,. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1072

| JET “WHIRLY BIRD”
weeps over the Van-
ouver Island. forest.
spraying a 100-foot wide
mririp of trees -with urea
meertilizer. - Operational

- Aerial forest fertilization

“Vancouver - ‘Foresters have
gaitepped into the jet age, em-
loying a jet-propelled
mnelicopter for aerial fer-
jilization of the . British
F-olumbia forest,
In a recent operational trial,
acMillan Bloedel used one to .
mpread 60 tons of fertilizer over
g°70 acres of forest, providing
m'00 pounds of nitrogen to the
Bacre. Theoperation was carried
ut oat MB's Chemainus,
ogging Division on Vancouver
island,
The demands being made on
maihe renewable forest resource
y today’s sophisticated society -
Meure putting increased:.pressure
Maen the forest industry. to,
S\roduce more wood and fibre :
am 'rom the land. it manages. The -
Nlorester has responded with a
fmiumber of -. promising
mee echniques. °
Zi With “intensive forestry”
BS ractices MB foresters already
tre producing up te 40 percent ©
ore wood per acre than nature
mian grow unaided. Now, aerial’
Sertilization holds the prospect
f increasing the growth rate of
e forest by up to 30 percent
ver a five year period. :
Urea forest grade fertilizer
fvas used in the Chemainus
@eevial. A heliport was cleared on
me) bank above the Chemainus
Mativer and the fertilizer was
Fransported to the site and
Aumped on a plastic sheet.
A front end loader filled a
arge buckel suspended under
mae helicopter which made..35.
Hirops over the selected
creage. Designed for the
pose at a cost of $12,000, the
ucket containéd a - rotating.
Spreader which was driven by .
n adapted auto engine. The
: elicopter pilot ‘controlled the
mingine and spreader from ‘the
ircraft.
Sweeping over the forest with ~
payload of -$,4000 pounds of.
rtilizer, the helicopter on each -
n fertilized a forest strip 100..

Maghet wide and half a mile-long...
Mmjhe 270-acre drop area had :.
meen marked _ with righ

: i ange flagging tape on- tree
Siranches.
A The area fertilized contained:
forest six to 15 years of age,
hme trées-having been planted -
vy foreslers and others. being.
ural growth. .
‘This ‘was °“ ‘not an .ex-—
feclment’’; ex lained:., Bill
lehuc kel, -. Ghemaninus::
ivision Forestiy” “Supervisor.”
ere have been exiough aerial:

sperational trial-where - ‘we.
issessed the logistics of using’a |
elicopter; including ‘the. costs,
mind techniques for: handling: :

Meprge quantities of fertilizer.” .

MB foresters ‘began ex-
eriments in fertilization in,
954, By 1068 they had ‘treated’.

trial of aerial fertilizing

was conducted by
-MacMillan °-:Bloedel; . : 60.
tons of fertilizer covering
“over 270 acres.. Bucket
under helicopter. contains

2000 300 pounds of nitrogen per
acre.

Adjacent forests, containing
trees of the same age as those
fertilized, provide a yardstick
to measure the results.

* These-earlier tests provided

* the evidence that growth rates .

‘can be increased by up to 30
percent over a five year period.

MB foresters, in cooperation
with Canadian Forestry Ser-
vice, will be analyzing the

results at intervals of five years -

up to 1983.

The ecological © aspects of
forest fertilization are
favourable, ‘foresters’ have
found, Appraisals of other
" fertilization © projects -. indicate
that fish habitat‘has not been
disturbed. -In. fact, in some
cases observed by foresters the
fertilizer’ improved: water

conditions for for ‘fish’ by.

stimulating the growth of food.
_ Hflarge scale fertilizing of the

~ 3,400 ponds of fertilizer.
Rotating ‘Spreader on
_ bucket,” .
“adapted auto engine
.controlled by helicopter
pilot, hurls fertilizer over. -

‘torests ;
‘economically feasible as MB
foresters expect. It ” could .,
conceivably

o

THE HERALD, TERRACE, B.C:

. VICTORIA, B.C.
_ among matters ‘dircuased at the.
‘recent annual meeting of Forest’.
Service Protection Officers was
slash ‘disposal and - the
associated’ problém of ‘smoke.
management, -

But the practice came in for:
close. scrutiny and as. Ben
Mitchell of Prince George said,
“The acreage of slash. burned
each autumn is no longer the
yardstick of efficiency. It must -
be ‘confined to cages - of:
necessity. aan

Eowever, it was agreed that.
burning of heavy slash is still:
essential under certain cir- —
cumstances and for several - a
reasons.

One reason is that when dead
and dry, slash constitutes a
very serious fire hazard, Once
a- fire enters slash, it is ex-_

it ean
een rapidly into suroinding
timber.

Stirling Cosens of the Nelson
Forest District stressed that an’
extensive accumulation of slash
was a major factor in the 50,000 ~
acre SUE: fire near Golden in
1971,. He reported that over $17

an increasing portion of logg

‘million were spent “dghtiag it,
damage was extensive, the.
town of Donald was threatened |

_and rehabilitation of the site for .

reforestation-will be costly... ’
‘Importance of. burning ‘in-
fested or infected logging debris -
Was re-affirmed as an essential
measure to prevent the spread —
_of insects and diseases.
Reforestation and

“-silvicultural - officers -con-.

‘tributed: to. the three day™
. sessions and made their
- requirements known. ° David ’
‘Wallinger of the Reforestation
Divisuon appealed for’ the:
continued burning ‘of . heavy
slash - accumulations when:
necessary in preparing logged
forest land for the planting of
young seedlings.

.He reasoned that “Although
land can be planted with little or

no treatment, there are other -[

areas where slash disposal is
essential and as we will be
producing 75 million seedlings

’ by 1975, we urge proper site.

preparation well in advance.’’.
«But although discussion

- clearly indicated that slash’

burning is likely to continue

- under certain circumstances at .

leagt as long as decadent old.
growth timber is being logged

‘In the coastal regions, there -

-were signs that the. public can

expect less smoke - from the

a dires....

; The Terrace Jaycettes held a
general meeting on November
'30-at the home of Sheila Hick.
There were four guests present, -
‘two from the Prince Rupert unit .
of the Jaycettes. ;

The meeting was followed by

“forest. . Earlier “MB ex:
periments <: indicate.
fertilizing can ‘increase

forest growth by up to 30
a “self development program”

r “years...
pe cent over five Years : by Sheila Hick, She spoke about
, . o ~her interest in Yoga as a means~
of relaxation. °°
Meetings ‘of. the Terrace
~ Jaycetles are held: every third
- Thursday... in members
e homes, Anyone. interested in
attending, . will certainly be-
most welcome. ‘Further in-
- formation may. be obtained by
cailing M Mrs, Sheila Hick at 635-
4328

‘driven by

be. growth: by millions of board
feet, increase. the annual wood
- crop, -and reduce the, crop

rotation period.

" proves to

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90° of every ‘A. 00. |
comes from the woods:

experimental .plots. with | §

ertilizer, applied. from the
; round. Computers ‘were used.
h analyze the data: gathered.
rom these experiments and the
eqults encouraged ° the “cdr. :
Bpany.to expand their regearch
nta operational trial

“Tn: 1088..a teat’ of, fern i:

“Bay; y:

Bay ‘and Copper Canyon.
ogging © Division
conver Istand,, th

Hon |
lume“
to;

“couver
-. presented a very encouraging -
: report. of slash smoke control ©
‘experiments conducted last fall
in the Lower Mainland region. ..
-. ‘Through close’ liaison. with”
weather forecasters, burning -

-€.D, Haddon of the Van-
Forest -- District -

was initiated only when winds -
and. atmospheric conditions —
were conducive to the escape of
smoke from the lower levels
and its dissipation without

- passing over heavily, Populated —

areas. . Continuation of, this.
practice can be expected.

Among other. |

organization employed in: the.
war on forest. fires. Also:

‘el gti or
B entofthe c

the initial quickt attac
fires. |...

rinilly” F.C, Sulton of. Vie-
tora, reported: on; trials on

‘ducted last summer on: the 1 une
of explosive cord to create fire -
’ guards. .: ‘Results: were”:-most -
encouraging and the technique
»May:- well be —employeu
- operationally next ‘Summer. : ©

tr
,  {EORDED ae INSURED: - as

KEN. ROCHON
, TERRACE = PRINCE GEORGE - suiting
. AiD PRINCE RUPERT, ac. ;

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; subjects:
‘reviewed was the aircraft ..

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RES. 635.6588
Terrace, B.C.

TERRY. GIAKATIS
. _ Manager .

discussed was the composition, &