Macphail Woods Articles
Islanders need to make ecological forestry a priority

Islanders need to make ecological forestry a priority by Gary Schneider

Let's start off with a simple fact - forests are much more than just a source of "product". If we view forests just as pulp, timber or even medicinal products, we will continue the large-scale degradation that has taken place since Europeans first set foot on this Island. While forests do provide products, they serve many other valuable roles - cleaning air, purifying water, protecting streams, storing carbon, housing wildlife and providing places for recreation. In this province, we have no large areas of original Acadian forest, rich in large, high-value trees such as white pine, red spruce, sugar maple and yellow birch. Instead, we see young stands of white spruce, balsam fir, red maple and white birch. We have impoverished our forests and diminished their associated values.

The present rate of clearcutting is not sustainable, though little is being done to reverse this trend. Restoring healthy forests will not be cheap, quick or easy, nor should we expect it to be - the damage has been done over a long period of time. Yet we can improve the health and value of our forests and it is important that we make the effort. Here are some ways to begin creating forests that our grand- children will someday view with pride:

Develop new markets for products that we now have and that can be harvested while we are restoring forests. This could be edibles such as chanterelle mushrooms or medicinals such as ground hemlock. We also need to develop products for small diameter hardwoods that will be removed during thinnings, anything from chairs to railings. We should also increase the value of our existing harvest by creating a "brand" for products from sustainably-managed woodlands.

Offer management incentives that encourage both environmental and economic sustainability. On the environmental side, this means harvesting outside the prime bird breeding season, leaving dead trees throughout the woodland for wildlife, reducing size of cuts, planting a variety of native species, leaving brush to rot on the ground and eliminating herbicides. On the economic side, it means planting red oak, white pine, and other high-value species for future crop trees, finding the highest-end use for any wood removed, and promoting the sustainable harvest of non-wood products.

March 2004 Use public lands as research and demonstration sites for restoration forestry. This would mean no clearcutting, herbicides or brush burning, and a dramatic shift away from the present conifer plantations. All opportunities to plant high-value trees should be embraced with gusto. These must be planted on appropriate sites and should not preclude the planting of other less "commercially-valuable" species.

Encourage small-scale forest restoration businesses. We need to assist the development of this new industry by offering training and opportunities for work. Given that we have a limited land-base, we should support more labour-intensive management. Forest restoration is hands-on work that needs a well-trained labour force that will put money back into the community.

If we take these steps, more people will work in the forest industry, including related sectors such as eco-tourism and furniture building. There will be commercial opportunities to teach these skills and our wildlife and water will also benefit.

Where will the money come from? Government spends a great deal of money to create plantations that may or may not generate much income in the future. That money could be redirected into restoration. If we used full-cost accounting procedures, we'd know that when an area of public land is clearcut by a mechanical harvester, it generates little local employment in relation to the amount of wood cut. And think of the additional costs that never make it onto the books - the loss of habitat, the release of carbon dioxide, the poor impression left with tourists.

Restoration should be seen as a tool for adding seed plants to an area. Upland forests that have been repeatedly clearcut might be lacking in hemlock or sugar maple. Old field white spruce stands create excellent opportunities to add yellow birch, white ash, white pine and rarer plants, including wildflowers. Though initially expensive, if the idea of "seeding" is kept in mind, it is actually quite affordable. What you successfully plant should later spread by natural methods and the large-scale costs diminish significantly.

This shift in thinking should be reflected on both private and public lands, since it is in all our interests to look after Island forests. We all have a part to play, whether it is planting native trees, buying a more efficient woodstove, using recycled paper or just saying no to that contractor wanting to clearcut your forest.

(Gary supervises the Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project in Orwell, which is sponsored by the ECO-PEI and the Sir Andrew Macphail Foundation.)