Custom Forest products Ltd. - customforest@eastlink.ca

Having a woodlot map makes planning silvicultural treatments easier and gives you a better idea of what you have in your woodlot. Woodlot mapping is often done by a registered professional forester when developing a woodlot management plan, though it can be created on its own. A woodlot map shows where your boundary lines are and generally displays the different stands existing on your woodlot. Aerial photos can be useful to include with woodlot maps.

Woodlot owners who value wildlife and consider wildlife when planning silviculture and harvesting treatments should think about incorporating wildlife habitat management into their woodlot management plan. One can focus on managing for one or two species, or managing for several. Wildlife habitat management can include maintaining wildlife corridors, modifying silvicultural activities to decrease negative impacts on wildlife, leaving snags as nesting trees and downed woody debris for habitat, and putting up nesting boxes.

Weeding refers to the trimming or removal of small, herbaceous plants in a stand, as well as non-crop tree species, which are competing with desirable tree species. Plants like raspberry bushes can out-compete seedlings and limit their access to nutrients, sunlight, and other necessary factors for growth.

Tree removal generally refers to the removal of a single tree or very small group of trees, often in an urban setting, that is/are causing safety concerns or is/are diseased, dying, or dead. Tree removal is a service offered by arborists.

Tree marking is a useful and cost-effective tool for stand improvement. Trees can be marked using paint or flagging tape, and can either be marked to be cut or not to be cut. Often, contractors will mark crop trees to be harvested in a selection management treatment to avoid damage to other trees. Another method is to mark trees that should not be cut or damaged during that treatment, like dead trees left for wildlife, new regeneration, or younger trees that could be left to increase their value until the next harvest. Proper usage of this tool can help to reverse negative effects from past intensive or damaging treatments (like high-grading and indiscriminate cutting).

A timber appraisal is meant to give woodlot owners an idea of what volume and kind of timber they have on their woodlot and how much it is worth. Factors considered in calculating this are tree density, species, and timber quality. Timber appraisals are useful for woodlot owners planning to sell or purchase woodland, or for those just trying to get a sense of what they have on a woodlot. It is generally necessary to hire a professional forester to complete a timber appraisal.

Silvicultural contractors provide a variety of woodlot management services, not just harvesting. These can include selection harvesting, thinning, road building, wildlife management, management planning, boundary line work, and many others.

Pruning is a minimally invasive method of improving the quality of crop trees in a stand. Lower limbs are removed manually from selected trees to decrease problematic knots in the lumber and make them easier to harvest later on.

Precommercial thinning (PCT) is done in overstocked stands of younger trees to free up space and resources for selected trees and improve overall stand quality. PCT treatments are done in both natural stands and plantations. The goal is to remove less desirable trees (like non-crop species, or damaged and diseased trees) as well as create appropriate spacing in the stand for healthy, higher quality trees to grow. PCT work is generally done manually with clearing or thinning saws.

In stands where natural regeneration is lacking, it is often advantageous to plant seedlings. This can be done after both even-aged management treatments (like clearcutting) and uneven-aged management treatments (like selective cutting). Desirable species are planted at specified intervals to fill in the gaps in forest vegetation and provide a continuous forest cover. Both softwood and hardwood species can be planted.

Characterized by removing the forest cover from an area where a land use change is desired by the owner, such as conversion to agricultural, commercial, or residential land. This can include removal of all forest vegetation, stumps, debris, and sometimes top soil.

Mechanical site preparation is often used after clearcut or partial cut treatments to prepare the ground for planting or natural regeneration. Seedlings need certain conditions to grow properly, and large machinery can sometimes be used to create or encourage the desired conditions.

Having a woodlot management plan is an important tool for effective forest management and is a requirement for most forest certification schemes. Management plans include: the goals and objectives of the landowner, a detailed description and inventory of the woodlot (including a map), and a plan for carrying out silvicultural treatments to accomplish the landowner’s goals. The plan should be reviewed and updated every 5 to 10 years to remain relevant and to stay in line with the landowner’s wishes and needs. While it is very useful to have a registered professional forester create the management plan, it is important that the landowner be involved in the process as well to ensure that it conforms to their own unique needs and values.

Herbicides are a type of pesticide that are sometimes used in the forest industry to control, discourage or kill unwanted or competing plant species in certain kinds of stands and treatments. Forest contractors are hired to apply these chemicals. In many areas, approval is required by the provincial Activities Designation Regulations under the Environment Act before any pesticides (and thus herbicides) can be applied.

This treatment is used to promote the growth of desirable crop trees. The trees around selected crop trees are thinned out to allow the more desirable trees more space and nutrients, which in turn can increase the health and future value of the stand.

Chipping is a method of removing brush and branches from a stand after some types of treatment. Branches and small trees are fed into a chipper, which shreds them into small chips. These chips can be left in the woodlot as nutrients or removed and used for other purposes like home heating or livestock bedding.

Knowing where your boundaries are is an important step in woodlot management. Contractors will often mark woodlot boundaries by using flagging tape or painting blazes on trees along the boundary lines and removing brush from the lines to promote line visibility.