Early Logging Practices

Given the day, the turnout was good – B. Sherriff

Bert told a terrific tale of tall trees – B. Sherriff

Early lumberjacks must have needed strong hands! – B. Sherriff

wow – B. Sherriff

What a collection! – B. Sherriff

Some of the gang – B. Sherriff

Early Logging Practices
by Barbara Sherriff, 23 January 2015.

Bert Finnegan of the Powell River Hisorical Museum and Archives gave us a slide show of magnificent photographs and explanations of early logging operations in and around Powell River.

He began by putting things in context, that is by stressing with the fact that the First Nation Sliammon people had been using local trees to build houses, canoes, household goods, masks and clothing from local trees for thousands of years. The present era of logging only began in the late 1800s with men, balanced on spring boards notched into old growth trees, cutting trees over 10 feet in diameter.

Bert described how the logging industry had evolved from hand saws and oxen trains to move logs, to steam engines, trains and finally trucks. In the logging museum, we saw a selection of the tools utilized in this process including an amazing collection of chain saws.

Sustainable Forests field-trip

Heading out to the root-rot site – T&U Koleszar photo

Rod Tysdal and Al Barker telling us about root rot effects and site management – T&U Koleszar photo

Douglas Fir stump showing the characteristic effect of root rot – T&U Koleszar photo

Mature tree suffering the effects of root rot (right) vs healthy trees (centre and left) – T&U Koleszar photo

Rod Tysdal demonstrating 2 of the field guides on forest damage and pests in BC forests – T&U Koleszar photo

Learning how trails are preserved/restored in operational areas – T&U Koleszar photo

Back to school! Forest site ecology and site planning – T&U Koleszar photo

Revewing the site plan for this cut block- T&U Koleszar photo

Ecology and site-planning: here we see planted Douglas Firs competing with Red Alders as the site regenerates – T&U Koleszar photo

Lunch in the field! – T&U Koleszar photo

Al Barker describes the site – T&U Koleszar photo

discussion of watershed monitoring in the Community Forest area – T&U Koleszar photot

13_Hydrological monitoring station – T&U Koleszar photo

Sustainable Forests field-trip
by Tom Koleszar, 22 November 2014.

As a follow-up to the talk on Thursday, on Saturday twelve of us, led by Rod Tysdal (Director) and Al Barker (Operations Manager) of the Powell River Community Forest, toured parts of the Community Forest area, stopping at five sites to discuss various aspects of forest ecology and site management.

At the first stop we learned about the effects of root rot on Douglas Firs and the management of root rot sites. From there we moved on to see some examples of the management of trails effected by Community Forest operations.

The next two stops examined forest ecology and the planning and regeneration of forestry sites based on ecological considerations. The last stop reviewed the hydrological monitoring done by the Community Forest within its operations area.

We had a great day and the weather smiled upon us, and I think we all learned quiet a bit about sustainable forestry in our own back yard.

Special thanks to Rod and Al for guiding us through the sites and answering all our questions!

Rod Tysdal & Chris Laing – “Sustainable forests”

Looking at our own backyard…through new eyes!
– discoverpowellriver.com

The principle behind LIDAR imaging
– Bourgeau-Chavez et al. (2009)

Types of data that can be extracted from LIDAR images
– mdpi.com

In search of BIG trees. This figure illustrates old-school methods (examining orthophotos) and newer ones (LIDAR).
– mdpi.com

Example of a “point cloud” from LIDAR. This shows a canopy height profile across a narrow transect through a 500-year-old-growth Douglas fir forest.
– T. Spies and K. Olsen, Oregon State University

The level of detail possible is astounding!
– Opentopography.org

And some of the results are just beaultiful. This is “Old Faithful” in Yellowstone.
– Opentopography.org

Rod Tysdal & Chris Laing – “Sustainable forests”
by Andrew Bryant, 20 Nov 2014.

Professional forester Rod Tysdal, who works for the Powell River Community Forest, and Chris Laing, a forestry consultant and owner of Results Based Forest Management Limited, teamed up to provide a fascinating glimpse into the use of modern technology in order to manage our forests in a sustainable way.

While focussing on local forests, Rod and Chris also showed how forestry methods have evolved over the years throughout the province. Long gone are the old ways of hip-chains, flagging tape and dbh tapes. More importantly, long gone are the days of simply harvesting trees and planting Douglas fir everywhere!

Instead, using advanced remote sensing methods such as LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and combining the resulting data using modern computer-based GIS (geographic information system) software, Rod and Chris showed the astounding amount of information that can be gleaned.

Forest heights, tree species, and even branching patterns can be clearly distinguished, making it far easier to know what “what is there” and “what can be sustainably harvested”. It also allows foresters to tailor treatments specifically for a given area, improving forest productivity and helping us to know”what it will look like” for years or even decades into the future.

Eye-popping stuff!