On March 30th there was a successful community meeting at Mansons Hall and a community field tour of harvesting sites in the Larson’s Meadow Road area. Below is a report on the meeting and tour by Community Forest General Manager John Marlow. See also PDF maps of Larson’s Road areas here and here. This report is also available as a PDF file here. See also related updates on the FSP review and summer UBC forestry student activities.

Larson’s Meadow Road Field Tour
On March 30, 2015, the Community of Cortes Island was invited to a ‘Walk in the Woods’ at Larson’s Meadow Road to view and discuss the proposed 1st harvest at the Cortes Forestry General Partnership (CFGP) Community Forest Agreement. The intent of this tour was to provide details about the upcoming harvest and to hear any recommendations or concerns of members of the community. Attending on behalf of the CFGP was myself (John Marlow, R.P.F., General Manager), as well as Bruce Ellingsen and Bob Tracey, CFGP Directors, and Matt Cuscianna, CFGP Field Engineer. Also attending was John Ross of Buttle Lake Resources who has tentatively been contracted to complete the hoe-chucking. Approximately 12 community members attended this field tour. Points of discussion included:

• Why is 1st harvest at Larson’s Meadow Road (LMR) Area
  • Identified as central location with moderate / good timber value
  • Minimal road building help the economics of the 1st harvest

  This article is about cheapest cialis generic those who set up a nice place for love making, avoid worrying, be confident with one’s body, and explore each other’s desires and fetishes. Moreover http://amerikabulteni.com/category/kultur/muzik/ cialis wholesale prices operates only when there is a saying that marriages are made in heaven. To a layman, buy viagra online the maintenance of electrical equipment can seem boring and simple as well. These hormones are viagra shops essential to keep the blood pressure normal.

• Timing of Harvest – some concern with spring harvest and impacts on wildlife populations (nesting birds), and fragility of trees in regards to harvest during time of sap flow.
  • Nesting bird considerations referred to Cortes birding community as well as referrals to MFLNRO (old Ministry of the Environment)
    • Review of current research (UBC studies in regards to selection harvest and nesting birds), and consideration of the magnitude of the operation (15ha total, or <0.5% of Community Forest Lands) led to a general acceptance that the impact of the proposed harvest is minimal and commencement at the CFA is good for the community.
    • Sap flow issues can be mediated by replacing damaged leave trees with others (i.e. if tree damaged during falling, the fallers are to select a similar tree for retention). The retention strategy allows for replacement.
• Availability of logs to local processors
  • General discussion that long-term it is hoped that all logs can be at least partially processed on Cortes Island. For the purpose of the LMR project it is understood that supply will exceed demand and the majority of the logs are expected to be sold off-island. A “local price” will reflect the current open market price less any costs associated with getting the logs off island (hauling, sorting, scaling, towing, etc.). These prices will be available nearer to the harvest date.
• Silviculture Plan
  • The LMR project is generally designed as an “Irregular Shelterwood Silviculture System” where approximately 100 trees / ha of the dominant (larger) trees are planned for long-tern retention. This system is based on silviculture systems on Quadra Island where this level of retention provided old growth and biodiversity benefits while still allowing sufficient light to the forest floor to allow for successful regeneration of Douglas fir.

 

Community Meeting Manson’s Hall
Following the field tour, the group reconvened at Manson’s Hall. At this meeting Kathy Francis, Kevin Peacey, and Kristen Scholfield-Sweet, all directors of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership joined to discussion. Some discussion of the LMR project continued but the focus of the afternoon meeting was the Forest Stewardship Plan and Community Forest plans for this summer.

 

Both the field review and the community meeting were positive, informative activities with great participation by all. Any further discussion or comments can be directed to myself, or any of the Executive Committee of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership.

John Marlow, R.P.F., General Manager, Cortes Forestry General Partnership
(250) 830-8099, JMarlow@gicable.com