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Woods Wisdom

Notes From All Over

By: Moira Farr

Population:	1 million
Total Area:	65.2 million ha
Land Area:	57.1 million ha
Forest Land:	28.8 million ha
Provincial Parks:	1.2 million ha

Golden wheat fields, flat open roads and endless horizon lines are what mostly come to mind when picturing the prairie province of Saskatchewan. Outsiders and even many, who live there, are usually surprised to learn that in reality, the province is more than half covered in trees. “The boreal forest of northern Saskatchewan is the best-kept secret in the country,” says Rod Thompson, a manager with Saskatchewan Environment Forest Service who helped craft recent legislation aimed at sustaining that forest. More than a dozen hardwood and softwood species grow on the province’s millions of hectares of forested Crown and private land.

Managing the forest has its particular challenges. Back in the 1990s the provincial government decided it was time to take a serious look at sustainability and modernize its approach, from a strictly timber-resource focus to a more integrated one that factors in the impact of all human activity, from logging to manufacturing to recreational development, on the entire complex ecosystem and the people who use it. That includes one of the largest Aboriginal populations in North America—in northern Saskatchewan, as high as 80%, many directly involved and with a significant stake in the forest industry.

Scott Lake Rapids—an impressive riparian ecosystem composed of black spruce and white birch—flows out of Scott Lake in northern Saskatchewan.

In other parts of the province, farmers who once viewed stands of aspen and poplar as worthless weeds are returning their fields to fast growing bush and yielding profits as members of a burgeoning agro-forestry industry.

Homegrown is the word: hooking up their timber harvest with local sawmills, these small-woodlot managers see their timber turned into pre-fab housing packages and shipped to the U.S.—minus the controversial softwood lumber duty that raw 2x4s would require.

Saskatchewan, it seems, is serving notice that when it comes to forest management, it will find unique and innovative ways to look after its own. After years of strategic planning and consultation with the public, forest industry scientific experts and Aboriginal representatives, the provincial government proclaimed The Forest Resources Management Act in 1999. It sets out a legal frame work for development: eco-system-based management principles, standards and guidelines that ensure a high degree of policy input and accountability for all forest stakeholders; strict monitoring of forestry practices to measure their impact on soil and water quality and wildlife; various regional land-use plans. Consistent with these initiatives is the recent establishment of the Saskatchewan Forest Center, to manage technology-transfer to commercial companies and farmers involved in the province’s forest industry, and the Forest Development Fund, directing research dollars toward finding techniques and approaches tailored specifically to increasing Saskatchewan’s forest sustainability, an area of study lacking in the past.

The Province’s forestry program has the distinction of being the first province-wide government program in Canada to receive ISO 14001 certification from the Geneva-based International Standards Organization (ISO). “We have an accountability framework that’s second to none,” says forester Al Willcocks, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Environment Forest Service. That means lots of consultation at both local and provincial levels and Willcocks admits that forestry companies are often resistant to regulation and any policies that might eat into their bottom line. But, he argues, while the Act’s objectives are ambitious and the degree of transparency high, they are broad enough to allow for a wide range of forest management approaches. “We’re not prescriptive, but we are saying to companies that our evaluations will be based on what you said you were going to do— after seven to ten years, this is what we want the forest to look like.” It’s all in keeping with the goals set out in the Saskatchewan Forest Management Policy Framework, a kind of Provincial Accord with aims similar to the Canada Forest Accord. The new Act requires Saskatchewan to develop a Provincial Accord every ten years. In 2009, the provincial government will take a broad-level look at what has been accomplished and consult the public again on what they want at that time for their forests’ future.

In the meantime, the advisory approach very much involves both the public and the forest industry, working together in consultation with the provincial minister on all policy matters. Land-use planning advisory committee members develop guidelines meant to be revisited every five years and that deal with a variety of issues relevant to the land area in question: Are the forests being renewed sufficiently? Are wildlife and fish habitats being maintained? Are there opportunities for recreational use? Are traditional land uses (such as trapping) protected? Are jobs being generated, through manufacturing of wood products, or ecotourism? Most time is spent figuring out viable ways for all the various interests to be accommodated—and it isn’t always easy to reach consensus. “In the beginning, the public often doesn’t want the forest industry involved, because they are afraid they’ll sway things,” says Andrea  Atkinson, who helped design the area-based resource land management program. But she says, “It’s a learning curve. First there is a degree of skepticism, but when people work on committees like this they have to listen to each other. We try to argue that there is are inherently good or bad land uses and not to make value judgments. The guy who makes a living cutting down trees may actually be quite supportive in developing a plan for a healthy ecosystem.”

A loaded logging truck rolls along Highway 106 in northern Saskatchewan

The legislation calls for separate committees to oversee almost a dozen different land areas throughout the province, ranging from 50,000 hectares to over a million.

Management approaches may vary significantly depending, for instance, on how close to water, or cities and towns, the forest in question is located. That’s where local planning committees, appointed by the forest companies themselves, come into the picture. It’s a mandatory part of the whole scheme and, says Rod Thompson. It means “ (quotations here) the government leads the way, but we leave local people to devise the processes that work best for them” (quotations here). It also means that forest companies must report on how they have accomplished what they originally proposed to do, and that local people they have appointed themselves, can track how companies have responded to concerns.

How close to cut to riparian areas—lakes and rivers—was a big concern to the public, for instance. Forest companies and the province “(quotations here) worked hard on agreeing what they’ll measure (insect populations, water quality) as indicators of health.” It means strict rules for harvesting in these areas, but rules that can be changed down the road if we have learned from experience. “I think everyone understands we’re all in this together,” says Thompson. “We heard loud and clear that the public wants their government to consider all the values of the forest,” says Thompson.

Saskatchewan’s overall forest strategy is built upon ecosystem-based management. This approach is based on learning from the results of our forest management activities. With respect to this, the Forest Health Monitoring Program was developed. The program uses a variety of modeling techniques to track the impact of forestry practices on a number of scientifically determined factors. The agreed goal is to ensure that forested areas affected by harvesting mimic as much as possible the conditions of natural cycles, the most notably being fire.

It’s a little too early for definitive results, but data is being collected on a variety of indicators. Changes in songbird populations, for instance, are being monitored in harvested and burned areas using locally invented super-sensitive omni-directional microphones to record songs during the calling season which are later interpreted by experienced birders. “(no quotation here) Vegetation and other organisms in streams, such as macro-invertebrates like aquatic insects, are also being monitored to indicate forest health and sustainability “(quotation here) after impact,” says Dwayne Dye, who manages the monitoring program. “We’re still uncertain about some things,” he adds, (no quotation here) “but eventually the data will be used to determine how closely actual forest impacts are following scientific projections, and to make any necessary changes to keep the forest as healthy as possible. (no quotation here)”Soil experts are also on the job.

A mature white spruce forest in Greenwater Provincial Park

Specialist Dr. Ken Van Rees, a soil scientist based at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, sits on the  province’s scientific advisory committee for monitoring forest impacts. Dr. Van Rees has done field research on the impact of forestry on soils for the Canadian Forestry Service and such companies as Weyerhaeuser (though he points out that research dollars have dried up since the softwood lumber dispute flared up between the two countries). His research has indicated, however, that replanted trees grow better on sites prepared to reduce soil compaction and repair roadways and landings beside roads. Though his own specialty is soils, he says the best thing about Saskatchewan’s “one-of-akind” approach is that it focuses not just on individual impact indicators but also on a complete framework. Smart forest monitoring with computer models is the next phase, he says.

It’s the kind of technological research and development that the Saskatchewan Forest Center was set up to encourage and fund, says director Robin Woodward. The Center finances a dozen research projects per year, based at mostly western Canadian universities, all of it aimed at providing solutions uniquely suited to Saskatchewan and its forestry management goals. “We have a fire-dominated ecosystem,” says Woodward. “We want our forest harvests to follow the same pattern as in nature, to leave behind the same footprint.” (quotations here) Research may determine that means leaving a large, irregular border, or whole patches of trees left in the fire zone. “(quotations here) Whatever most closely follows nature,” says Woodward. Another Forest Center goal is to stimulate local value-added product markets, such as cabinet materials, flooring and pulp and paper strandboard. “It comes down to making the best use of the wood we have.”

In other words: maximum benefit for the people of Saskatchewan, with opportunities to expand into U.S. or even Japanese markets. Al Willcocks is certainly right to call Saskatchewan’s overall forestry goals “ambitious.” He’s proud of what has already been accomplished and points out some of his province’s unique strengths. Only eight or nine million of the 36 million hectares of Saskatchewan forest are used for commercial or recreational purposes. “North of the Churchill River, we let the fire rock and roll,” he says. “We have a great opportunity to learn how the natural fire cycle works.”

He says he’s sometimes frustrated by a forest industry that can be resistant to change and on the other hand, environmentalists and a general public that don’t fully understand how forests work. “People love old forests and I agree that one the west coast or the tropical rain forest that’s the way to go, but the boreal forest is different. You need disturbance and renewal. A young forest is where birds nest.” Fostering a greater appreciation of the true ecology of forests may be difficult, but Willcocks believes that is ultimately the most crucial task facing forest managers today. Above and beyond the specific benefits he’d like to see for the province of Saskatchewan through its forest management plan, he views the challenge of facing down global warming as the biggest of all. “In Saskatchewan alone, our forests produce enough oxygen for 250 million people on the planet.” The province is the only one in Canada so far to cash in $6 million in carbon credits (one dollar per tonne) based on scientifically reviewed agreement with the provincial electrical utility, SaskPower. The funds help plant new forests and conserve existing ones. More than anything, says Willcocks, “We have to see the forest as a big lung