: ~ Stories by — Malcolm Baxter Orenda passes the audit test THE REPORT card is in and Orenca Forest Products has received a passing grade in sil- viculture, That’s the verdict of a Forest Service- commissioned audit of Orenda cutblocks carried out by consuliant John Bartlett. The audit involved surveying 30 blocks to find out if what's called regeneration delay had been met. - Basically that means determining whether the number of second growth trecs on pre- viously harvested arcas has met ministry minimums by the deadline included in the original cuttirg permit It-also involves an assessment of whether those trees wil! continue to grow successfully ; on the site. ’ The bald figures look disastrous — failure ta meet regeneration delay on 43 per cent of the cutblocks. But Bartlett points oul those statistics are deceiving. That’s because a block was considered to have failed to meet the test even if only a small portion of the lotal area missed the larget ‘ ~ OF the more than 1200ha covered by those. blocks, Bartlett anticipated all but 147ha would reach free-to-grow. \ Years have seen changes RENDA WILL tackle all not satisfac- torily restocked (NSR) areas identified by auditor John Baricit by the fall of 1995, says Tony Kelly, the company’s woodlands manager. Following Bartlett’s silvicultural audit of 30 Qrenda cutblocks, Kelly said the company hired Bartlett to map out all the areas identified as NSR. That was done this summer and, armed with that information, Orenda would fill-plant the sites to bring them up to ministry standards by next fail, _ Emphasizing a point raised in Bartlett’s report, Kelly noted an entire 200ha block could be declared NSR even if only 10ha had failed to meet the stocking targets. Kelly also pointed to a number of changes that had taken place in the way Orenda logged and replanted since operations began in the arca nine years ago. _ For example, broadcast buming logged off sites had: genesally been the rule until two years ago when it was discontinued. And of that, only 66ha was the result of an error by Orenda, he pointed out. Stem deformities and possible problems with spruce leader wecvil led him to doubt the remaining 8iha would produce a second crop of irces despite the company having fol- lowed the terms of the pre-harvest sil- vicultural prescription (PHSP) on that arca, Reasons for areas being assessed as Not Satisfactorily Restocked included poor sur- vival of the young trees in patches of heavy vegetation and pine being planted on in- appropriate sites.’ Noting Orenda only started logging on its. licence in:1986 and all the blocks examined had-beent cut within the following three years, - Bartlett pointed out cutting-replanting plans had been prepared without bencfit of opera- tional experience in the area, He suggested that gccounted for errors made by the company in meeting basic sil- vicultural requirements. However, he added, Orenda had worked hard at mecting regeneration delay deadlines and improved on both logging systems and silviculture practices. “Logged areas have been aggressively treated and planted and generally. well monitored,”’ he concluded. ‘‘Plantations with in the audit — had been around 200ha. by the wind. natural regeneration were much better. Initially, clearcuts — including all those looked at _ That created problems with natural reseeding be- cause of the distance seeds had to travel to reach all parts of the block. For example, sub-alpine fir seeds were large and heavy and therefore not carried far Now, with clearings of just 40ha, the chances of low initial survival were quickly identified and (fill-planted).”’ While crilical of failings in those cazlier PHSPs, Bartlett said Orenda had recognized the problem in more recent prescriptions. He also described the move away from broadcast burmipg logged areas and greater - reliance on natural regeneration as ‘‘a posi- tive note’’. He explained his survey had revealed regeneration on unburned sites was ‘‘far su- perior to that growing on bumed sites’. Buming encouraged the growth of fireweed. Apart from competing with the young trees, the fireweed tended to collapse under the weight of winter snows. and. crush the seedlings. Ii also offered an attractive habitat for voles which in turn attacked the trees, A further problem on bummed sites was thizinia rot. A fungus present in the soil on all sites, it is resistant to the heat of the fire. Burning not only releases its spores, it wipes out all competition and the fungus then at- tacks and kills the young plantations. On unbumed sites, huckleberries formed the vegetative cover, unsuitable habitat for voles, and therefore conifers could establish. _ well in those conditions. Where natural regeneration was expected to work, Orenda checked the site in year three. If fill plant- tare, 200 more than ministry standards, torily restocked target. In part that was because fill-planting was an ex- pensive job for the number of seedlings involved. It also improved the chances of meeting the salisfac- The species and size of seedlings planted had changed over the years as well, Kelly noted. Initially, spruce and pine were the trees of choice. ing was necded, that was done the following ycar. On sites where replanting was a requirement, Kel- ly said the company aimed for 1800 stems per hec- “ ‘An open letter to: | "Jean Chretien . 4 Prime Minister {> Ottawa, Ontario Dear Sir: Oakes I am boiling mad and it has to do with the “Bloc’” led by Lucien The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 2, 1994 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Environmental overkill Dear Sir: As our national debt clock hit $534 billion one recent Saturday night in Ottawa, my mind started to wonder! Where have we gone wrong? Why are we in a 20-year holding pattern? Upon deep reflection I felt the problem began with a leader by the initials of P.E.T. So with our country hobbled by an ineffective governing body and an uneducated society you have it made. Drive on Queensway and stop at the old Skeena Truck building. There you will witness the biggest piece of environmental overkill this country has ever seen! This law is so misguided that they can get you 30 years or more after you owned, operated and sold real property fee simpie. It’s time we come alive. The whole system in place does not en- courage investment. It’s rotten to the core. Canada is my home and it’s worth saving. Sincerely, _. -Ron Town Terrace, B,C, Hold onto your wallets Dear Sirs Taxpayers, hold onto your wallets! November 21st is Trough Day. That’s the day when 52 MPs first elected just six years ago will qualify for gold-plated pens ions worth about $53 million. It’s tue, After only six ycars in office, MPs qualify for a super- rich pension that has unlimited protection against inflation, regard- less of their age. What they call a pension is really a cash-for-life lottery that none of us in the private sector could ever hope to afford. Prime Minister Jean Chretien promised during the last federal election to reform this outrageous pension plan but to date bas done nothing, He and his colleagues may need a reminder, How can our representatives expect us to accept the inevitable. and painful government spending cuts which are on the way, if they are unwilling to make sacrifi ices as well? Yours sincerely, - David Somerville, President, ~ Natlonal Citizen's Coalition, Toronto, B.C. "Special f food menus needed — Dear Sir: _ Food allergies - we've all heard about them to some degree, those seemingly harmless ingredients that can cause great distress to many in our community. Why is it then, if they seem to be well known, that restaurants in- sist on producing meals that people cannot cat. Is it really necessary to use flour when cornstarch is readily available? Or eBgs (in mixes) when egg substitutes can be used? I realize that chefs cannot substitute everything just to please a few, but the choice should be made available if a food allergy is mentioned prior to ordering. I am writing this because of the frustration I felt after. cating ata Tocal restaurant where my lunch companion could cat only one ile on the menu, ONE! Now I realize that having an allergy to anything limits what you eat anyways, but trust me when I say that this was ridiculous, It wasn’t even a fast-food restaurant! It has been suggested that at the very least, restaurant owners should have a special menu (one would suffice) that lists all the in- gredients used to cook each dish, This: would simply be common courtesy to those who have dif- ficulty deciding what is edible and what is not and the patron would not have to pester the waiter/waitress. As well, it would eliminate the possibility of eating something after being told it’s safe, that may end up being handful, if not fatal. © I would just like io ask restaurant owners to consider this matter scriously, and imagine for a moment, what it might be like to walk- into a restaurant, sit down to eat, and have it be your last meal. C. Stenmark, Terrace; BC. "Boiling mad 0 ove r he Blo . Bouchard. I believe it is illegal for the Bloc to be. paid by the taxpayers of Canada to promote ihe breakup of this country. Someone or a group must launch a law suit at once on behalf of the people and stop this unbelievable situation. If this is not treason, then it must be close to it. If they choose to opt out then they must use their own moncy and not that of the taxpayers. I protest in the most vehement way possible ‘and ask that every person who feels asI do to 1 make their abhorrence known. : Yours truly, *J.A, Nabess, Terrace, B.C, The company had since discovered natural regencration germinants and small trees left on un- burned sites provided good second-growth stock. Well, not choice exactly: that’s all that was avail- able from the nurseries up for the First few years. Since 1991, however, sub-alpine fir, hemlock and coastal balsam had been added to the mix. A Describing spruce as ‘“‘wimpy"' when young, Kel- Now, with clearings of just 40ha, ly said fir and hemlock seedlings withstood snow the chances of natural regeneration Press. Spruce was also susceptible to leader weevil attack, were much better. Kelly added it had taken an Orenda forester several years to win an argument with the Forest Service over the suitability of those coastal balsam for the area, He said the company’s annual replanting figure had peaked at 1.6 million seedlings in 1992 and was expected to level off at a half million in 1996. The type of seedling being planted had changed : trees, in another way too. a However, while acknowledging these: benefits, He explained Orenda had been planting what's 2 - Kelly said broadcast burning should stil! be an op- called 313s, The number refers to the size of cavity _ tion for companies. the seedling is grown in. The larger the cavily, the Stressing ‘‘one size docsn’t fit all’* when it comes —_ larger the root system. to forestry, he said there would be certain sites This year the company had moved to 410s exclu- where burning would be the best treatment sively and was now looking at obtaining 610s. _ Tt-was important, therefore, not to tic foresters’ This switch recognized’ the root system was a big... hands with blanket rules. The same applied to the — factor in the trees ‘taking off? and the thin soils” use of herbicides to contro] brush, he added. generally found in the region, Kelly said. oe As for establishing a mew crop of trees, there had == Also, the stronger the seedlings the better given | been a number of changes there as well. the harsh climate in the Orenda licence. Soy ES oT EE THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TQ READ - | The Start -=—.'— Big clinic SOME DOCTORS want to build a big clinic... It could cost as much as $3 million. cts They want to build it on Park AvE., beside the: - Evangelical Free Church. meee _ Almost all of the doctors in town’ would work there. "There would also be other health services. The clinic i might even be open at night. 7 i Doctors say this clinic would cut costs, And it would = - be better for the patients. ] "The land needs to be rezoned. The city. will talk about - oR this tomorrow. - a g The building could start next spring and be finished by next fall, He also recalled finding one block which had Tony Kelly been logged in 1988, escaped burning, and “‘had the best regencration of all.”” In fact, natural second growth was so prolific the ‘ company was going to have to go in and thin the lah ped Be