Our fall program titled "How to Do It and How to Pay For It" came off with scarcely a hitch in Old Barns on Nov. 10. About 50 people attended, a good turnout under any circumstances and especially impressive given the slushy snowfall that greeted most of us when we woke up that morning. Here are some photos from the day.
The day began with a presentation by Rebecca Aggas (shown left), coordinator of the Association for Sustainable Forestry. Rebecca gave us an overview of the new Category 7 program, created under the Forest Sustainability Regulations to provide funding for selection harvesting, pruning, and crop tree release. This program is designed to increase the number of small private woodlot owners suing uneven-aged management techniques where appropriate. This is a goal the NSWOOA supports wholeheartedly, of course.
Sandy Hyde of Picea Forest Consulting (left) then gave a presentation on treatments that improve forest quality followed by discussion of what types of sites will qualify for funding under the Category 7 program. The many questions both Rebecca and Sandy received were a heartening sign of the level of interest in both of these topics.
Following Sandy's presentation, there was time for socializing and a meal. Then we headed to Charlie Baird's award-winning woodlot.
Despite the cold and the slight possibility of being mistaken for a deer, very few people turned down the chance to see the presentations Charlie had lined up for us.
Shown left, Mike Hamilton discussed how to choose which trees to leave during a pre-commercial thinning.
Mike then gave us an impressive demonstration of how to use a spacing saw.
Our next stop was to a site where Charlie has been doing selection management toward creating a multi-aged, multi-species stand. After three passes, the site now has three age classes.
Left, NSWOOA Board Member Minga O'Brien is wearing the orange jacket. Next to her is Patricia Amero, registered professional forester with Picea Forestry Consulting.
Our third stop was for a demonstration of crop tree release. The tree marked with a yellow ribbon would be taken in order to give more growing room to the the tree marked with a pink ribbon, which is a crop tree. That's Charlie in the foreground.
Left, Charlie demonstrates how to use a prism to calculate basal area.
Last stop of the day was to Charlie's maple sugar-making operation, which he describes as a hobby. Like many other parts of the woodlot, Charlie's sugarwoods took a beating during Hurricane Juan. However he recently completed a cleanup operation and is getting back into operation again.
Left, Jamie Baird, sales representative for Dominion & Grimm Inc., demonstrates how to install lines.
The Board of the NSWOOA wishes to thank presenters Rebecca Aggas, Sandy Hyde, Mike Hamilton, and Jamie Baird for helping to make this day such a success. A special thanks to Board Member Charlie Baird for allowing his woodlot to be used for the mini-field day and arranging for presentations and to all other NSWOOA members who were so helpful on the day. Thanks also to all who attended and were such an interested, enthusiastic audience.
