NSWOOA Update
Newsletter 57
September 27,
2012
(902) 633-2108
In
this issue:
-
Hello Woodlot Owners
-
Change is Hard
-
Otter Ponds Report
-
Project Manager’s Report
-
Site Visit Results
-
Thanks for the Assistance
- How
to Contact Us
Hello Woodlot Owners: Threats
The long, hot
dry summer of 2012 has had an effect on the forests of Nova Scotia. Not
too many people would disagree with that conclusion. A quick visit will
reveal short leaders and minimal growth of trees on many sites. The lack of
rains threatens our forests. Forest restoration specialist Tom
Miller observes: “ Although
the leaf turn has some early responders, this year seems more so, and I feel
that's from the drought early on. Many trees feeling the "pain" of
little moisture. I even have seen some larch yellowing up here and they are
always the last to go.”
Indeed, it seems to
have been a summer of threats.
Most
obviously there was the threat of forest fires. We lived through a very
tense few weeks where everyone was afraid to do anything, lest a fire rise up
and roar out of control. Nothing too severe came of it in the end,
probably due to the care and control everyone from DNR to back yard barbequers
took to avoid these fires.
Another
threat, one we may not have heard the last of yet, is that of insects and
disease. Hot summers favour certain kinds of insects and diseases.
When this is combined with the mild winters we have been experiencing, the
potential for masses of insects to build up is there, and is a threat we have
to deal with. How many more brown long-horned beetles can we deal
with? Our ash is threatened again and so on.
Not
quite in the same vein, but it is tempting to wonder if maybe the biggest
threat to our forests this summer has been political. One could be forgiven
, perhaps, for at least considering the Government’s wide definition of
clearcutting to be the biggest threat to the forests and ecology of Nova
Scotia. Some might consider that the reason for the new definition
is a lack of understanding of forest ecology, and others might consider it to
be a lack of political will. Or the reason may be found elsewhere .
Whatever the case, there is the threat that the government’s definition
of what is not a clearcut permits unsustainable harvesting practices to continue,
and like the dry summer, the insect and disease threat, the effects may
well be cumulative and severe. Only this threat could have been
avoided.
Change is Hard -- Or is it?
The
next few months will see a planned transformation of the Update, the NSWOOA’s online newsletter. It has been a goal of the Board to provide our members
with a better designed and more useful newsletter. So, what do you want? Are
there topics you want covered? Columns you want written? Are there
questions you need answered, or people you wish profiled? Are you hearing
enough about projects, events or accomplishments?
What
format would suit you? What should the revised newsletter look like? Give
us your opinions, advice and requests. Email them to The Update at the nswooa@gmail.com.
Otter Ponds Report
Work has been
progressing at the Otter Ponds Demonstration Forest. The latest accomplishment
is completion of the bridge. This will be followed up shortly with the
building of the road from the bridge to the landing/hosting site.
Picea
forestry has marked out a section for softwood selection harvesting and tenders
for the work of cutting and forwarding to the landing will called. The
marketing will be done by the OPDFD management, possibly after OPDFD has hosted
an event for buyers in the Central region.
A
visit by an elementary school, and a visit by a university environmental
studies class are also in the works, and represent just how wide a range of
programs can be offered on site.
Hopefully
the NSWOOA will be able to host an event there as well.
NSWOOA
proposes coalition
to
restore Acadian Forest
By
Andrew Kekacs
Program
Director
Forestry
in Nova Scotia is changing, and we are working to make NSWOOA a more prominent
feature in the new landscape.
NSWOOA
is developing partnerships with groups that have historic interests in the
forest and in rural development, but weak ties to the forestry sector.
Potential partners include sportsmen’s associations, farmers, tourist
businesses and conservation organizations.
For
example, NSWOOA representatives met earlier this year with Henry Vissers and
other leaders of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. A story about our
2012 site visit program appeared in the Federation’s newsletter and was well
received, resulting in many calls from farmers to NSWOOA Forester Stephen Cole.
We have been invited to submit articles about the value of active forest
management to the Federation’s newsletter this fall.
NSWOOA
will also lead a new coalition that aims to restore the Acadian Forest. We hope
to engage landowners in uneven-aged forest management, which can enhance other
woodland values while also providing high-value raw material to the province’s
wood-products mills. A Memorandum of Understanding on the scope and activities
of the new partnership is nearly complete and will be discussed at the next
meeting of the NSWOOA directors.
In
addition, the association met with Dianne Kelderman of the Nova Scotia
Co-Operative Council to discuss ways that co-operatives might be used to
further the interests of woodlot owners and small contractors. The council is
in the process of writing a detailed report on the subject for the NSWOOA
board.
The
association is planning several woodlot tours in October and November. More
information will be included in a separate mailing soon. Our site visit program
is well underway, and an update by Forester Stephen Cole is included in this
newsletter.
Visits Reveal Market Potential
By Stephen
Cole
Forester
I hope you've all had the very best of summer! The
NSWOOA outreach project continues into the fall season. To date, 66 woodlots have been visited, and there are 26 more on
the list. That means we have just a handful of spots still open. If you know someone who
has a woodlot and would be interested in the program, please have them contact me at 902-309-1062 or bradcole500@gmail.com
On
several of the woodlots I have visited, I have encountered large diameter
cherry, oak, ironwood, and mountain ash. Normally these species (except oak)
are not looked at for their commercial value but given the size of them I
cannot help but wonder if they could be put to good use somehow. The
landowners felt the same, so I ask you, what possible markets are out there for interesting pieces of wood?
Volunteers Thanked
At the
April AGM there were five or six members who volunteered to help out the
NSWOOA. We very much appreciate the assistance of the two volunteers that so
far have answered our call for assistance. Tynan Stevens staffed our
booth at the woodlot tour in July, and Dan Pittman has done notable service
since being asked by Treasurer Tony Phillips to audit our ledgers,
accounts and financial
statements. Thanks to both for their assistance.
Lines of Communication
Members
are encouraged to contact the Board of Directors, the Executive and other
members through our email address (nswooa@gmail.com)
or by phone (902-633-2108). Please feel free to use these methods to keep us
informed of what is going on in your woodlot or in your community or area. We
try to keep you informed through these updates, newsletters and mail outs, our
column in Atlantic Forestry Review, the Annual General Meeting, and the
website: http://www.nswooa.ca
