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‘Last week we began our review
of ecology and forest management

at various elevations in a typical

valley. We. began with a second

look at the alpine and sub-alpine

regions and this week we continue
with: a review of the mid-slope
tegion. Next week, we will take a
final look at the lower elevations
and a specific problem area as
well... wilderness reserves.

As we have seen, there is really
nothing for the forest industry in
our alpine meadows. The best
advice is probably to leave things
alone. Even recreational activities
should be carefully monitored.
Upper slope ecology is also diffi-
cult to manage but we’ve shown
little caution there. In many
instances, vast areas of trees have
been harvested even with the
knowledge that management is
difficult, road construction expen-
sive and the trees small. Why? The
"Fall Down Effect".

We have been forced to go there
out of desperation. We’ve cut all
the good trees that are easily
accessed and the forest industry
has been left with two choices:

‘drive a few hundred miles to log

good trees or only a few miles to
cut marginal trees. The obvious
choice is the latter, but it’s a finan-
cial balancing act with a predict-
able end; ecological damage that
will take nature many years to
repair.

by Harriett Fjasgesund -

Because of the amount of con-:
troversy now surrounding slash
burning, the Kalum Forest
District decided to hold a tour of
three of their sites on Beam Sta-
tion Rd. June 25. Representa-
tives from the Thornhill fire-
fighters, regional district, and
members of the press attended.
City council was also invited but
did not attend.

The tour was sparked by two
letters from the regional district
to city council in April, one of
which reads in part:

“The greenhouse effect is an
environmental issue with global
consequences. One of the major
contributors to this effect is car-
bon dioxide generated from
burning forests...”

“Slash burning is a primitive

_ and often destructive technique.
‘It not only degrades our air
.. quality, it detrimentally impacts

upon tourism and recreation op-
portunities at critical times in the

. industry and can represent a

serious hazard to the movement
of aircraft‘and highway traffic.’”

Following a meeting with the
regional-district and city council
in which very little of the issue
was resolved, it was decided that
it would be more’ productive to
hold a meeting on-site.

The first site was logged in
1984; burned in ‘85 and replant-
ed in’ ‘86. Head of. Protection
Resource officer Joe Katason-

' owf explained that the site, or

block, was burned for two
reasons.

“The first was to improve

e - Valley floor to —
alpine meadow

Now on to the MID-SLOPE _
regions. These are more familiar
than the upper slopes to most ~ ||’

people. This is where you might
go for a summer’s picnic or per-

haps the annual Christmas tree. ~

These are the forested hil! sides or
benches that range in elevation
between 600 and 1200 feet.

Mid-slope regions are "flow

through" sites that provide nutri-
ents, moisture and soil for the val-
ley floor. They receive these
elements from the alpine and
upper-slope regions, add a little of
their own, and offer them to the
valley below. As a result of their
contribution to lower levels, soil
depth is relatively shallow here,
perhaps one metre on side hills
and two to three metres on bench
areas. By comparison, the more
fertile valley bottom might offer a
soil depth of as much as 60 to 75
feet.

The mid-slope regions also offer
a very specific biogeoclimatic
zone; it is drier and slightly
cooler than the valley floor and
wetter and warmer than the slopes
above. The combination of these
factors encourages the growth of
different species of plants and trees

than are found anywhere else in.

the valley.

Lodgepole pine can be found in
well-drained areas with coarse
soils. These are usually inter-
spersed with a few hemlock and

ata aa

Terrace Review —

ed sae te a es ae arn sob wie

Wednesday; July 11,1990 AT

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

balsam. In wetter areas, spruce and
cedar flourish and in swampy

‘depressions or near creek beds

willow and a few cottonwood
grow. Between these two extremes
you find aspen, slide alder and
birch.

As far as brush is concerned, you
find species such as false azalea,
rose bushes and vaccinium (blue-
berries and huckleberries).

This patchwork of growth is a
familiar sight from a distance.
Fingers of light green are basically
the result of deciduous growth in
wetter areas while dark green
patches are the coniferous trees
growing in the drier areas, Some
hill sides offer a little more deci-
duous growth than others; either
because of recent logging activity
or a fire. But this logging activity
is much more acceptable than at
higher elevations and if done pro-
perly, provides a good source of
fibre for the forest industry

"Properly", of course, is the key
word here. First, educated deci-
sions on exactly where, when and
how the logging is going to take
place have to be made. Most often,
the “how" will be site-specific
clear-cutting based on the local
topography and conditions.

On a continuous slope, for
example, these clear-cuts wouldn’t
be any larger than 20 to 50 hec-
tares and the shape would be deter-
mined by the steepness of the
slope. A series of benches might
be cut from bench to bench, leav-
ing the slopes between intact. But
in all cases, these clear-cuts would
be done in patches with buffer
zones left between. This encour-
ages natural regeneration and mini-
mizes the possibility of slope fail-
ure.

The final consideration in the
management of mid-slope regions
is site preparation afler logging.
The secret to success is often

Slash burning - tour of sites

planting conditions. When a
block has been cleared of all
debris they have more control of
the overall number of trees (and
species) that can be planted in

‘that one area. It also enables

them to space the seedlings more
evenly.

The second reason for burn-
ing was to remove the potential
threat of fossil fuels from the

‘area. Slash left from the logging

operation becomes a fire hazard,
especially during hot months
like July .and August when
everything becomes tinder dry.
Rick Trowbridge, research
scientist with the Regional Pro-
tection Office, dug a soil pit to
assess the soil. He explained that
the forest floor is actually made
up of two layers, the top being
the organic, or humus layer. It is
in this top layer where most of
the soil nutrients collect.
Trowbridge said the majority
of the humus layer was intact
and that the trees growing on the
site appear healthy. He added
that each site is different; : pre-
scribed burning must be careful-

ly controlled to avoid damaging

this organic layer, and that
enough of this layer remains to
support new seedlings. ‘‘The
harder you burn a sight, the
more you change that site. You
get more of a shift in bacteria.”’

Silviculture Resource Officer
Bob Wilson said that before
harvesting even begins, each
area is carefully assessed using
an ecological classification
system: climatic conditions, lay
of the land, soil pits, and plants

presently growing on the site are

all taken into consideration.
Then by using the guidelines set
down in the Pre-Harvest Pre-
scription they have a plan, or
blueprint, to work from.

The second sight was logged
right after the first, but was not
burned because it is less than 20
hectares; anything smaller than
20 hectares is considered too dif-
ficult to control. The site has

regenerated naturally. Kata-.
‘sonowf stated that although

natural. regeneration is free of
charge to begin with, 20 years
later they must go in and thin the
trees at an approximate cost of
$700-$800 per hectare.

Wilson added that this area
will be difficult to plant because
the slash is severe, and that
because they have no control
over the spacing of the trees or
of the species grown, there may
‘be a lower yield of marketable
trees.

To reduce the risk of wildfire,
two different methods of hand-
ling the slash have been tried.
Larger debris has been piled into
several different piles for burn-

ing later. Katasonowf explained.

that by burning one or two piles
at a time not only is there less
smoke, but the burn is easier to
control.

The remaining slash has been
broken into smaller pieces by a
machine called a slash buster.
Katasonowf admitted that they
don’t have all the answers yet,
but they’re hoping that these
smaller pieces will deteriorate
faster,

Trowbridge said that from the
point of view of a Protection Of-

. ficer, the sight was unacceptable

because it was abusive to the soil
and encouraged beetles and
other pests. ‘‘This stuff doesn’t
go away fast. .There’s too much
wood here, and it’s poor
forestry to leave it here.”

Katasonowf explained that
clearing a site by mechanical
means rather than prescribed
burn isn’t always the answer
either because heavy . machines
compact the soil, especially in
wetter areas, making it harder
for new growth to establish
itself.

‘‘We cannot afford to keep on
piling slash for silvicultural pur-
poses. Nobody likes smoke;

- there may be detrimental effects

from a health point of view, but
can we afford to live with this
hazard from a protection point
of view?”

Les Watmough of the regional
district protested. ‘‘This site can
be left, and will eventually be
productive. We should learn
from history. To say this site will
burn tomorrow or will not grow
back is wrong. Odds are that if
planted, this site would grow a
healthy stand of trees; maybe a
little slower, 10 years in the
90-year cycle.’’

The third site was just logged
earlier this year. It will not be
burned because of its close prox-
imity to the airport and popu-
lated areas. This area receives a
lot of 40-60 km winds. _

Wilson explained that a lot of
what they do is simply compro-
mises because they don’t have all
the answers, and that they are

still trying to correct past

Terrace, B.C. V8G 1M7.

found in the logging practices
themselves. Utilize the trees that
are there, leave little waste, and
you can have a productive site for
years. If you don’t, your first cut
may be your last for a long time to
come.

Next week we will conclude our
review of management and ecology
before getting into our next topic
of discussion, the tenure system. Is
it all it’s cracked up to be?

Forestry Insights is a regular
weekly feature of the Terrace
Review, written by staff reporter
Tod Strachan in consultation with
Registered Professional Foresters
Rod Arnold and Doug Davies. We
encourage our readers to become
involved in forestry issues by
submitting questions, comments
and contributions of their own.
Write to Forestry Insights, c/o the
Terrace Review, 4535 Greig Ave.,

mistakes. But there will definite-
ly be less and. less prescribed
burning as technology comes up
with better answers.

When contacted later, Wat-
mough said he appreciated the
fact that the Ministry of Forests
is spending a lot of time and
money to try alternate methods,
but he doesn’t feel that the
answers they are giving now are
any different than those he re-
ceived 10 and 15 years ago when
he complained; that they are
slow to make changes. He says.
he intends to keep on pressing
them.

He added that his wife re-
ceived several phone calls from
people in the area offering sup-
port after hearing an interview
he did on the radio protesting
slash burning.

If you are a woman
40 or over,
this program is a must.

SCREENING
MAMMOGRAPHY

is funded by the B.C. Min-
istry of Health. A doctor's
referral is not required for
women over 40, Call 1-800-
663-9203 for an appointment.

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