| 1.)
What does Forest Management mean?
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Forest
Management is an important process in keeping Ontario's
forests healthy and productive. All elements in
the forests ecosystem depend on each other: If one
of these elements is damaged, then all are at risk.
It is through proper Forest Management that we protect
the forest ecosystem and ensure the sustainability
for our future forests while also maintaining economic
benefits. We determine which areas of the forest
to protect, which areas we will harvest, and how
we will renew our forests for the future. The health
and growth of the forest is promoted by thinning,
pruning and the selective cutting of diseased, bent,
stunted, ice damaged and deformed trees.
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| 2.)
What is a plantation? |
Plantations,
are man made forests. They are normally planted in
rows spaced from 5-9' apart with, trees being planted
anywhere from 2-6' on center within the rows.
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| 3.)
Why were the trees planted? |
Many
years ago, Ontario landowners and farmers were encouraged
to take marginal farmland out of production andplant
plantations of coniferous trees as a long-term crop.
If managed properly, coniferous plantations would,
through many thinnings, produce an income and return
the marginal land back to the original native hardwood.
This was done to address serious problems relating
to the lack of forest cover which include wind and
water erosion of top soil; diminished surface and
ground water retention and storage; diminished wildlife
habitat; and limited forests to supply wood products.
Under the provincial Forestry Act, "forestry
purposes" include the production of wood and
wood products, provision of proper environmental conditions
for wildlife protection against floods and errosion,
recreation and protection and production of water
supplies.
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| 4.)
Why thin? |
Thinning
a coniferous plantation is for the benefit of the
remaining trees, helping them survive and grow. It
allows the trees to attain light and nutrients from
the ground.
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| 5.)
At what age should thinning be done? |
Pre-commercial
Thinning should be done when the trees are between
20-40 years pf age. A commercial thinning can be done
15- 30 years later. However, age alone does not dictate
when plantations should be thinned: Their rate of
present growth and their room to grow determine when
they should be thinned.
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| 6.)
What kind of plantations do we work
in? |
We
manage and thin plantations of red and jack pine as
well as tamarack. The salvageable wood from these
is used in making fence posts.
We also manage and thin plantations
of white pine and spruce. The salvaged white pine
and spruce are used for saw logs.
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| 7.)
Is Ontario Pine Forest Products Ltd.
environmentally friendly? |
Yes,
Ontario Pine Forest Products Ltd. uses specially designed
and built thinning harvesters and forwarders. Because
of their special features, they have the ability to
work in a plantation with minimal damage to the remaining
trees or the forest floor.
After pre-commercial
thinning, both coniferous and deciduous (hardwoods)
will start to grow. They have not grown before because
of the lack of light. Natural regeneration will continue
as the plantation is further thinned and a new stand
will eventually take over from the original one creating
a mixed forest. We, are managing a coniferous plantation
so that it is sustainable and promote natural regenteration.
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| 8.)
Do we clean up unsalvageable wood
and slashings? |
No,
the slashings and unsalvageable wood are left on the
forest floor to naturally break down, and slowly add
nutrients back to the soil. This material also reduces
moisture evaporation and helps maintain the acidity
of the soil. The slashings should not be mulched up
and evenly spread over the forest floor as this seals
the forest floor to the germination of seeds of any
type. Left scattered on the forest floor, the slashings
also provide a good seedbed for new trees, as well
as a home for smaller creatures like rabbits, squirrels,
snails and salamanders.
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| 9.)
What are slashings? |
Slashings
are the cut branches and the unsalvageable wood resulting
from thinning the plantation.
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| 10.)
What is a pre-commercial thinning? |
This
is the first real thinning to open up the trees to
light. It is accomplished by removing complete rows
for present and future access, and by selectively
removing live trees from within the remaining rows.
Distorted, diseased and deformed trees are also removed
at this time. The remaining trees can now get more
light, and can use more of the moisture and nutrients
in the soil to maintain good health and growth.
The slashings and unsalvageable
wood are left on the forest floor to rot down and
slowly add more nutrients back into the soil for the
benefit of the remaining trees.
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| 11.)
Do we charge for pre-commercial thinning? |
In
most cases, we do not charge for pre-commercial
thinning provided we can keep the salvageable wood
and there is enough to cover our costs. Some of the
wood that is thinned can be salvaged and some cannot.
Sometimes, what is salvaged will meet the cost of
the thinning; however in some cases, there may be
a cost for having the plantation thinned pre-commercially.
During the pre-commercial thinning, we are culling
the dead, diseased, distorted and otherwise poor quality
trees, as well as some quality live ones. We are preparing
your platation for future commercial viability.
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| 12)
At what point is the wood in my plantation of commercial
value as a saw log? |
To
answer this question, we must first look at the finished
product. The smallest, usable and marketable piece
of wood that can be cut out of small diameter logs
is either one piece of 4" X 4" or two pieces
of 2" X 4".
Marketable
lumber is a minimum of 8' in length, so the log cut
in the bush to produce that 8' piece of lumber will
have to be 8' 6" (102") in length. This
is to allow for trimming of checked or split (from
drying) ends.
All
lumber is the same nominal square dimension for the
full length of the piece, but a log normally has a
taper to it, being bigger at the bottom than at the
top. The smaller diameter of the two ends of a log,
or the smallest diameter within the length of a log
determines what can be produced out of the log. So,
we must look at the diameter of the tree approximately
9' - 10' above ground level (102", or 8' 6"
above where the tree would be cut at the stump) to
determine if the diameter is great enough to produce
an 8' long piece of finished lumber.
To
produce one piece of 4" X 4" X 8', or two
pieces of 2" X 4" X 8' dressed lumber, a
log with a minimum diameter of 8" at approximately
9' -10' above the ground is needed. That is a big
tree! Yes, there are mills that will take smaller
wood; but they are very specialized, are few in number,
and not readily found in Southern Ontario.
When
the number of trees in a plantation meets these diameter
criteria in enough of a quantity to pay for the cost
of harvesting, shipping, and marketing the logs as
a raw product with an acceptable profit to the harvester,
the plantation has reached a point of commercial value.
At this point, and only at this point, can the
plantation be deemed to have a commercial value.
When the plantation reaches this point, it is viable
to pay for the wood, and we do so.
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| 13.)
At what point is the landowner paid
for wood? |
Normally,
the landowner is paid at the stage of first commercial
thinning when it is economically viable to do so.
At the first commercial thinning, there should be
very little bent, distorted, diseased or dead trees
to contend with. All the wood that is to be removed
is of a commercial value. The landowner is paid based
on the value of the wood removed.
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| 14)
Why does the diameter of a tree have
to be so large before it can be used as lumber? |
Mother
nature does not produce all trees that are perfectly
straight and uniform in diameter.
A
log has a layer of bark on it that varies in thickness
depending upon species.
A
log is round, and we want square sided lumber throughout.
Once
the piece of rough lumber is cut it must be planed
down to give a smooth surface and only then is it
a piece of dressed lumber.
Also,
let's not forget that the log is cut with a saw blade
and the width of the saw blade is called a kerf. Saw
blades in small wood mills, run in thickness of approximately
1/8" - ½" depending upon the sawmill.
For our purposes we will use one in the middle at
a ¼". This means that we now must add
a ½" to all dimensions of the cant or
squared piece of wood, cut from the log for one 4"
X 4", and ¾" to one of the sides
for two 2" X 4" pieces. Now the cant uses
up a centre of the log that is 4 ½" X
4 ¾".
In
the sawmill, the log must be first squared, with the
rounded pieces or slabs cut off. This produces the
cant. Because of the taper, and /or deformities, the
log will only square down to the biggest square that
can be attained at the small end, or the smallest
diameter of the log, to give a straight piece of lumber.
A bent or twisted saw log will have to be bigger in
diameter to produce the same piece that a straight
log will produce.
Therefore,
when you take into consideration that you are sawing
a square piece of lumber out of an imperfectly round,
tapered, and not perfectly straight log with bark
on it, normally a tree of approximately 8" at
approximately 9' - 10' above ground is needed to make
one 8' long piece of 4" X 4" or two 8' long
pieces of 2 X 4" lumber. Most mills find it too
costly to cut a log to obtain only one piece of 2"
X 4".
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| 15.)
Do we make furniture? |
No,
Ontario Pine Forest Products Ltd. specializes in the
management, the pre-commercial and first commercial
thinning of coniferous plantations in Southern Ontario.
The salvaged wood is cut into saw logs, or it is cut,
peeled and pressure treated to create fence and vineyard
trellising posts, poles, and wood chips.
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| 16.)
Why use pressure treated pine? |
Properly
pressure treated pine posts will last in excess of
30 years. Using pressure treated posts actually saves
trees.
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| 17.)
If you are making fence posts out
of the salvaged wood; do they not have a commercial
value and is this not now commercial thinning? |
No,
it is not considered as a commercial thinning! What
must be remembered is that we are removing not only
whole rows of live trees to allow access to the plantation
now and for future thinning, but we are also removing
dead, diseased, bent, distorted, stunted, small and
twinned trees. These are considered as part of the
1/3 of the trees removed from the remaining rows.
We are not high grading, or, taking the best trees
in the plantation. We are removing, for the first
time, the less healthy and less dominant ones in order
to release the healthy straight trees to improve the
overall health of the plantation, and give these remaining
ones a chance to grow and prosper and attain a commercial
value down the road.
These
small diameter logs would not have a value that would
normally cover the cost of their cutting and removal
from the bush.
Only
as a finished, pressure treated product do they have
a commercial value, but, as a small diameter log they
do not. They do not have a commercial value either
at the stump, or on a landing. To take these salvaged
logs from this point, to a point where they can be
financially viable takes more time and money.
Once
this small diameter log has been cut, it is forwarded
to a landing where it can be either peeled right there,
or loaded onto a truck and taken to a peeling yard
at another location. Once peeled, the raw pine sticks
are graded and sorted into sizes, bundled, and then
left to dry down to a moisture content of 18-20%.
This can take as much as a year before they are ready
for treating.
As
a pine log from the woods they are too small in diameter
for use as saw logs. As an untreated fence post, they
would not last a year in the ground before rotting.
The
whole process from standing tree to finished treated
fence post can take anywhere from 5 months to 12 months
depending upon; the time of year and the amount of
fine, dry, windy days. Once dried and pressure treated,
and only after this pressure treating, do these pieces
of pine have a commercial value as posts. Value has
been added or given to them because they have been
peeled, graded, sorted, dried and then pressure treated.
Because
of this, this first thinning is still classed as a
"pre-commercial" thinning. It is done to
give present and future access to the plantation and
to cull out the poor quality trees that will hinder
the release of the remaining good healthy trees. It
is done to give a healthier, larger diameter, trees
in the years to come which will give the logs cut
from this plantation a commercial value when cut.
This type of thinning produces a healthy sustainable
commercial stand over time with natural regeneration.
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| 18.)
How well are the posts pressure treated
and is it safe? |
By
drying our posts to a low moisture content, maximum
treating penetration (all the way into the heartwood)
will occur. After treating, a new process is used
whereby the posts undergo an accelerated fixation
in a conditioning chamber to ensure that they are
environmentally friendly (no leaching of the chemicals).
These posts when properly treated will then last in
excess of 30 years.
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| 19.)
What is meant by a 4" post? |
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This
dimension refers to the post diameter. All diameter
sizes refer to the small end size. For example,
a 4" post would measure a minimum of 4"
and a maximum of 4.99" on the small end; a
6" would be between 6" and 6.99"
on the small end.
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