May 4th

About 7 but the sun is getting around to the thermometer. Sunny this am

Here is another part of Forestry

  The area was logged in July and August, the skidding of the harvested trees resulted in a light scarification of the ground beneath the remaining stand. All the spruce above the prescribed diameter limit, those cedar suitable for poles and a smattering of balsam were harvested. Slash disposal consisted of delimbing the tree tops that were left behind.

  Eleven years later I was The Ranger in the Valemount District, due to some boundary changes that had occurred in the interim this same area was once more under my jurisdiction. The same company applied for a harvesting license over the same piece of ground.  An examination of the area revealed that a good stand of eighty percent spruce had become established beneath the canopy of the trees left from the earlier harvest; the trees that had been reserved had released[1].

  The application was accepted, the sale was cruised then sold. This time The diameter limit was set at thirteen inches for all species and all species must be logged, the contract had a clause restricting logging to the winter with a requirement that not less than two feet of snow had to be on the ground. The area was relogged in 1969. More volume was extracted than the first time and a summer regeneration survey revealed that there had been better than a ninety percent survival rate of the regeneration.

  Ten years later I visited the area on a hunting trip and out of curiosity I checked the area and was greeted with the sight of a well established mixed stand of spruce, cedar, balsam and hemlock.

  By accident a treatment that was exactly right for that particular micro-climate had been chosen and it was these singular successes that often preceded a blanket application that then resulted in environmental disaster.

 

  The role of Ministry staff was unique in those earlier years. Each timber sale was tied to it’s own specific contract. These contracts would establish the size of the timber to be cut, would layout how slash was to be disposed of, species  and or diameters that were reserved from cutting. Where groups or single trees were reserved as a seed source, financial penalties for cutting or damage were laid out. The contracts empowered ministry staff to suspend operations when contractual conditions were flouted.  Financial penalties were set for wasted timber and for uncut trees designated to be cut. The contracts also required that an approved plan of logging must be in place before operations could commence. These plans included the location of roads, culverts, bridges and log landings.

  The enforcement of these contracts was delegated to the Forest Rangers and their Assistants. For the most part the enforcement role was taken quite seriously although there were some exceptions.  Although many of the contracts were similar, each Sale area would have special conditions that were specific to that particular Timber Sale. The average scenario when Ranger staff arrived at an active logging operation would be somewhat as follows.

  The actual contract would be reviewed on arrival, a field map for that particular inspection would be studied and notes made of all special clauses, these would be entered on the map’s margin.  The inspecting officer would then attempt to locate on onsite company representative to first let it be known that a routine inspection was about to start and secondly to give opportunity to accompany the forest officer.  All main roads would be traversed or a traverse would be extended from where the logging had ended at the time of the last inspection. All landings, bridges and culverts would be noted. Then the boundary of the sale area would be followed to ensure that there had been no trespass across the boundary, this was followed by a zig zag examination of all new logging and a check to see if any previous infractions had been corrected. The new logging was and any infractions were recorded on the map.  On completion of the inspection, the company representative was apprised of any infractions and what the follow up action would be. (In most cases a period of two to four weeks was usually granted to correct any problems where appropriate). If previous infractions beyond the grace period had not been rectified or if there had been a repeat of an earlier infraction an immediate suspension of operations would be ordered in writing.

  Depending on the speed of each individual logging operation, inspections were made every two to four weeks. All instructions were followed up by a formal letter which was delivered by registered mail.  These inspections and actions were routine and for the most part carried out diligently by Ministry staff.  Even those operations where the licensee had for his own reasons not carried out any logging activity were checked regularly to ensure that operations had not started without our knowledge.

  This inspection procedure is an important component of why Forestry in this province has had a down hill slide.

  Also in the 1950’s through to the reorganization of the Forest Service in 1978/79 there were about anywhere from 120 to 150 Ranger Districts administering the contracts that they had been charged with. These districts were key to all things forestry in the territory they served.

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[1] ‘Released’ is a term used to explain that trees have continued to grow at an accelerated rate.