SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN Corner Brook Pulp April 2018 and Paper Version 8 Woodlands xg SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN June 2020 Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Version 10 Woodlands Sustainable Forest Management Plan Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited This Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Plan is one of a number of documents required for sustainable management of the Defined Forest Area (timber limits) of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited. Separate but associated documents on the Woodlands computer network, the Environmental Management System Manuals, serve as references for the implementation and maintenance of the environmental standards to which Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. is certified: the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard and the SFI 2015-2019 Forest Management and Fibre Sourcing Standards. February 2020_v10 The current version of this document can be found at www.cbppl.com ii Sustainable Forest Management Plan Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................1 DESCRIPTION OF THE DEFINED FOREST AREA (DFA) .................................................2 BIOPHYSICAL ....................................................................................................................... 3 Geography and Terrain ............................................................................................................ 3 Geology and Soils ................................................................................................................... 3 Ecosystems ........................................................................................................................ 3 Forest Types ........................................................................................................................ 6 Wildlife and Fish ..................................................................................................................... 7 SOCIO-ECONOMIC .............................................................................................................. 9 Tenure (Ownership and Management Responsibilities) ......................................................... 9 Communities within the DFA ............................................................................................... 12 Economic Impact ................................................................................................................... 12 Forest Uses ...................................................................................................................... 13 FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING FRAMEWORK ....................................................16 Public Participation in Planning Processes ........................................................................... 16 Five-Year Operating Plan ...................................................................................................... 16 Annual Operating Plan .......................................................................................................... 17 Sustainable Forest Management Plan .................................................................................... 17 Adaptive Forest Management ............................................................................................... 18 INDICATOR PROFILES ........................................................................................................19 Indicator 1.1.2 AAC Harvested .......................................................................................... 21 Indicator 1.2.1 Working Groups ........................................................................................ 25 Indicator 2.1.1 Sufficiently Stocked ................................................................................... 34 Indicator 2.1.3 Non-native Tree Species ............................................................................ 38 Indicator 2.3.3 Downed Woody Material .......................................................................... 41 Indicator 2.3.5 Soil Disturbance ......................................................................................... 45 Indicator 3.1.1 Buffers and No Grub Zones ..................................................................... 52 Indicator 3.2.1 Preharvest Planning .................................................................................. 56 Indicator 3.2.3 Stand Replacing Disturbance ................................................................... 59 Indicator 4.1.1 Ecosystem Area by Type ........................................................................... 64 Indicator 4.1.2 Within-Stand Structural Retention ......................................................... 68 Indicator 4.1.4 Caribou Habitat ......................................................................................... 72 Indicator 4.1.5 Pine Marten Habitat ................................................................................. 77 Indicator 4.2.3 Age Classes ................................................................................................. 81 Indicator 5.2.1 Average Clearcut Size ............................................................................... 86 Indicator 5.4.1 Forest Stakeholders ................................................................................... 89 Indicator 6.1.2 Special Places ............................................................................................. 93 Indicator 7.1.1 Wood Utilization ........................................................................................ 98 Indicator 8.2.1 Aboriginal Community Representation ................................................ 101 Indicator 8.3.1 Engagement of Aboriginal People.......................................................... 103 February 2020_v10 The current version of this document can be found at www.cbppl.com iii Sustainable Forest Management Plan Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited Indicator 11.2.1 Investment in Training and Skills Development ................................ 106 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................110 February 2020_v10 The current version of this document can be found at www.cbppl.com iv Sustainable Forest Management Plan Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Native and introduced mammals on CBPPL’s Defined Forest Area1 .............................. 8 Table 2. Location (FMD) and type of agreements involving CBPPL and the provincial government (Crown) ............................................................................................................. 10 Table 3. Timber rights relinquished by CBPPL............................................................................ 12 Table 4. Communities that benefit from CBPPL's DFA .............................................................. 12 Table 5. Softwood Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Available and AAC Harvested by Forest Management District for 2016-2020. .................................................................................... 22 Table 6. Hardwood Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Available and AAC Harvested by Forest Management District for 2016-2020. .................................................................................... 23 Table 7. Working Group Definitions ............................................................................................ 26 Table 8. Area of productive forest present on the DFA, 2019. ..................................................... 28 Table 9. Non-productive Forest Area Summary, 2019 ................................................................. 28 Table 10. Comparison of Productive Forest on the DFA by Working Group .............................. 30 Table 11. Comparison of Non-productive Forest and Non-forest Area on the DFA by Stand ID 31 Table 12. Percent of areas on the DFA that are sufficiently stocked. ........................................... 36 Table 13. Portion of non-native species planted as a percentage of the total productive ............. 39 Table 14. The amount of residual structure retained in harvest operations as a percent of the Annual Operating Plan area, by District. .............................................................................. 42 Table 15. Average Width (m) of Roads Built on CBPPL Limits from 2009 to 2019 .................. 49 Table 16. Occurrences of nonconformances associated with buffers and 30m no grub zones. ... 54 Table 17. Percent of Land Area in Watersheds on CBPPL Limits with a Stand-replacing Disturbance ........................................................................................................................... 61 Table 18. Percent of the DFA harvested in poor black spruce forest and scrub types in Forest Management Districts 5, 6, 9, & 16. ..................................................................................... 66 Table 19. Wildlife trees (per hectare) left on CBPPL cutovers. ................................................... 70 Table 20. Poor Black Spruce Forest Type (PBSFT) Harvested in Caribou Secondary Core Areas ..............................................................................................................................................