Federal government plans forest survey, Piney opens forest tours registration

Canada has 10 percent of the world’s forests, as such, this natural resource is considered important economically, environmentally, and holistically. Now, the federal government is looking to do a tree inventory.

“Private forests have not been under the purview of the Federal Forestry Department (Natural Resources Canada), and there’s a lot of information that seems to be missing when it comes to forest policymaking,” said Bob Austman, Manitoba chair for Canadian Forest Owners (CFO).

“Private forest owners aren’t really aware of the inventory they have on their land and how important it really is to a healthy environment. So, this survey will give the policymakers enough information to figure out, who owns these forests, what are their goals, what kind of activities are happening in (the owners’) forested property, and there’s also a need to provide support from federal forestry departments.”

The national survey of private forests is the first of its kind in more than 20 years in Canada. It is being conducted by the CFO and researchers at McGill University with support from MITACS Canada.

The 15-minute survey will ask questions about the landowner’s background, the owner’s goals and priorities with the forest, what the owner values about the forest, and what challenges the owner faces.

What can be considered a forest include woodlots, managed timberlands, shelterbelts, sugarbushes, or any treed land owners consider a forest that they own or manage.

Canada’s private forests cover about 10 percent of managed lands in the country, but they account for roughly 20 percent of forest production, according to CFO. Private forests are often managed over multiple generations, offering continuity of stewardship, patient capital, and a long-term perspective, stated CFO in a press release.

“Without basic information about who forest owners are, studying and supporting them becomes difficult,” stated Dr. Jackie Hamilton, a postdoctoral researcher in natural resource sciences at McGill University, in a release. “There are no national lists, and in provinces across Canada even identifying and reaching owners remains a challenge. As a result, the perspectives of today’s forest owners are often missing from science and policy.”

Examples of policy could be centered around delivering the Fire Smart program or wildfire suppression by creating buffer zones around cities and towns that are in or near forested areas.

“One of the end goals is definitely not to purchase any land,” said Austman. “The end goal is to provide assistance to landowners so that they can make better decisions with more information…So, there will be an attempt to find out how these particular landowners can be assisted to help them manage their property…

“By manage (I mean), a management plan for a private forest looks at the goals of the landowner and includes steps to reach those goals. For example, if a landowner has a forest and they want to use it for recreation, there could be extension services provided to help them do trail layout, avoid sensitive areas like wetlands or bogs. It might encourage them to do trail construction outside of the spring bird nesting season so that there’s minimal disturbance to the bird populations.”

A part of the inventory will look at the species of trees, the quantity of each species, the health of the trees, and the age of the trees.

Right now, CFO is looking to partner with the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District to run a pilot project on how to deliver services to select homeowners to better manage their forests.

The survey will run until Sept. 14, after which the data will be analyzed and then shared publicly. It will also be sent to the Canadian Forest Service.

“It’ll even help our provincial forestry officials help to set forest policy to assist these landowners. And very often, these private woodlots, they’re often the last remnant of the original forest cover when Manitoba was settled,” said Austman.

Forests store carbon dioxide preventing greenhouse gases from destroying the ozone, prevent soil erosion, provide wildlife habitat, and they enhance the health of the watershed.

To take the survey, visit forestowners.ca/about/survey.

Forest tours

Now in its third year, Austerman’s ever popular themed forest tours have taught residents from Southern Manitoba all about our forests, forest products, and fire safety.

“National Forest Week is coming up in September, so in celebration of that, we’re hoping that people can make a little extra effort to reconnect with the forest and think about how important it is to Manitoba and to Canada,” said Austman. Tours change theme every year.

The first tour will take place on July 26 and is themed as “Goods from the Woods.” It will look at non-timber forest products such as maple tapping, growing gourmet mushrooms on oak logs and finding other forest edibles, furniture, and forest crafts.

The second tour will take place on Aug. 14 and will take visitors to West Fraser Mill in Barwick, Ont., to see how Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is made, mostly with Manitoba poplar trees from the Southeast, and how it is used in construction and housing.

The RM has offered a van to take visitors to the mill, but they must meet at the RM office prior to the trip.

The last tour on Sept. 18 will be about peatlands, something Austman said is economically important to Manitoba as an export. He said there are several companies that harvest it in the Southeast, including in Vassar and Elma.

Peat is organic decayed bog material that takes hundreds of years to form. It is used in horticulture for soil amendments to maintain moisture and provide nutrients to plants.

Visitors will take a tour of a peat plant in Vassar in the morning and see how peat is processed and packaged for delivery across North America.

In the afternoon, a private saw mill plant tour will be conducted in St Labre where jack pine spruce is turned into lumber, baseboards, siding, flooring, and other products.

“We’re getting a very, very good response. Almost all the tours are full to capacity…And, in fact, the word’s been getting back to the municipality…(I’m absolutely enjoying these tours),” said Austman. “I’m getting to reconnect with people in a municipality I haven’t seen for a while, and I love the enthusiasm that they bring and the questions that they have. And they always come away with a smile on their face saying they learned a lot.”

Registration for the tours is limited and can be done through the RM of Piney office in Vassar.