_ i a ee near teat - . - Thornhill students see the forest and the trees = _. Contributed by D. Anaka | This i is. the first’ in a series of reports ‘on. the. activities of. a. class. of Grade - 8 students at Thornhill Junior Secondary: School. , This science class has been i in-- vestigating some of the aspects of silviculture within their biology course. Silviculture is the science that is concerned with the growing and tending of . the forest. As the teacher of this ‘class, I believe’ that ‘silviculture has .a - great deal to offer young people in terms of all the different kinds of activities that they can do. The presence of. ‘the forest in- dustry in the Terrace area also. _ provides the opportunity for "young people to observe first- hand the practical applications of this science. This class has already been on . three field trips last fall. On cae- trip students from this class ex- amined the various coniferous trees in our area while collecting | samples of needles and cones for - - experimental work in school, Students have dried and ex- tracted seeds from pine and spruce cones and put them into cold storage. Fred Philpot, a local forester, provided the pine cones. Their goal is to grow seedlings and replant a harvested area next spring. st This class has also been to the Skeena Cellulose sawmill. , Andy ‘Avison, the Industrial Relations Manager, led the class on an ‘iD teresting tour of how commer- cial trees are processed and ‘marketed by Skeena Cellulose. The most recent field trip by the Thornhill Junior Foresters . was to a logging site up Williams Creek and to two replanted areas up the West Kalum Road. Tim Fenton, the Contract Supervisor for the Woods Divi- sion. of. Skeena Cellulose, pro- - vided the expert commentary on this trip. The class learned about ‘the various pieces of equipment and methods used in a logging operation, They saw the positive effects of juvenile spacing within a 15-year-old forest. They ex-. perienced a vivid contrast be- tween a two-year-old naturally seeded area and a 25-year-old . hand-planted forest. Students. were also taught how to identify. aeepeeartt edd teauds a yao dhs Terrace Review — . Wednesday, January 3, 1990 “7 ‘These Grade 8 Thomhill Junior Seconilary School students are part ofa group who a are 3 learning first hand about forest ecology and the way the Industry: ‘approaches forestry. K’Shian Contractors own the tower we went to see. It is 90 feet tall and takes six cables to hold it up. The tower has cables coming out from it that are hooked on stumps. This creates the pulley. It pulls logs in. Once that area has been cleared, the pulley has to be moved, which is a difficult task: When they first started log- ging in this area, 99 percent of the trees had been blown over by . the wind. Now that-they are fall- ing trees, they have to be careful that they fall them in the proper direction so that they won’t etack. If.the wood cracks, it is a - some indicators of decay in'. loss of money, as they can’t use , | trees, _ Although the class had-to en- dure two hours of walking over muddy ground in pouring rain, they had an enjoyable éx-' perience and ‘learned a great ‘deal. ao . The ‘Junior “Foresters would like to thank all the previously: mentioned people, the manage- ment of Skeena Cellulose, and Gerry Beaupre of K’Shian Con- struction for all their assistance. - Forestry fleld trip by Sonja Hedberg, Grade 8, ' ** Thornhitl Junior ‘Secondary School ‘At the tower site, there was a yarder. A yarder works on a> ‘pulley system and pulls the logs in, The cables for the yarder are 2,800 feet long and are an inch and a quarter in diameter. It is very hard to move the cables. ‘The yarder also had straps. The average strap is 20;:ta,a2-feet / that tree. . The types of trees that they ,were falling were hemlock and “balsam, They also log alder, spruce and pine. The shortest tree used to make logs is 12 feet Major fore i long. If the tree was any shorter, it would be uneconomical for the logging company to cut it down and to process it. Also, if the top of a tree had a diameter of less than six inches, they cut off the top. Skeena Cellulose likes the wood to be 33 to 35 feet long. Usually, they load up five log- ging trucks a day. On good days, if they work hard enough, they can load six logging trucks, The “more logging trucks they load, the more money they make. - The second site was logged in 1984. They let it grow back naturally, but not enough trees had grown, so the company had to send men back in to make sure that there were 480 to 500 (approximately) trees for each acre. If there weren’t, they | planted two-year-old lodgepole pine trees. Lodgepole pine trees estry show booking up fast Anyone involved in the local forest ‘industry who wants to participate in western Canada’s largest forestry trade show should probably get moving. A recent announcement from the Prince George Regional Forest Exhibition Society says three-fourths of the exhibit space for the May 10 to 12 event is already booked, It’s the fourth year for the biennial ex- chibition, and organizers say it Longs eerie cen etenernerers draws a bigger crowd than the ees Truck Loggers’ and Council of Forest Industries’ annual events combined. The 1990 show will include ex- hibits by buyers and suppliers from the industry, displays on forest management, machinery and equipment demonstrations, and seminars run by experts on robotics, computers, overseas marketing and other subjects. Further information is available from Lil Stamer at 563-8833. age NU ean yyy 2 SEERA isa yO MEMEO he eae can be recognized by looking at the needles. The needles grow in pairs. The slash is left on the ground to protect the moss and soil, The third site was logged in 1954 and spaced in-1986. Spac- ing is done to ensure that each tree will-have enough room to grow. Ahatever Mawar a ‘Clean with care? EDNESDAY IS: DIRTY SHIRT *.. DAY Men's or. Ladies’ cotton blend dress or business shirts expertly laundered. 1 » Only drive-thru in town »~ Best, most reliable and cleanest service » Drop off point at Thornhill Public Market | Rickards Cleaners’ 1 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Monday to Friday 8:90 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — Saturday KIDDIE CORNER FROM THE POST OFFICE ce ee ae cee