• GIS Kit
• MapItFast
• Plot Hound
• WolfGIS

Although the GIS features are limited at this time, these tools and others in their class will eventually meet the 80/20 rule. In this case 80% of what the average woodlot owner will need a GIS to do will be available for 20% or less the cost of a professional system.

Also be sure to check Forest Metrix who are planning to release a scaled down timber cruising iOS app by spring 2013.

Have fun!

Participate – to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake; share (usually followed by in ): To participate in profits.

— Dictionary.com

With the post-Woodbridge focus on facilitating access to private timber, woodlot owners who refrain from commercial activities are labeled “disengaged” or “non-participating.” The casual and some would say disparaging use of these terms seem to indicate owners who have no interest in maintaining their woodlots. Nothing could be further from the truth. Standing timber on private woodlots is more often the historic outcome of family traditions that value mature forests for a variety of purposes and rarely the result of disinterest.

A frequently cited deterrent to commercial participation are low prices. Combine low prices with the risk of property damage during harvesting and it is understandable why many woodlot owners are hesitant to move anything more than a little firewood for personal use. Today a stronger business case can be made by woodlot owners doing quality improvement cuts to girdle trees for wildlife and scatter course woody debris as fertilizer than to haul low grade timber roadside.

Further obfuscating matters is the Nova Scotia forest products marketplace where negotiating a timber sale can feel like navigating a swamp in the dark. Presented with an offer from a buyer there is little way for a woodlot owner to know whether the quoted stumpage rate constitutes fair market value. Lubricating the supply chain with subsidized management planning, silviculture, road construction and training, well intentioned as these incentives may be, will have a negligible effect on releasing private timber unless supported by corresponding efforts to increase transparency and trust in the market.

Notwithstanding the requirement for independent sellers’ agents, there is a well defined need to compile and deliver up-to-date regional timber price reports for woodlot owners. Lessons can be learned from woodlot owners in the eastern and southern states who have addressed similar concerns. Dr. Bob Daniels expands on the benefits of accurate timber price reporting in Mississippi. If indeed the future of a viable forest industry in Nova Scotia depends on access to private timber, democratizing price and market data would go a long way in stimulating interest among potential suppliers.

Icons have appeared in objects ranging from grilled cheese sandwiches to cracked pavement. Most can be explained as the result of natural causes or hoaxes. It seems in this instance that a vehicle hit the stem removing a large piece of bark that eventually healed around the edges to assume its present Marian shape. In this largely Hispanic neighbourhood where Our Lady of Guadalupe is instantly recognizable, the image functions as sacred art evoking reverence and devotion among the faithful.

Without judging how ecclesial authorities would discern the phenomenon’s apparitional authenticity, the tree’s wound is a stigmatic reminder that Grace reveals herself in the humblest places. Minimally it is a case study in urban planning on the human need for sacred space.

There’s a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. – Betty Smith. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

 “Our Lady of Guadalupe” tree draws a crowd

Homo sapiens sapiens is the only species that manipulates fire. Combine this trait with the adage that nature abhors a vacuum and any anthropologist could reasonably conclude that releasing carbon is our evolutionary role. Be forewarned. Traditional ecological knowledge comes with a caveat suggesting that exhuming buried carbon is akin to conjuring the spirits of plants and animals that lived long ago. According to creation myths the giant earth and water monsters inhabiting the earth before humans emerged were never destroyed but lie dormant beneath our feet waiting to come again. There is no word for time in many indigenous languages. The past is a living dream and change is marked by recurring cycles. As I find more jellyfish on the beach and horsetails in my backyard I’m left to wonder.

Increased energy efficiency and conservation will reduce the intensity of carbon use but the scale of global growth driving overall demand will continue its upward trend. From models based on present production rates and known reservoirs my eleven year old daughter will be reaching retirement age when final resource depletion is projected to occur. Canada, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are expected to hold the last profitable reserves. I am reminded of Kübler-Ross’s Five Stages of Grief. The collective psyche will need to move through denial, anger, bargaining and depression to acceptance.  In accepting the inevitable we can make the best of what seems to be a hopeless situation through resilience. The process of transitioning to alternative energy and sustainable local economies is already underway.

The best approach to controlling Norway Maple is through the permaculture philosophy of working with nature. There is no need for panic or aggressive eradication efforts. After all Norways are still performing valuable ecological services and are a better option than mowing lawns in yards where the trees are already established. To keep Norways out of surrounding forests where the greatest harm is done it is prudent that property owners:

• Avoid planting Norway Maples or their cultivars.
• Learn to recognise Norway Maple seedlings. They can be easily pulled out by the roots when small.
• Select against Norway Maple in crop tree release and other silvicultural thinnings. Vision™ (Roundup™) should be applied to stumps or girdled trees to prevent sprouting.

Nurseries, landscapers and municipalities are encouraged to inform clients and residents of Norway Maple`s invasive character and suggest alternative plantings.

Norway Maple is not the only species to have made itself a little too comfortable in its new digs. Around Lunenburg Japanese Knotweed and Multiflora Rose are rival contenders for the invasive title.  Further inland Glossy Buckthorn is a problem on woodlots where it hinders natural regeneration of native trees.

For more information on these and other invasive species see:

Invasive Species Alliance of Nova Scotia

Invasive Species in Canada

NatureServe Explorer

Three operational field days are being held in Western Nova Scotia for small woodlot owners interested in a practical hands-on demonstration of uneven-aged management principles and techniques.

Queens County – January 21, 2012,

Annapolis County – February 11, 2012,

Lunenburg County – March 24, 2012.

 Activities include:

• Applying best management practices and uneven-aged management principles;
• Determining vegetation and soil types;
• Reviewing prescription rationale against ecosystem classification and woodlot owner objectives;
• Assessing silviculture criteria and demonstrating treatments for crop tree release, pruning and selection management.

Outdoor sessions run from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm with half hour for lunch. Please bring pencil, paper and a lunch. Dress warmly. Other than being a woodlot owner there is no cost or academic prerequisite to attend.

To pre-register for these sessions please contact:

Royce Ford at 902-682-2917 / 902-521-8361, crtrees05@yahoo.ca or Dan Pittman at 902-640-2005 / 902-541-0894, dan@freyaforestry.com

March 3, 2012, Digby Regional High School, Digby, Nova Scotia.

Online Registration

Freya Forestry’s approach is specifically supported by the strategy in three key areas.

• Promote ecological forest management;
• Encourage forest management plans;  and
• Redesign the silviculture program.

Of these, redesigning the silviculture program will be the most challenging. The current program should be simplified, administered by independent third parties, maintain natural ecosystems by default and connect to forest management plans. Like finding an agreeable definition for clearcut, overhauling the silviculture program will not be easy.

The strategy does not fix our problems but it has firmly set us on the path to solving them. Now at least we can begin moving forward in the right direction.

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The issue is not whether trees should be cut but whether trees are grown and harvested in a sustainable manner. While reducing demand for illegally and irresponsibly harvested timber is laudable not all tree cutting is bad. Conscientious consumers purchase eco-labelled paper derived from environmentally certified forests. When these same consumers are unduly influenced to shift their purchase away from sustainable wood fibre to unlabelled bagasse products coming from sugarcane plantations of dubious environmental impact, what good has been accomplished?

A lot can be read from a blank page. Fibre type is only part of the story. How the fibre is grown and harvested tells the rest.