Lie, a -hillside visible from Hwyl6 would have been. logged off, leaving @ gap in the scenery. : But that isn’t! happening any more given new attitudes on the effects of logging on scenery. Skeena Cellulose’s Brént Smith said the company started looking at the visual impact log- ging has some time ago. In particular, the company is developing cutting plans for its West Skeena area, ‘about 25km east of. ‘Ferrace. oni the. railway .. side of the Skeena River. That's the area just across the river, leading off from a bridge built by the company last year. TERRACE — The newest and most visible clear cut along the Skeena River toward Prince Rupert is the last of its kind, says the manager of the forest district based in Prince Rupert. Gary Adolph described the 5Oha cutting operation, located on. the other side of the Skeena River along a series of low hills approximately. 60km ‘from ‘Prince Rupert as ‘‘the best of a bad situation.” “E can’t say it won’t happen again but now everybody is that ‘much more aware of how things ‘should be done,”’ he said of the operation approved when scenic values weren't being taken into consideration. There wasn’t a clearly defined ‘plan to log to minimize its visual impact until the effects at the statt of cutting‘ last year were seen,Adolph continued, 9 +. ‘That lead to the involvement of the forest region’s forester specializing in landscape designs to-.minimized visual impacts, Adolph said; . "The block itself was to be a lot bigger. We never got the full magnitude of what it could have been,” added Adolph. -The involvement of the land- scape forester turned the loge- ing plan’ away from chunky clear: cuts into finger-shaped cutting a areas that blend i in with. ‘TERRACE -— While slash bur- ning may be unpopular, it is -| sometimes the best way of deal- - ing -with logged off sites, say local forest service officials. “They say burning can reduce the risk of forest fires and rids logged. off areas of unwanted material before replanting. - “The officials made their point while. taking regional district ‘representatives on a recent tour of the Thunderbird area near the airport... Late last year the regional district called for a moratorium on all slash burns pending a review ‘of: the practice and a complete ban on burns within 10.miles of the airport. . ‘Standing on a debris-strewn . site: logged off only weeks ago, forest. service protection officer Joe Katasanoff said teaving slash can lead to fires, The hazard on each site must be assessed to decide ‘whether we can live.with the hazard or whether’ we. have to do something about it,’ he said.. ne area and easy access to thé area ‘mean that controlled fites, Teduce ‘the’ chance of ac- atives; ‘such: buster: “me a! ‘tracked New at Skeena Cellulose ‘has been cutting along the flat of the " river but has left buffer strips of trees, making it virtually im- possible to.see the logged off blocks from the highway. And, while it has plans to log ‘hillside that is visible from the highway, the plan is to minimize what can be seen, said Smith, “We could log perhaps 25 per cent of it, come back in four years-and cut another quarter and so on,” said Smith. “That way: there will be various stages of green up (the growth of seedlings) by having four smaller cuts,’’ he said, - ~ While it has its own visual i im- : OD itude surrounds ~ cutting scenic: slopes TERRACE — ‘Not so long'ago | pact cutting plans, the company is also waiting for the results of a forest service assessment of scenic values along Hwy16, As the situation stands now, Smith said Skeena Cellulose doesn’t have plans to cut the * hillside for another two years. “Tt will never be case of not cutting. It means cutting will take place over a longer period of time — cutting by. different methods and not clearcutting,”* he said. And while there will an extra expense by returning several times to specific areas, the cost -iso’t at ‘the point where it makes such ‘Practices uneconomical, Smith added. be large enough. to. have a regular side (cutting operation) in there,’’ he said: computer program : purchased from a company specializing in the field to predict. how areas will look after they have been cut by different methods, a cutting plan so that areas to be logged follow geographic con- tours so as to blend in with the surrounding area, : Cellulose is cutting up. valleys not-visible from the highway, Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 11, 1990 ~ Page A5 “The areas to be logged will Skeena Cellulose’ ‘is ‘using a The system involves designing In. the meantime, Skeena 1On one site there was not only : “slash but its: proximity. « winds: ‘common: # ‘deliberately. set: ; A CLEARCUT which began appearing along the Skeena River between Prince Rupert and Terrace last year has since had its logging plan modified to make less prominent. isttiene deaf Te ort tte ee ee oS ae se creat rer ete BM Present nee - the surrounding area. The logging is taking place through a licence sold by the forest service under its small business program. That sale took place in the early 1980s but several exten- sions were granted until cutting finally started last year. “The timber sale was put up at that point in time when it was felt it was quite reasonable. The reality of it now is what can we do it it mitigate. It was a mistake. : lash burning said necessary — - Bob Wilson machine with rotary blades — to break up left over wood into smaller bits and then pack it down,” are being: used but the. fire potential ‘could: be mad ‘as-the debris dried out; hi Boy Ae EY se: Pe aT ber bie pte 9 Hn a A ‘third option. was’ pushing the slash: Up. Into, ‘a ‘number ‘of, Values change over time and we apply that experience in other areas,”’ said Adolph. This is the last year the forest service will give an extension and the company in there has been told it must finish this fail, said Adolph. He added that original plans called for the area to be replanted this year. - Adolph and other forest ser- vice officials said no other cut- _ ting is planned along the Skeena trying to find a ‘better way," Katasonoff emphasized. Forest district silviculturalist Bob Wilson said controlied burns were also necessary at times to clear land so it can be properly replanted, Pointing to an adjacent site which had been logged in 1984 and burned the following spr- ing, he said the amount of slash left after logging would have made it impossible to plant the required ‘number of evenly distributed trees. Although mechanical clearing of slash was an alternative, on some sites — particularly wet - ones — there was a risk the soils could be compacted to the ex- tent the site’s productivity was reduced, Wilson continued. “We want the treatment that will have the least impact on the soil,” he explained. “Forest service soil scientist Rick Trowbridge said burning is also tezhnpered by the need not to ‘. harm the:forest floor. “/ Soll. conditions on each site lictate:. if--bu is possible, what time of year It should take place and how intense the fire "should be. -: Deseribing ‘the Prince Rupert forest. region's burn research rogram as the most extensive province, he was confi- the ‘effects of burning eoult ‘be controlled. River between Prince Rupert until an inven- tory of scenic values is com- pleted, Its part of a study stret- ching from Houston to Prince Rupert along Hwy16 and takes in sections of Hwy37. sections of scenery a quality rating. These will then be com- pared to whatever cutting plans theré might be and steps then taken to minimize or eliminate the visual impact of logging. Terrace and That study will give specific PUTTING LiL BEAVER through its paces, Graham Albertson shows just how quickly the new machine can girdle a tree, Unique method aids foresters TERRACE — As a techni- que for killing off ‘weed trees’ in the forest, girdling is not new. But forest con- tractors Brinkman and Associates have added something — power. Girdling is removing a strip of bark from around the circumference of a tree which cuts off the flow of nuirients and eventually causes its death by starva- tion. The process has long been done by hand tools , a time - consuming effort, says Brinkman supervisor (Graham Albertson until the edlesign of File Beavers” oe . It’s a power-driven device, “Similan to ones that cut weeds, but the cutting edge is a five-foot length of chain saw chain. The chain is wound up and released at the end of an arm. Albertson said the chain was chosen because it is easy to control the depth of the cut, can be sharpened by hand and doesn't kick back. The L’il Beaver can be operated one-handed leaving the other free to hold back brush or hold on to the tree, Its cutting arm is also swivel-mounted to allow use by left- or right-handers. Describing girdling as a method of ‘‘speeding up hature,’’ Albertson said the death of unwanted trees in the forest gives more room for the growth of more valuable conifer species. Those unwanted trees die off eventually if left alone but are gone within two or three years after being girdl- ed, he added, Albertson suggested the method could also be used in .& mature forest :by: girdling “standing ~ decidifous trees three to four years before harvesting. Killing those trees removed the possibility of their sprouting from the roots or stumps left by loge- ing and removed potential seed trees. Albertson said that ap- proach could be cost- effective because it would remove the need for post- harvest treatment. Before or after harvest, it also offered an alternative to herbicide spraying. 7) BURN NOR NOT TO BURN, | While > controlled burns may be increasingly unpopular, Kalum district protection officer Joe Katasonoff says leaving slash can create a wildfire hazard. He Is seen above stan- he points out, Eo iims ding amongst the debris left on a logged off site near the 2 airport That slash represents a lot of fire fuel, . wa 2 id SERRE son nmmeninameatennezty ;