Services
Here are just a few of the services we provide at Athol Forestry Cooperative:
- Boundary Line Renewal
- Commercial Thinning
- Harvest
- Pre Commercial Thinning
- Selection Management
- Mechanical Site Preparation
- Tree Planting Program
- Weeding
Boundary Line Renewal
Boundary lines require maintenance to ensure accurate locations. Boundary lines often become obscured over a period of time. Badly obscured lines or a part of a boundary must be defined through the use of a survey instrument such as a transit. This requires a valid Nova Scotia Land Surveyors license and is very expensive. To prevent your boundary lines from becoming obscured we are suggesting that your boundary lines be flagged and the original boundary evidence be repainted.The cost per kilometer is $250.00 which can be deducted from your landowner dividends.
Commercial Thinning
In a mature, prolific stand, merchantable thinning removes thirty to fifty percent (30% - 50%) of the total volume allowing the best quality trees to remain and expand their crown areas and stem diameter. This operation is usually undertaken in stands, in which the crop trees are intended for future saw logs. Large white pine or hemlock trees, which are present in the stand, should be left to provide nesting sites for predatory birds and other wildlife. The number of these trees should be limited to 10 per hectare.
Harvest
The harvesting of all, or nearly all trees in an area. Usually undertaken in a stand in which most of the trees are mature or over mature, or in areas of poor quality or low volume. Clear cuts may be modified in the form of strip or patch cuts to allow the stand to be removed over a period of time. Irregular shaped clear cuts allow an increase forest edge for wildlife and provide hardwood browse for a number of species. Clear cuts should have strips of trees left as wildlife travel corridors and all streams should be protected by a buffer zone. A number of trees can be left throughout the cut over (2 or 3 per acre) to provide wildlife habitant, without interfering with management activities. Further information can be found in the Forest/Wildlife Guidelines and Standards for Nova Scotia. Clear cutting is followed by natural or artificial regeneration.
Pre Commercial Thinning
The spacing of young immature softwood and/or hardwood trees in order to promote diameter growth of the selected crop trees (spruce, fir, sugar maple, yellow birch). The spacing ranges from 2 to 2.4 meters. The slash and debris remains on the site providing nutrients, food and cover for wildlife.
Selection Management
The removal of individual trees to allow for new regeneration. The treatment is performed on uneven aged stands where tolerant species exists. The number of trees removed depends on the density of the stand and the condition of the stand. In most cases, 20 to 40 percent is removed. The trees removed consist of dead and dying trees with poor form, unwanted species, and over mature trees.Advantage:
- Maintains an uneven stand
- Helps regenerate tolerant species
- The stands are aesthetically pleasing
- The wood removed will have a merchantable value
Mechanical Site Preparation
The preparation of an area for artificial planting by use of heavy equipment intended to increase the number of planting sites.
Tree Planting Program
The establishment of seedlings in an area in which natural regeneration is inadequate. The seedlings are obtained from a Provincial or private nursery and are planted by hand in the spring or fall, depending upon availability of stock and preparation of proposed areas.
Weeding
The reduction/control of grassy or woody vegetation which is in competition with established seedlings for light, space and nutrients.Manual weeding in which the competing vegetation is cut back by the use of one of a number of methods, such as spacing saws and chain saws.
Chemical weeding in which a registered herbicide is applied to an area of natural or artificial softwood regeneration to reduce competition from surrounding vegetation.
