“TERRACE - The muffled,
“rhythmic thump from the chopper
». Dlades carries across the small cul
black near Douglas Creck. °
"Forest . Service. silviculturalist
~ Bob™ Wilson heads across the
clearing towards the sound,
~ “Here he comes now,’” he says
as the sound rises in ‘pitch and
-voluime. :
And then, the helicopter. is -in

view, clearing the distant pines.
anid. heading in for the spot where. -

- a small crew is hard at work.

‘Suspended from the helicop-
ter’s cable is.a large and some-—

what bizarre looking object.
-That’s the shear I was telling
“you about.”
“Two of the crew break off to
> bead for the nearby drop site. The
» chopper carefully lowers the
shear and. the pair rapidly begin
emplying t Shor! lengths of tree top
fom’. the | net basket running
e around . the side, of the contrap-
8 ‘tion...
“IVs cone collecting time again
in the Kalum Forest district.
*¢, Although the Forest Service’s
‘Seed Bank in Surrey usually car-
~rles cnough secd to grow more
_ Ahan two. billion seedlings, Wil-
Son said the district still likes to
“add new seed as and when craps
are available.
“That's particularly important
eit cerlain species. For example,
“some spruce Irces average only
one abundant cone crap in 12
- yours. DS,
= In the Douglas Creek operation,
“Modgepale pine cones were the
plamget.-
Wilson’ said the shear being
: ‘used there was an improved vari-
ation on the ‘‘rake’’.
~ That was au open-ended device
. with teeth around the hole at the
top.. It was lowered over the
“crown of the irce-and, as the
helicopter pulled up, the teeth
stripped the cones which fell into
a basket running round the ovt-
side of the raking tube.
_ The difference with the new
system is the rake-like tccth have
been replaced with an hydraulic
shear which cuts off the top three
to four feet of the tree. The cones
‘are then stripped by band by the
o-site crew.

While topping | the tree like that ;

will slow growth for a few years,
Wilson. emphasized it did not

greatly effect the tree long term

and was certainly not fatal.

Once collected, — inspected,
measured. and: ctired, the cones
are sent to the Seed Centre where

several hours kiln drying releases
_ the seeds...” ve
These are eventually stored ata a

temperature of +18 degrees Cy in

which those of-some species cau.

be held for 30.years.or more,

Wilson also pointed out com.
plete records are “kept of each:

seed batch’s origins.
Thal’s because secdlings niust
be planted on sites which are

"similar, including elevation, - to =
ihat of the ‘trecs which provided “fp

the seeds,

It also allowed the Forest Ser- -
vice or forest companies..to later
assess the performance of seeds — |:
taken from specific areas, he
added: no

Explaining. how collection sites’ ] ‘
are-sclected, Wilson said a Forest —
Service personnel Keep an eye out ©:

for promising siles when in the
ficld,

. That meas sizable stands :of :
“good qualily trees carrying large

quantitics of cones.
: The age of the stand is also im-

_ portant. While full: grown trees © ;
were needed, if loo mature they =
wouldn’t provide enough cones

per tree and the vitality of -the

sceds inside those cones would be -

reduced.

That done, a closer and more
systemalic check. is carried out
from a helicopter to confirm the
ground assessment.

Once likely stands have been

spotied, the next step is to collect

sample cones from the target
trees, usually by falling a few.
If those samples prove out, it’s

‘then a question of waiting for just

ihe right moment to collect the

cones,

And timing is.all important.

While the embryo seeds have to

_be given time to become fully de-

veloped, wait too long and the
cones will have opened, letting
lhe seeds scatter to the forest

~ floor.

Wilson said that usually trans-

“ Jated to a one week “window”.

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 19, 1992 — Page A5

_ Squirreling away future forests

HOVERING above the drop site (above), the helicopter pilot carefully lowers another cargo of,
cope-ld den tree to mat jo the wetting crew “members, Mane
ft ;

demands ‘tremendous ‘coh:
centration. Far that faason: ‘ &F
two pilots take turns putting |
In about an hour and a haif
stint. At left, Forest Service
sitviculturalist Bob Wilson
(left) and crew boss Roy
Scully check. the quality of -
the cones brought in and
are pleased with the results.
At right, tha shear used in
the collection. operation is.
an improved version of the
old rake system. The
hydraulic shear is located at
the tap and the cut tree tops
fall into the basket edging
the device. Final destination
for the cone seeds is the
Seed Centre in Surrey.

cia ued

uvering the craft SO ‘close to the | 2 itr 36 39°

Cold
snap

ices
cones

‘TERRACE -- Local gardeners
tricked by this -ycar’s appareutly
early, spring well remember the
:-Lethal effects of the fate May
~ frost.

“: Nor will it soon be forgotten by
those responsible for collecting
this year’s crop of cones from lo-
cal forests.

Roy, Scully of Pacific Regenera-
tion’ Technologies . has heen -in-

olved in: the cone ‘collection
gainc for many years now,
Buleven he adniits he’s never
seen anything like the damage
1 hat killing frost caused in the
" » bush. :

~The problem was ‘the trees were
-also fooled by the warm tempera-
tures’ experienced carlier that
month.

Asa result, the concs of many
species fell victim to the May 24
cold snap.

Not that you can tcli by simply
looking at the trees, says Kalum
forest district sifviculturalist Bob
Wilson.

“Amabalis fir looks like a great
crop,’ he poiists’ out. However,
when the plentiful. cones are
opened up, it quickly becomes
apparent there’s been no embryo
development.

Describing the ’92 fir and cedar
cone crops as ‘‘a write off”, be
says it’s close to the same story
with spruce. ‘“The frost came at
exactly the wrong time.”

over a lwo-year cycle, the effects
of the frost will be: felt beyond
this year.

At Douglas. Creck where: his
crew is harvesting from lodgepole
pine, Scully points. out the buds
which will be next. year’s cones

are, dark, brown instead off Abe

usual Boaysiful purple ye eae :
The. point is reinforced when he

- cuts opens several | cones to reveal
small brown specks * indicating
potential seeds which did’ tmake
it.

thie iu

Scully predicts: similar: cones
will produce only two or. three
fully developed secds itext. year

compared to the target average of
36. .

Therefore, ‘he already jaiows
next year's lodgepole: crop will
nat be worth harvesting: given the
high cost of collection.

Bad as the effects of the frost
have been, Wilson says they're
not critical because. of the vast
stock of seed’ on hand at, the
Forest Service’s Seed Centre in
Surrey.

Thunderbird land USE plan in final stages

SIGNED AND DELIVERED. Co-chairman Lars Reese-Hansen
signs off the Thunderbird Resource Advisory Committee's final
report which includes recommendations on land use in the area,
Fellow co-chair Norm Parry of the Forest Service and Damien
Keating, Skeena Sawmill's commission representative, look on.

TERRACE .-- After more than two ycars
work, the Thunderbird land use plan is close
to becoming a working reality.

Earlier this summer the Thunderbird
Resources Advisory Commilice (TRAC)
presented the Forest Service with its final
teport aud recommendations.

Formed last year, TRAC included represen-
tatives from 22 interest groups, government
aguccies and forest companies. —

(The Thunderbird area cxtends south from
the Skeena River at Terrace to a point close to
Onion Lake and west from Hwy 37 to the
mouth of the Lakelse River.) —

“T'm quite excited about this plan,”’ c com-
millee co-chairman Lars Reese-Hansen said as
he put his signature to the report.

Describing the plan as breaking new ground,

he added all who had taken part in the process
should feel good about the resulls.

That included the Forest- Service ‘which ;

Reese-Hansen said should be congratulated
taking, this approach in establishing land’ use
plans.

formance of - the:

For his part, Kalum Forest District manager
Brian Downie was equally pleased with the
outcome.

Noting be had worked for the Forest Service

in this region for the past 21 years,.he de- -

scribed the, Thunderbird ; as‘ a fandmark: pro-
cess.’

‘Downie alsa. pointed out it was not often
agreement was achieved where the issues in-
volved were so complex,

Although it has now submitted its repo,

Downie said TRAC’s work was not necessari-
ly finished.
It could, tie said, play a valuable role in the

fulure-as a.moniloring group, examining how:

the final guidelines actually work and the per-
goverment:
responsible for seeing they are carried oul.

Downie said the Forest Service would now
begin pulting together the necessary opera-
tional Pplaus for everything from silviculture to
road engineering,

‘While he considered the proposed strategies
coutaiied in the report as -‘'workable”’,
Downic bul caulloned it would take a little

_ Pesources
TRAC’s recommendations cover’ far more
. than just what trees are or are not cul,

‘agencies —

lime to work oul the complete implications.

However, he was confident the plans would
be ready to go before TRAC and a public
meeting by this fall,

kkk kk

In keeping with its mandate to look at all
within. the Thunderbird area,

- For example, it recommends:

* creation of two new recreation reserves in
Hellsgate Slough and Limestone Hills areas;

* establishment of a district team to identify
arcas where erosion is a problem and how to
solve it;

* carrying out a survey on concems about
increased camping and littering along the
Lakelse River; and

* collecting more information on arca’s ar-

- cheological and heritage values. —

Downie pointed out he could not make any
promises on some of those recommendations
because they fell outside the Forest Service’s
mandate.

¥

The
start

“The Start’ is for people.
learning how to read.

Students hired

The student employ-
ment centre closed last
week,

They placed 202" stu-
dents this summer. Most
students got casual jobs
foradaytoamonth

In the summer of 1991
the centre placed 257 stu-__
dents: In 1990, 384 stu-
dents got jobs.

“Local businesses and

home owners didn’ t hire
as much this summer,

across B.C. because of
the recession,

"jobs were paid an average
of $6.50-$10 an hour.

centre urge. students to
finish high school if they
want lo get a job.

Hiring was down all

Students who found

Staff at the employment

Drinking |

There is a change to the

liquor act. Police can fine
you $50 if you have open
alcohol in your car within
easy reach.

Before, police could
only seize the alcohol.

Alcohol means _ beer,
wine, coolers, or spirits.

If itis open, it has to be
stored in the trunk, of
away from the driver, -

And, because cones develop