For the Foresters

[SwampDonkey]

Ron W said it well. But there isn't much of a market for foresters in this region. Most of them that stick around become silviculture contractors and loggers. There are only so many DNR and Irving jobs. But, as to the fee structure, I would think $/cord would reduce the high grading. Up here it would go through a marketing board where chain of custody is tracked by legislation. A landowner can check with the marketing board what wood was moved. It could be a stick of pulp or firewood or a sawlog and would not tempt one to high grade just the logs. If you base it one $/mbf that tells me your only looking for the logs. We have markets for all three. Trouble is the loggers have done better knocking on doors and convincing owners to take lump sum resulting in a high probability that harvesting is a clear cut. About 5% you would call good management. Just look around. I've done many management plans over the years that the owner turns around and uses to liquidate his woods. These were subsidized plans. I've stopped doing plans and the marketing board has stopped assistance on cost share. It doesn't promote good management. There was a woodlot that was promoted for good management and signs erected, news coverage, the whole nine yards. Today that same woodlot is all scalped and trashed and lot of it was on steep terrain, shaped like a cow bell.

On the marking, I would set up a fee/acre.   The landowner can see it and measure it if he needs to verify. If it's a cruise $/acre and if a written plan is required $$/plan plus the $/acre cruise. Again the owner can measure it off Google or GeoNB websites. We have access to free GIS data that anyone can use. And a lot of folks have those consumer Garmins and can measure with it. If you have a target basal area, than show the owner how to use a free home made angle gauge to check his job. If the owner isn't going to take an active part in management, that will often lead to many of the problems.

[SwampDonkey]

I drove out the Shikatehawk road, and looks like last winter the heavy rain took the whole road out in places. Tons of gravel hulled in and stream levied. Drove out the head of the stream and you could see why. Every stick on those slopes and gullies and little feeder streams all logged off like a moon-scape. All owned by a local mill and the government. And all hardwood, which the mill doesn't even use. I assume sold for pulpwood and a small percentage of logs. Being hardwood this mill will never thin it. Quite a few lots have been sold to this mill. Many lots I looked up ownership for thinning were once private a few years ago are now industrial freehold by this mill purchase and also 9/10 times clear cut. The trouble with trying to do selection in those hillsides is it's difficult terrain from slopes (although the ground is quite firm and not much surface rocks), they over cut to begin with and this results is scald and die back of the residuals. So they just take it all now instead of needing to come back to clean up the dying hardwood. They bought two lots on our road 25 years ago and cut them off promptly and never thinned those either. They will often plant softwood if the ground isn't coming back good. They will only thin spruce ground.

[timberjake]

I've had the opportunity to work with a couple of pretty good foresters who have taken the time to teach me a little about stand management and tree selection.  With a little instrucion on tree selection most loggers should be able to cut in unmarked timber and do a good job of it.  The forester then spends less time marking timber and the logger has a little more operational discression.  Of course this only works when there is a proven ability by the logger and oversight by the forester.