CFWO Proposing a New National Treeplanting Program
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Wisdom in the Woods CFWO proposing a new national treeplanting program Canada's woodlot organizations see important role in meeting climate change goals By Bob Austman, Manitoba Dirctor Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners The new federal environment department, known as Environment and Climate Change Canada, is actively seeking proposals from Canadians on how to help in the fight against climate change. In response, the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners is proposing a common sense approach—get out there and plant more trees! The national treeplanting proposal, which will have been submitted by the end of June, will involve a Canadawide approach. Since each province’s forest resources differ in species composition and distribution, the proposal will recommend a variety of strategies. In Manitoba, our approach will be to plant trees on marginal land within a specific region, in cooperation with Conservation Continued on page 2 Inside... • Getting to know saskatoons Sheilla Jones in your woodlot, page 6 The joy of chainsaw carving Carver DeeAnn Holmes of Seddon's Corner is delighted with the eagle • Pie cuts, hinges and barber chairs: she carved using a chainsaw. Holmes is a competitive carver, and has safely felling a tree, page 4 been producing ducks and loons for ten years. She picked up the • How "barber chairs" can kill, page 5 chainsaw only two months ago, after taking training with master carver • WAM introduces eBulletin, page 3 Russ Kubara of Beausjour. Kubara and Holmes were both on hand for • How much firewood in a cord? page 10 the Agassiz Chainsaw Sculptors "Spring Carvein" on June 11 at Tyndall Firewood Supply on Hwy 44. May/June 2016 1 t CFWO advocates planting more trees across Canada to Website: woodlotmanitoba.com help address climate change Woodlot Association of Manitoba Continued from front page Board of Directors 2016/2017 Districts and the Manitoba Forestry Association. President: Irene de Graaf, Narol, (204) 6612068 Landowners who are actively managing their woodlots, [email protected] and who have a PLRP (Private Lands Resource Plan) VicePresident: Clint Pinder, Stony Mountain will be considered as potential participants in the SecretaryTreasurer: program. Eligible landowners will receive seedlings and Allan Webb, Stonewall (204) 4678648 technical advice to ensure a successful outcome. While the main aim of the program is to sequester [email protected] carbon by planting more trees, there are many other Past President: Len Riding benefits. Planting trees on marginal land will prevent Directors: soil erosion, protect sensitive watersheds from excess •Mike James, Winnipeg, Beaconia runoff, provide habitat for birds, mammals and other •Bob Austman, Beausejour wildlife, and beautify the landscape. Just as important is •Tom Dykstra, Balmoral the sense of pride that woodlot owners will feel as they •Bruce MacLeod, Winnipeg participate in this national program. •Chris Matthewson, Oakbank Other jurisdictions will take a different approach. For example, in New Brunswick, where there is little •Silvia Chiaramello, Thalberg marginal farmland for such a program, woodlot owners will carry out enhanced silviculture techniques such as The Manitoba Woodlot is published six times annually as a thinning. Woodlot thinning are known to enhance the service to the membership of the Woodlot Association of growth rate and productivity of both hardwood and Manitoba (WAM). softwood species. This will result in a greater uptake WAM seeks to promote an understanding of sustainable and storage of greenhouse gasses such as carbon woodlot management, increase income and employment dioxide. potential for the woodlot sector, promote the use of woodlot All Canadians are being asked to reduce their personal products in the place of nonrenewable and imported products, ‘carbon footprint’. As woodlot owners, we are well and develop human resources in woodlot management. positioned to help even more... by planting trees to help WAM represents the interests of our members within the absorb greenhouse gasses. The data on carbon takeup Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners (CFWO). The of trees as they grow is wellestablished, and measuring CFWO makes those interests known to forestry ministers at the absorption of greenhouse gasses through a national both levels of government. treeplanting program will directly support the WAM also has a representative to the Manitoba Model commitments Canada made on climate change in Paris Forest, another organization that promotes sustainable last fall. management of Manitoba’s wooded areas. This is yet another reason to be proud of the WAM is a nonprofit organization led by a volunteer Board contribution all the halfmillion woodlot owners in of Directors, which meets monthly. Our Annual General Canada are making to healthy ecosystems right across the country. Meeting (AGM) is held each year before the end of March At this early stage, little is known about the level of and is open to all members in good standing. funding available, or the duration of this national program. Stay tuned for details. The Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners is a Editor: Sheilla Jones national federation of provincial woodlot Email: [email protected] associations in Canada, promoting the economic and social interests of Canada’s 458,500 private woodlot Woodlot Association of Manitoba owners through a national voice. WAM is a member 900 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3M 0Y4 of the CFWO. For more details, go to www.cfwofcpb.org. 2 The Manitoba Woodlot WAM News New eBulletin service for WAM members Classified ads in daily newspapers used to be the Note: WAM’s policy to protect members’ privacy quickest and cheapest way to connect buyers and sellers, means that WAM does not share its mailing lists or other but the digital world of Kijiji and eBay has found a faster member information with any group, organization or and cheaper way to do it. company. WAM is doing the same for its members by launching an eBulletin service so that members can quickly reach each other through an email notification system managed WAM planning oldfashioned field by WAM. This service has the following categories: day for 25th anniversary • eBulletin: Wanted. Seeking logs, wood for special projects, used forestry equipment, etc. The WAM field day committee, headed by president • eBulletin: For Sale. Selling roundwood, firewood, Irene de Graaf, is planning an oldfashioned fall field day cut lumber, forestry and other equipment, etc. for this September to celebrate WAM’s 25th anniversary. • eBulletin: Event Notice. Announcing events, The details are not yet finalized, but the tentative date is workshops, projects, etc. of interest to woodlot owners. Saturday, September 24th. Some of the activities being • eBulletin: Inquiries. Asking other members for considered include a “Salad and Tea” wild food information, e.g., sawmill recommendations, advice on workshop, a chainsaw clinic, and a number of workshops and courses, where to buy specific equipment, presentations and demonstrations. Mike James has etc. offered to host the event at the Boreal Woods Nature Centre on Hwy 59. How the eBulletin works • Send an email to the WAM editor at [email protected] requesting an eBulletin message to be sent to members. Please keep the text of the message you want sent short and precise, and indicate if you want members to respond by email, telephone, or both. • The editor will promptly issue the eBulletin to members, with the request that those who respond to the bulletin indicate they are WAM members. To monitor the effectiveness of this service, WAM may contact members who requested eBulletins to ask about the response experience. This service is free to WAM members. Due to cost constraints, it is of necessity limited to WAM members who have email access. At present, the eBulletin notification list is the same member list used to notify members the link and password when the online edition of The Manitoba Woodlot is published. If you are a member receiving the newsletter by mail but also have an email address, please send the editor an email requesting that you be added to the eBulletin notification list. The WAM board is considering allowing nonmembers to utilize the eBulletin for a modest fee, but that decision has not yet been finalized. May/June 2016 3 Wisdom in the woods — Pie cuts, hinges and barber chairs: How to safely fell a tree By Brad Gurr, certified arborist It is the small stuff that can kill you. And if it doesn’t kill you it can cost you a lot. There is in arboriculture a phenomenon that leads to headlines like “Experienced operator injured by chainsaw”. It’s called complacency. Having operated a chain saw for 30 years, I may be more at risk of injuring myself than the novice user. I had the opportunity to attend a professional chainsaw operator instructor certification course a few years back and was surprised that we would be spending three of the five days in a handson field school. I was at the time operating a chainsaw on a daily basis Brad Gurr and was confident in my ability to drop the tallest tree with little effort. What I didn’t know was that the smallest the tree and may save your life. tree still requires more than a little thought to land it Hinge wood becomes more critical when the tree is safely where it should go. under tension from a lean or storm conditions. Ice, winds The basic geometry of tree falling has remained and other trees leaning against the tree being taken down unchanged from the Stone Age. can result in unpredictable and often violent splitting of In fact beavers—rodents not known for their cerebral the base of the tree.