PAGE 2 NORTHWEST FOREST DIGEST — from front Kispiox watershed “Roughly 50 restoration projects of varying sizes were identified through the assessment process,’ said Karl Maier, forestry sector specialist for the Kispiox Band Council. ‘These range A RIVER RESTORED: restoration project, crew from the very simple to the very complex.” The Kispiox watershed is interlaced with fish-bearing streams. In many cases restoration means creating good habitat for trout, sal- As par of the Kispiox member Jason Wiley is creating a good habitat — shared and pooled creeks as nurseries — for trout, salmon and other fish. MARCH 25, 1998 mon and other fish that rely on these shaded and pooled creeks as nurseries, Often the goal-is to: re-establish a single continuous channel to the headwaters of a particu- lar stream, which may have become so clogged with debris that the fish become stranded in areas where they are easy prey for predators. Other projects can include deactivating roads no longer in use, riverbank stabiliza- tion, replacement of rotting bridge timbers and even thwarting an industrious beaver. One tributary to Steep Canyon Creck was plagued by beavers using mud and branches to plug a culvert that carried the stream under a logging road, The stream would then back up and spill across the road, sending fish fry down the ditches. A wire barrier on the culvert keeps — the beavers out yel © still inaintains easy passage for the Iry, Hillis has supervised crews watershed, and now* coor- dinates equipment needed for some of the larger projects. Through the train- ing provided by Forest Renewal BC and through his assessment work~ with the crews, he has seen fir- sthand the cause and effect ol development activities on the landbase. ‘Whatever happens upslope has an _ effeet downslope, in the streams.”’ Bioherbicide for weeds keeps them under control Thimbleberries, berries, and wild red rasp- berries don’t quite sound like threatening vegetation, bul in a forest renewal site it’s a horror movie called ‘Return of the Rubus."’ The berries are part of the Rebus family which cause greater conifer mortality than any other brush species and often dominate replanted clearcut and burned forest sites, competi- ng with young tree seedlings for nutrients, moisture, space and light. Dr. Simon Shamoun, scientist at the Pacilic Forestry Centre of the Cana- dian Forest Service (CFS) Pest Management Network, is developing a bicherbicide (o combat this ‘weed’. His hreakthrough study is based al Fusarivn avenaceum, a iungus and natural enemy of the Rules plant. “This fungus is a native pathogen of the plant; a naturally-occurring salmon- ‘ organism,”’ explained Dr. Shamoun. ‘‘Rather than in- (roducing something new into the ecosystem, we're just giving the course of na- ture a bit of a push in the right direction.’ An application of a fungus simply increases it from ‘endemic’ levels — to “epidemic”? levels among the plants. This fungus targets the ‘‘weed"’, leaving surrounding conifer species unharmed. Then it tapers down to natural, endemic levels when the target weed dies. Having less impact on the environment results in lower handling and applica- tion costs compared with chemical herbicides, and it is less expensive to-coin- mercialize a biological her- bicide. The search for non- toxic alternatives to tradi- ‘tional-herbicides also stems from public concern over the use of chemicals in our forests. “We have to come up with alternative methods of weed control — allernatives that are environmentally ac- ceptable, economically fea- sible and effective,’” Shamoun said. ‘‘Manually removing the weeds is time consuming and labor in- tensive, as it only causes them to resproul more vigorously. However, this fungus is showing a lot of promise as a mycoherbicide (a biological agent made of indigenous fungal plant pathogens).”’ Besides funding from the Canadian Forest Service Pest Management Methods Network, this research has been funded inpart by the Biological Control of Com- peling Vegetation Research Network (BICOVER), lhe Ontario Vegetation Manage- ment Alternatives Program (VMAP},‘and most recently the Spignce Council of BC in cObpgration, with Simon Frased University, McMillan Bloedel ‘and The Pas Lum- ber Company. working in the _ | SMITHERS TRUCK RENTALS 4 4 4x4 Pickups Snowmobile Trailers a 15-passengerVans 4% 6x6 ATVs 3 Mini-vans * 4x4 ATVs 3 16' & 24' Moving Vans 4 Snowmobiles 3 4 Moving Trailers * Campers (250) 847-2110 1 B35. - 950) 635-3127 _aegawae, | <@ Reservations > ae hoadiah é P.O. BOX 181, SMITHERS, 8.C. VOU 2N0 MIFREE PICK UP & DELIVERY FROM AIRPORT * DAILY & MONTHLY RATES AVAILABLE . 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