
per prior to logging.

"So that’s it,” Squish told Jovial.
"Your Pre-Harvest Silviculture
Prescription is complete on this
and other cutblocks that will be
harvested soon. Let’s take a break
and then we can look at a Sampie
Cutting Permit as well as a couple
of management plans. And don’t
wotry Milton... We’re almost

there. You'll be logging soon.”