Macphail Woods Articles
We Need to Value our Woodlands
by Gary Schneider

(Letter to the Editor, The Guardian Newspaper)

Through my eyes, healthy forests are complex ecosystems, full of beauty and incredibly valuable.

Some of these values are difficult to measure, including cleaning air and water, storing carbon both in the woody material and in the soil, providing homes for a wide variety of wildlife species, moderating stream temperatures and wind speeds, and providing places for recreation and relaxation.

We overlook these values because we lack the vision to see or the skills to measure. So we pretend they don’t exist.

That is why so many people see forests simply as wood to be harvested. As soon as there is some economic value, however slight, the cutting begins.

This view is shortsighted and has serious negative effects on the social, economic and environmental web that holds our province together.

Dr. Ken Lertzman, who teaches forest ecology at Simon Fraser University, has a different view of what forest management should be. He says: “New Forestry is an attempt to define forest management with timber production as a byproduct of its primary function: sustaining biological diversity and maintaining long-term ecosystem health.”

Macphail Woods Articles
"Waste" Wood for Energy
by Gary Schneider

The recent talk of using "waste" wood to generate energy makes me feel as though I'm trapped in a time warp. For those too young to remember, or who have moved here too recently, this is not a new concept. The previous attempt in the mid-1980's was a disaster for Island forests and the concern is that we have learned nothing from history.

Dr. Stephen Manley, a former Director of Forestry Operations with the provincial government, had an idea in the late-1970's that we should create a market for low-value wood coming out of thinnings, small patch cuts and strip cuts that were specifically carried out to help restore healthy Island forests. Dr. Manley, with his love of Acadian forests, felt that creating this market would encourage Island woodland owners to take a more active role in restoration.

As is the case today, many woodlot owners were finding it difficult to improve low-value stands because there was either no market for products such as pin cherry, poplar or low-grade pulp, or they didn't create enough product to make up a full truckload.

Dr. Manley said that burning wood was intended to be a clean way to generate electricity. "It would be a lot cleaner than coal," he said at a public meeting in Montague in 1989, "and a lot less destructive than some hydroelectric power."

P.E.I. is expanding its move into biomass heating in a bid to reduce the province's reliance on oil imports, but some critics say it's not as green as it appears.

The province awarded contracts earlier this month to convert five public buildings to biomass, which sees wood chips or straw burned instead of oil.

Dick Arseneault, owner of Atlantic Bioheat, says furnaces like the one his company already has set up at Westisle Composite High School in Elmdale greatly reduces reliance on oil, with the backup oil heater only needed on the coldest days.

"We're looking at, the buildings I have, almost half a million litres of oil after this should be replaced by biomass instead of bringing fossil fuel in," Arseneault said.

Biomass heat spreading in P.E.I.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/10/22/pe-biomas...

The provincial government has announced that it intends to seek forest management certification for over 75,000 acres of public lands, placing them under sustainable forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.

PROVINCE PURSUES FOREST CERTIFICATION

CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI -- In recognition of National Forest Week, September 19-25, the Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry announced it will pursue Forest Stewardship Council certification for public lands which includes 75,000 acres of forest across Prince Edward Island, says Minister Richard Brown.

“This international certification will ensure that forests under public management are meeting international standards for sustainable management,” said Minister Brown. “It will also create awareness among Islanders of the significant role forests play in our environment, our economy and our rural communities.”
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC certification sets standards for forest management and audits compliance to ensure standards are being met. The Province is applying for FSC certification through the Nagaya Forest Restoration Ltd., which certifies thousands of acres of forest throughout the Maritimes.

The Guardian recently had an article about someone who preserved the accounts of the 1960 West Prince Fire, and are now available online. It's really worth your time to read some of the fascinating and heart-breaking accounts from this forest fire.

A Guardian-Patriot reporter in 1960 observed 73-year-old Jane Brown standing in a ditch, crying. Her house and barns had just been consumed in one of the worst forest fires to strike Prince Edward Island.

Over a three-week period, starting the week of Aug. 21, close to 18,000 acres of forest and farmland were destroyed in the North Enmore to Black Banks area of West Prince.

George Wooton’s story tells of Mrs. Brown walking through the ditch and finding bottles of her preserves which had been placed there for safe-keeping by volunteers who tried in vain to save her property.

Fifty years after forest fire ravaged West Prince, stories now online
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Arts/Cultural-activities/2010-09-02/article...

The stories of the West Prince Forest Fire of 1960 can be found here, in PDF format:
http://www.thelmaphillips.ca/page3/page3.html

Macphail Woods Articles
Provincial Forest Policy Review - Backgrounder
by Gary Schneider

For those of you wishing to participate, I have offered some background material below. I tried to make the points short and readable. I've also included information at the bottom of this message on natural selection forestry, if you are interested. If you would like more information on any of this or want to discuss anything related to this, you can call me at 659-2081 or email gary@macphailwoods.org

My main suggestion would be to tell your story and make it personal - why you think forests are important, what has touched you, what are we losing, why you feel we need to change. Our choices are clear - we can focus on clearcuts and softwood plantations, trying to maintain unresilient, simple tree farms; we can let nature take its own course and, on most sites, progress naturally into mixed forests, a process that will take 100-200 years; or we can work with nature, using practices that help speed up natural succession. I'm voting for the latter.

Macphail Woods Articles
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:

Passing on a PSA that you may be interested in. The folks over at the PEI Model Forest Project are putting on a workshop and tour on Sept 25th, at the Brookvale Alpine Centre. Here is the workshop announcement:

Managing our Forests for Tomorrow

What are the issues facing today's woodlot owners? How can we work together to find common solutions to the hurdles of managing forested land sustainably - today and in the future ?

With this in mind, the P.E.I. Model Forest in partnership with the Public Forest Council would like to invite you to a special workshop and tour to help find acceptable and viable solutions.

Topics for the morning session will include managing forest lands for multiple usages, Wild Canines of P.E.I., Buffer Zone Legislation and Management options, P.E.I. Woodlot Owner Survey Results and the Importance of Woodlot Owner Organizations.

The afternoon Woodlot Tour will feature a chair lift ride to the various demonstrations such as Silviculture Treatments, water diversion structures, Watershed & Riparian Zone Management Options, Chainsaw Clinic and P.E.I. Wildlife.

Time: 8:45
Location: Brookvale Alpine Centre, P.E.I. (Rte. # 13 - follow the signs)

There is no charge to attend this special event and lunch will be provide to guests who have pre-registered and are attending both the morning and afternoon sessions.

If you are aware of someone that may be interested in attending, please pass along this invitation. To register or for more information, please contact me or visit http://www.peiforests.ca.

Macphail Woods Articles
Clearcuts and biq plantations - so what else is new?
by Gary Schneider

In an interesting twist of fate, my partner and I purchased a property within the proposed Provincial Forest in the Klondyke Road area east of Iona. The Round Table on Land Resource Use and Stewardship, of which I was a member, agreed "with a number of groups who believe that Provincial Forests must reflect the highest standard of management, they must demonstrate best practices and they must show the full range of appropriate silvicultural techniques."

The report recommended that Provincial Forests (large acreages of forests with a high percentage of public ownership) be designated and that plans should first promote an increase in biodiversity. "In practice, this means that the preferred treatments should be: small patch-cuts or shelterwood cuts, managing for natural regeneration and planting long-lived, native species of late successional hardwoods and softwoods," the report stated.

The report went on to say that "management plans should be subjected to public consultation and input at five-year intervals" and that "the public be involved in making decisions, and not become just the audience for a Government effort in public relations."

CBC is reporting that in areas of Tignish, the maple trees have lost most of their leaves and it looks like fall on some streets. There is the spot fungus that we see on a lot of maples all over the island, but apparently, this one is different.

It's only mid-August, but leaves are already falling off some trees on Prince Edward Island because of a fungus that targets maple trees.

Streets and lawns in the community of Tignish, on the northern tip of the Island, are blanketed with fallen brown leaves.

"It's almost as if it's late October," said resident Leo Perry. "I've noticed they're especially maple trees."

Village officials blame the early fall-like conditions on a fungus that targets maple trees and hits sugar maples and Norway maples the hardest.

"It could be a disease called anthracnose," said Jamie McCue, a landscaper for the village.

Tree fungus attacking P.E.I. maples
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2010/08/17/pei-tree-...

Whatever it is, it is important to collect the leaves and bury or burn them. The leaves are where the next years crop is going to come fron.