Sustainability in the Community Forest

On Saturday, April 5 the Malaspina Naturalist Club was treated to a tour of the Powell River Community Forest by Forest Manager Chris Laing, along with Community Forest board members Rod Tysdal and Janet May.

Setting up at Duck Lake.
Photo: T. Koleszar

We all gathered at the bridge by Duck Lake where we received an excellent introduction to the Community Forest, with a lots of information and excellent displays.

Chris Laing and Rod Tysdal providing an overview of the Community Forest.
Photo: T. Koleszar

From there, the trip consisted of 4 more stops looking at everything from current harvest activities through various stages of regrowth, and finally to planned new harvest blocks. We learned about all the planning and thought that goes into harvest operations – what to harvest, what to retain, what to plant for the next generation, etc.

Chris explaining what goes into planning and executive a harvest.
Photo: T. Koleszar

Arriving at a recently harvested block. We travelled in six pickups! Photo: T. Koleszar

A lot of questions were answered as we walked through the block.
Photo: T. Koleszar

At lunch we had a spot with a great view, a newly planted block, and an interesting trial harvest technique that involved taking narrow strips of trees out and seeing how the surrounding forest growth changes.

Rod talking about the new trial harvest method.
Photo: T. Koleszar

Lunch with a view over the Strait to Vancouver Island.
Photo: T. Koleszar

The next stop showed an extremely rapidly growing young forest – some sites grow trees really well!

Looking at growth rings with Chris – are the trees responding to more light?
Photo: T. Koleszar

The last stop was at a planned new block, where we discussed how forest harvesting interacts with recreational uses.

Learning about the challenges of combining harvesting and recreational uses.
Photo: T. Koleszar

All told, it was a fascinating day with a great deal of information provided! Special thanks go to Chris Laing, Rod Tysdal, and Janet May for all the work they put into this trip, and all the questions they answered all day long!

Submitted by Tom Koleszar.