LESSON FOUR: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
PLANNING FOR MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES
Public attitudes toward forests and the environment are changing. Forests must serve the wide range of society's needs and desires. Wood must be cut in a responsible, "environmentally friendly" manner with consideration for wildlife and other natural resources within and outside the woodlot (such as watercourses).
However, the landowner's personal objectives will always play a big role in how the woodlot is managed. Woodlot owner surveys show recreation and non-timber uses in many cases significantly exceed goals of timber production and profit from their woodlands.
In most cases, the key to realizing your objectives is proper planning. Doing a management plan or having one done will help you plan effectively. It will also ensure that you understand where your boundary lines are. Of course, knowing where your woodlot boundaries are is vital before you begin harvesting.
WILDLIFE
The Forest/Wildlife Guidelines and Standards for Nova Scotia introduced in 1989 identifies guidelines to protect and provide for wildlife. Although not required by law on private woodlots, these pertain to all forest operations.
These guidelines refer to clearcut size and shape, operating near water, leaving trees or clumps and travel corridors specifically for wildlife. Woodlot owners and operators should become familiar with and follow these guidelines. Some of the more important guidelines are presented in Table 9.
For example, before cutting areas larger than two hectares (5 acres), woodlot owners should plan to leave clumps of potential cavity and snag trees for the benefit of wildlife. Cavity trees provide necessary nesting or perch sites for birds and den sites for mammals. Clumps offer food and shelter for a variety of wildlife. As per the wildlife guidelines, 10 trees/hectare (4 trees/acre) are recommended for this purpose. This applies to all harvesting systems.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN OR AESTHETICS
Harvesting has a great impact on the landscape, especially roads, trails and large cuts. The shape of a clearcut greatly affects how it looks. The more irregular the shape, the better it looks (especially for larger clearcuts). As well, it is a good practice to remove a few trees from uncut edges to soften them. Wildlife clumps and corridors scattered throughout clearcuts also improve their appearance. There are many other techniques to improve the way harvests look (see references).
| Table 9. IMPORTANT FOREST / WILDLIFE GUIDELINES |
| *Clearcut areas should not exceed 50 hectares (125 areas) in size |
| *Irregular boundaries provide more edge effect for wildlife than straight boundaries |
| *Special management or riparian zones must be left to protect water |
| *Machines cannot go closer than 10 meters (30 feet) to any water course marked on topographic maps; they cannot go closer than 5 m to any other stream |
| To provide cavity nesting birds suitable nest sites, a minimum of 10 trees per hectare (four per acre) should be left |
| *Special wildlife areas such as deer wintering yards and raptor nesting sites should be protected and not disturbed |
EROSION CONTROL
Poor road construction has proven to be the major cause of soil erosion and stream situation. Road construction is a major subject that cannot be adequately covered in this harvesting systems module. However, woodlot owners should be aware that roads and access trails should be carefully planned and constructed. (see Woodlot Roads Stream Crossings ). Help is available from provincial natural resources and environment departments.
Hauling wood across small streams can cause soil to be washed into the stream and must be avoided. An operator can be charged for causing damage to fish populations. If streams must be crossed, portable bridges must be used. These can be made by chaining several logs together. For more information on this, see Saint Mary's River Project Fact Sheet on Pole Bridges in the reference section. Of course, buffer zones as mentioned in Table 10 should be followed.
Rutting and erosion on slopes can also be reduced by using mud logs (see Saint Mary's River Project Fact Sheet on Mud Logs ). These are placed across hauling trails to divert run off into surrounding, undisturbed vegetation. Piling brush on your trail is also very effective if your forwarding machine has enough clearance. Wide tires on the extraction machine also help to reduce rutting. A conscientious machine operator can also make a big difference.
Erosion can also be reduced by not hauling during soft periods, especially in the spring. Winter and summer operations are generally the best.
HIRING A CONTRACTOR
If your plan indicates that parts of your woodlot should be cut, the next question is will you do the work yourself or will you hire a contractor?
Harvesting requires a fair amount of skill, over and above understanding which harvesting system to use. Basic chain saw skills, getting wood to roadside, and knowing how to sell it are just a few.
Some of you may have the necessary skills or would like to obtain them. Information on chain saw use and wood markets can be found in other modules in this series. The book The Forest Professional -a code of practice for the Stewards of Tomorrow's Forests is an excellent reference for standards of safe forest practice.
However, many landowners lack the time and/or expertise to do their own harvesting. Therefore, hiring a contractor is often the best option.
The basic principles discussed in this course apply regardless of who does the work. But when you are employing a contractor you lack the same degree of control as when you do the work yourself. The additional knowledge and experience of some contractors may help you with your stand recommendations, but make sure any advice you get is sound.
So how can you find a suitable contractor? If you do not know of any, a good place to start is at a local Department of Natural Resources office. They should have a list of contractors in your area.
Once you have a list, check out the promising ones. Ask for references. Besides a strong forestry knowledge, the contractor should have strong ethics and good business practices. He/she should have a strong sense of stewardship for the land. Contractors with these credentials will be pleased to provide references.
All arrangements should be confirmed with a written contract. This protects both you and the contractor.
A contract can specify:
- That cutting is done in accordance with the Forest/Wildlife Guidelines and Standards for Nova Scotia. You should provide a copy to the contractor.
- That harvested wood is scaled by a licensed scaler, independent of the contractor or that you will be paid based on mill scale.
- Prices and how you will be paid (eg. by the cord and how often).
- That ruts not be larger than a certain maximum.
- That roads be left in good condition.
- That the contractor is covered by Workers Compensation; otherwise you could be liable in case of an injury.
- The harvesting system(s) to be used and where.
- Beginning and end dates for the contract.
- That felled trees will be properly utilized to a specified size.
A contract should also include a description of your woodlot, clearly indicating area(s) to be cut. It is also a good idea meet the contractor on your woodlot to show the contractor the boundary lines of your property and/or the area to be harvested.
When you employ a contractor to work for you, the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires that employers and employees take every reasonable precaution to ensure safety in the woodlot. You should ensure that proper safety equipment is being used and that the workers know how to use it.
Your agreement with your contractor should ensure that the he/she is familiar with and will implement the standards in The Forest Professional a code of practice for Stewards of Tomorrows Forests. More information is available from the Nova Scotia Department of Labour.
ESTIMATING VOLUME
Before hiring a contractor or harvesting yourself you should have a good estimate of standing wood volume and volume to be cut. Unfortunately, this requires some specialized tools and calculations. It is too complex to deal with in this course but may become the subject of a future manual.
Therefore, it is a good idea to have someone cruise your property (or area to be cut) to give you an idea of volume, by-product to be cut. Some contractors offer this service as well, but it is a good idea to hire someone independent of the contractor. This combined with an independent scale following harvest should let you rest assured that you are being paid for the amount of wood cut. As discussed earlier, this is known as stumpage.
CHOOSING A HARVESTING SYSTEM EXERCISE
This section asks you to make recommendations for eight forest stands (see Table 10). These examples have been taken from small woodlots in Nova Scotia. The following assumptions apply to each stand:
- Stands are even-aged unless otherwise specified
- All stands are over two hectares (five acres) in size
- Unless otherwise stated, tree species are uniformly scattered throughout the stand
- There is close to complete forest cover
- A harvest is only economical when at least 89 cubic metres per hectare (10 cord per acre) will be removed in any one cut
- Merchantable volume is calculated for trees which have at least an average diameter at breast height of 10 centimetres (four inches) ; saw logs must have a minimum diameter of 20 centimetres (eight inches)
- Factors not given are to be considered as "normal" or average within Nova Scotia stands
- Objectives are to maintain environmental quality, minimize the impact on resident wildlife, and to produce wood products where possible
- Wildlife guidelines will be followed in all cases
For each example determine if harvesting is necessary and if so which system should be used. Do not limit yourself to the systems described in this book.
Although these systems can be applied to most situations, there are always other possibilities or modifications. Creativity and imagination are two keys to harvesting a woodlot.
Use the information presented in the previous lessons, the course references, the Harvest Methods Key provided below (see Figure 9), and common sense. After you have decided on a stand's treatment, compare it to the recommendation found at the end of the lesson. Don't be disappointed if your choices are different than the recommendation, as long as you make an informed decision based on the objectives and the stand conditions.
 |
| Figure 9: Harvesting Methods Key |
| TABLE 10: Stand examples for harvesting systems. | ||||||
Stand |
Species |
Percent of Stand |
Avg Age (yrs) |
Height m (ft.) |
Diameter cm (in.) |
Other |
| 1 | balsam fir | 40 | 80 | 17(56) | 20(8) | Exposure: moderate Well drained Volume: 357 m3/ha (40 cd/acre) Regeneration: scattered balsam fir less than 0.3 m (1 foot) tall |
| red spruce | 20 | 70 | 16 (52) | 30(12) | ||
| red maple | 30 | 70 | 15(49) | 18(7) | ||
| trembling aspen | 10 | 70 | 17(56) | 25(10) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 2 | red spruce | 60 | 50 | 13(43) | 18 (7) | Exposure: moderate Well drained Volume: 268 m3/ha (30 cd/acre) Regeneration: none |
| balsam fir | 10 | 70 | 17(56) | 22(9) | ||
| yellow birch | 20 | 50 | 14(46) | 18(7) | ||
| red maple | 10 | 60 | 16(52) | 15(6) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 3 | balsam fir | 40 | 60 | 13(43) | 20(8) | Exposure: moderate Poor drained Volume: 268 m3/ha (30 cd/ac) Regeneration: none Other Notes: lots of branches on white spruce and heavy budworm damage in stand |
| white spruce | 30 | 60 | 12(39) | 26(10) | ||
| red spruce | 20 | 70 | 13(43) | 22(9) | ||
| trembling aspen | 10 | 60 | 16(52) | 26(10) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 4 | balsam fir | 40 | 60 | 17(56) | 20(8) | Exposure: high Average drainage Volume: 312 m3/ha (35 cd/ac) Regeneration: adequately stocked with 0.5 m (2ft) balsam fir and red spruce Field Notes: yellow birch is dieing back, creating openings; small brook crosses the stand |
| red spruce | 40 | 70 | 20(66) | 30(12) | ||
| yellow birch | 20 | 70 | 20(66) | 26(10) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 5 | yellow birch | 30 | 70 | 15(50) | 18(7) | Exposure: moderate Well drained Volume: 224 m3/ha (25 cd/ac) Regeneration: scattered balsam fir and a few red spruce Other Notes: most trees are healthy |
| red maple | 30 | 60 | 14(45) | 15(6) | ||
| red spruce | 30 | 70 | 18(60) | 20(8) | ||
| balsam fir | 10 | 60 | 12(40) | 15(6) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 6 | white spruce | 60 | 60 | 8(26) | 36(14) | Exposure: moderate Volume: 107 m3/ha (12 cd/ac) Regeneration: clumps of yellowish balsam fir Other Notes: older balsam fir appears in clumps and is very unhealthy |
| balsam fir | 30 | 65 | 9(30) | 20(8) | ||
| red spruce | 10 | 70 | 10(33) | 28(11) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 7 | balsam fir | 30 | 50-80 | 11(36) | 18(7) | Exposure: moderate Poor drained Volume: 340 m3/ha (38 cd/ac) Regeneration: scattered balsam fir and layered black spruce Other Notes: balsam fir is slowing in diameter growth; red maple is of good quality; each species occurs in small clumps |
| black spruce | 20 | 60-90 | 10(33) | 16(6) | ||
| red maple | 20 | 30 | 6(20) | 8(3) | ||
| white birch | 20 | 30 | 6(20) | 8(3) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||
| 8 | red spruce | 40 | 89 | 21(70) | 25(10) | Exposure: high Moderate drainage Volume: 357 m3/ha (40 cd/ac) Regeneration: scattered 20% balsam fir, 50% eastern hemlock, 30% red spruce Other Notes: rocky site |
| eastern hemlock | 40 | 90 | 21(70) | 30(12) | ||
| white pine | 20 | 100 | 24(80) | 36(14) | ||
| Recommendations | ||||||