Senior BC Foresters' North Vancouver
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Senior BC Foresters’ North Vancouver Island Tour: Part A September 21 – 24, 2014 And… Our Noble Scribe and Photographer Participants: Al Gorley, Don McMullan, Gerry Burch, Tim Ryan, Kerry McGourlick, Dave Mogensen (guide), Paul Wooding, Alan Fry, Gordon Weetman, Bill Dumont (upper deck) and Steve Lorimer. Jonathan Lok joined the tour but missed the Holberg Inlet leg pictured. Local Guides/Presenters: We were fortunate to have a very good group of guides and presenters for the tour that included: Dave Mogensen, Dave Steele, Brian Scott, Dave Cousins, Kelly McMann, John Flintoff, Shannon Janzen, Harriett Cadwallader, Ray Robazza, Andy Steinke, Ralph Wallas, Gord Glover, Brian Scott, Kerry McGourlick, Blair Hunter, Lawrence Hiebert, Dave Weymer, Randy Boas, Randy Hunt, Larry Knudson, Nick Russell, Andrew Murray, Trevor Egely, Bev Weber, Annemarie Koch, Annette Van Niejenhuis, Gerry Lambert, Serge Martel. Sunday, September 21: A travel day for those that drove up to Port Hardy (Bill, Don, Kerry & Steve). It was a beautiful, sunny warm day. On arrival we checked into the Glen Lyon Inn, explored around Port Hardy, and adjacent First Nations reserves. End of a summer-like day after traveling up to Port Hardy; Don and Kerry at the beach looking towards Fort Rupert Monday, September 22: After breakfast at the Glen Lyon Inn, those already in Port Hardy (Tim, Al, Don, Kerry, Bill and Jon and Steve) went to the airport to pick up Gordon, Gerry, Al Fry, and Paul. Bill provided an orientation at the airport prior to us heading off to our first stops of the day: Cape Scott Wind Farm: Dave Durrant, the Manager for Vestas who have the maintenance contract with GDF Suez for the Cape Scott Wind Farm provided background and information about the project, construction phases and energy generation. Dave Cousins the Site Manager for GDF Suez for the Cape Scott Wind Farm provided a power point presentation covering the operational nature of the wind farm and as well as some information about the GDF Suez company and its operations globally and in Canada. The following information is taken from the GDF Suez web site summarizes the operations development: http://www.suezenergyna.com/engineering-ingenuity-at-cape-scott-wind-farm/ A view of the wind farm from the water(GDF SUEZ website) and close-up of single turbine ``Engineering Ingenuity at Cape Scott Wind Farm On the boggy terrain of the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the 99 MW Cape Scott Wind Farm proved to be a civil engineering feat for the building team of site developer and operator GDF SUEZ Energy North America. Completed in November 2013, Cape Scott continued the company's commitment to growing its Canadian renewables portfolio and providing sustainable energy to the country's residents. The company now operates wind facilities in British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Dave Durrant, the Manager for Vestas, explains some of the wind turbine equipment maintenance with our group The computer graphic indicates each turbine on site and details like the wind speed, direction and power being generated by each individual turbine and the entire wind farm. Situated 40 kms (25 miles) west of Port Hardy, the land including Cape Scott soaks in up to 4 meters (13 feet) of rain annually, and accessing the site on the plateau, over steep hills and twisting dirt and gravel roads is a daily feat. Much of the early construction focused on clearing segments of the 4,000 hectares (15 square miles) of land for roads and the turbines, transmission lines and the substation. And before the 55 turbine and substation foundations could be poured, crews had to assemble a small concrete batch plant on site. Infrastructure crews installed 33 kms (21 miles) of roadway, 23 bridges, 67 imbedded culverts, and 500 cross-drain culverts. Because of the wind park's remote locale, GDF SUEZ also built a 40 km (25 mile) transmission line to connect the generating facility to the electrical grid and supply its power to customer, BC Hydro, under the 20-year power purchase agreement. Cape Scott is located on the traditional territories of First Nations, and GDF SUEZ has worked closely with the Quatsino, Tlatlasikwala and Kwakiutl communities as well as other residents in the region during the project. With a total investment cost of more than $300 million, the project is powered by Vestas V100 1.8 MW turbines and occupies a total footprint of 350 hectares (864 acres) outside of Cape Scott National Park. Having created 300 construction jobs during the peak construction period and having a $51 million economic impact on the area, Cape Scott also created 12 permanent operations and maintenance positions at the facility. Cape Scott Wind Farm is within the portfolio of the joint venture formed by GDF SUEZ, with 40% interest held by its subsidiary GDF SUEZ Canada Inc., and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Fiera Axium Infrastructure Canada, LP, separately through their affiliates, with each holding a 30% interest.`` In addition, on the tour we learned that Amec Black McDonald (http://amecblackandmcdonald.com/ )were involved in the construction and support phases of the project. Vestas( http://vestas.com/en/about#! ) transported and supplied the 55 V100-1.8 MW wind turbines. Surespan (http://www.surespan.com/company/ ) set up a bulk concrete plant to provide foundations for the wind turbine towers on the site. Lunch on the road: after the wind farm stop, we travelled to Holberg and Western Forest Products (http://www.westernforest.com/ ) TFL 6. We ate the first of two very good and ample lunches on the way. Cutblock 61-152: We were met by Dave Steele at a 68.2 hectare cut block. Retention blocks totaled 8.2 hectares. Some discussion regarding the size of cutblock compared to the ``40ha`` max size usual under the former Forest Practices Code. Second growth in the area being harvested averaged 525m3 per hectare whereas the average for Holberg is 825m3 per ha. The demand for second growth was discussed. Currently the domestic market is paying about $60 per cubic meter while the export market for same is ~$90. All in logging costs are ~$70, so it is obvious for success, export is necessary to be above break-even. Grapple yarding of second growth in block 61-152. Note the tree topping done on some of the retention trees to promote windfirmness (on the near right side of photo). A Loaded truck leaves cut-block. Roadside wood waiting to be loaded out, steep terrain and road system (up into the fog). Also tree toping of leave trees in setting. LIDAR Brian Scott provided an overview of the use of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) by WFP at their Holberg Forest Operation. It is part of a Pilot LIDAR trial covering a portion of the Holberg and Port McNeill/Jeune Landing Forest Operations. The data is used to assess and understand the forest canopy and terrain. While relatively expensive to have LIDAR coverage, WFP has found this technology to be cost effective in helping with forest management and operational planning activities. LIDAR images showing portions of Block 61-152 area for tree height and terrain information Karst management: In certain areas of WFP’s tenures on the North Island underlying limestone formations have led to the development of Karst features. The significance of Karst features can vary, as some may be substantial caves of interest to spelunkers while others may be more mundane sink holes that can represent a safety hazard for machine operators and workers in the woods. Where they are identified, they are marked, and management prescriptions applied. For example, higher stumps can be left to alert others of their location, both to protect the feature from possible disturbance and for safety (see photo). In some situations aesthetics can be the management focus while in others it can be the management of streams and water sources that influence and create karst. WFP has developed its own Karst manual to guide staff in management expectations in areas where Karst features are found. Ribbon and high stumps identify Karst features in the field. The high stumps help to protect the feature and prevent logging debris from entering the Karst. Blair Hunter of HAF Forestry Services provided a demonstration of a drone mounted video camera. Drones are being used to get a rapid visual overview of areas that are otherwise difficult to access. It was obvious that the time savings can be significant and we can expect to see more drones used for a variety of forest management applications in the future. Our only disappointment was that the drone failed to deliver the promised beer! It’s a bird? a plane?.......it`s a drone! Pruning: There were several examples of tree pruning and topping during our tour. Because of the high winds in the area that can cause considerable windthrow in leave trees WFP has employed this practice in an effort to save trees that would otherwise be lost. Spiral pruning (see below) in a newer technique to reduce crown size without actually removing branches all around the tree stem or topping the tree. Spiral pruning to prevent/minimize wind throw Holberg to Coal Harbour Boat ride: The group was treated to a boat ride from Holberg to Coal Harbour, with a side trip through Quatsino Narrows and by the village of Quatsino, with Don Griffiths in a water taxi. We were able to see evidence of some of the original ‘A-frame’ logging along the coast, more recent harvest operations further from the shore, log dump sites, and one of the Quatsino First Nation’s village sites, all on the way to Coal Harbour.