Hemlock
the ugly
stepsister or
Ralph Winter
Stand Management Officer
January 30, 2008
the new
Cinderella species
Objectives
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To present some MFR perspectives regarding the
management of Hemlock (Hw)
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Current and future markets and product preferences
Volume, value and quality of second growth
Tree species diversity
Timber supply considerations
Forest Health
Stand establishment and tending
Introduction
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We need to acknowledge the name of the
BGC Zone we do most of our
management in is "The coastal Western
Hemlock Zone"
The standing timber inventory in the
THLB is 60% Hw
63% of the current FSPs standards have
Hw as a preferred or acceptable species
Hemlock has, therefore, a substantial
impact on the financial results of the
B.C. Coast both now and into the future
Current Old Growth Hemlock
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A critical constraint for old
growth hemlock-balsam timber
is variability in the wood
quality, rot, compression
wood, moisture content and
other properties.
This variability makes
harvesting hemlock-balsam
forests somewhat of a lottery:
Current Markets
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On a global basis, the B.C. Coast Douglas fir and hemlockbalsam costs today are at the higher end of North America log
costs
Higher valued western red cedar and Douglas fir are normally
able to offset these higher costs,
Hemlock-balsam is more uneconomic due to the inherent
wood quality constraints and lower sales returns.
There are profitable processing operations on the Coast, but
most of these are not processing hemlock balsam timber
The most profitable segments are in western red cedar,
Douglas fir and other unique species
Coastal Action Plan
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The B.C. Coast is not really limited by any market or product
restrictions or limitations
mainly limited by higher costs relative to competing products or
suppliers.
Cost reduction in delivered log costs and processing are key
themes in any coastal industry strategy.
Silviculturists have a key role in establishing and managing Hw
stands that will be
 low cost to harvest
 valuable to mill
future markets and product
preferences for Hemlock
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The Coast's future is quite bright due to the
volume of 2nd growth Fdc and Hw
The 2nd growth product does not have the
decay issue that old growth has
Operations in the Pacific Northwest have
had a lot of success with drying lumber from
the smaller 2nd growth trees.
Hw when dried is stable and takes paint and
stain very well.
There has been a growing market for 2nd
growth Hw in Asia.
The Future
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Low-cost, high-volume commodity hemlock-balsam sawmills
depend on achieving consistently low manufacturing costs per
unit of lumber produced.
These mills utilize state-of-the-art computer scanning and
optimization technology to enable high-speed log processing
In-bound log uniformity and quality are critical to capture all of
the benefits that computer optimization offers.
Second-growth and plantation forests produce logs that are
uniform in size and age with limited defects
Silviculturists need to implement species, regeneration and stand
management practices that enable low harvesting costs while
producing high value stands
Area Harvested, by Species Percent
100
100
80
80
Percent
Percent
Volume Harvested, by Species Percent
60
40
20
20
0
1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005
1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005
Period
Period
Seedlings Planted, by Species Percent
Area Planted, by Species Percent
100
100
80
80
Percent
Percent
60
40
0
60
60
40
40
20
20
0
0
1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005
1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005
Period
Period
Current Status of Harvested Area (2007)
100
Percent Area
80
60
40
FG
NFG
RES
20
RES
Period
NFG
1996-2000
FG
RES
NFG
1991-1995
FG
RES
NFG
FG
0
Tree species diversity and
current deployment
on the entire coast
2001-2005
Western Red Cedar
Other Species
Forest Cover Pending
NSR
NP
Free Growing
Not Free Growing
Residual Mature Trees
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To ensure sustainable
and valuable future
harvests, Foresters
need to monitor and
strategically manage
the
 harvesting,
regeneration,
 and tending
practices on all
species
Managing the stock
portfolio over time
Area Harvested
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100000
80000
Area (ha)
60000
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40000
20000
0
Western Red Cedar
cedar
Other Species
Species
Other species
Timber Harvesting Land Base - 1994
Harvested (1991-1995)
Harvested (1996-2000)
Harvested (2001-2005)
Foresters need to actively
manage the proportion of the
stock portfolio they are
liquidating over time…
Is it appropriate to
 remove 20% of the total
cedar inventory while
 Only removing 6% of the
other species inventory
 In a period of 15 years?
Harvesting information
for the North Coast TSA
Percent Area Harvested, by Species
100
Percent
80
60
40
20
0
1991-1995
1996-2000
2001-2005
Period
Western Red Cedar
Other Species
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In a number of TSAs and
TFLs we seen some key
changes:
 harvesting heavily
focussed on high value
species – I.e. red and
yellow cedar
 leaving hemlock and
balsam behind
 Significant increase in
partial cutting
Planting information
for the North Coast TSA
Area Planted, by Percent Species
100
Percent
80
60
40
20
0
1991-1995
1996-2000
2001-2005
Period
Western Red Cedar
Other Species
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Compared to the
significant shifts in the
types of species being
harvested, there has not
been commensurate
increases in red cedar
planting
Harvesting and free growing
information for the North Coast TSA
Status of Harvested Area
5000
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Area (ha)
4000
3000
2000
1000
PH
NFG
FG
PH
NFG
FG
PH
NFG
FG
0
1991-1995
1996-2000
2001-2005
Period
Western Red Cedar
Other Species
NSR
NP
FG Free Growing
NFG Not Free Growing
PH Partial Harvest
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In recent years some
obligation holders have
focussed on meeting free
growing obligations by
using old growth or
residual Hemlock balsam
leave trees
Free growing obligations
are declared within 1-2
years instead of 15 years
January 16 Forest Practices Board
Report on high retention harvesting
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On the blocks reviewed there was
a species profile shift from high
cedar composition to lower value
Hw-dominated stands.
Depending upon the remaining
value, there may be limited
options for subsequent harvest
entries.
None of the site plans projected a
reduction in volume production or
a species shift as a result of the
partial harvest approach, when
there clearly would be.
There was usually a “disconnect”
between what site plans
prescribed and what was
implemented on the ground
Forest Practices
Board Report
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Blocks were often not planted.
Instead there was reliance on
release of understory, or natural
regeneration, which will almost
certainly encourage hemlock
and true fir growth, rather than
regeneration of higher-value
cedar.
mistletoe is not always being
managed appropriately, leaving
abundant infected trees in
residual stands, which will
negatively impact strategies for
natural regeneration of
vulnerable hemlock.
Managing the Stock portfolio
more strategically
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Your personal RRSP or investment counsellors do active
management of your stock portfolio to ensure the right balance of
stocks
As stock portfolio managers, foresters have a responsibility to the
public to properly managing the growing stock on coastal forests
I would think that the public isn’t expecting forester’s to manage
junk bonds and sub-prime mortgage funds
I would think that the public would expect foresters to maintain
options, minimize risk and produce valuable growing stocks
Managing Tree
Species Diversity
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We have block level control
over tree species but
we are not managing the
aggregate forest level species
compositions
To effectively manage for
volume, value, health and
climate change professional
foresters should be managing
species composition at the
forest level also
Timber supply considerations
with regard to Hw deployment
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The choice of what species
should be deployed has
profound value and volume
implications for the public.
As stewards of the ¼ trillion
dollar public asset,
professional foresters must
have a clear understanding of
the impacts of the choices
they are making
Choice of species affects the volume and value of the
future crop!
Harvest
Level (000’s
m3/yr)
800
700
Long term
harvest
level
increases
Douglas-fir
is about
40%
more
valuable8%!
than hemlock!
Base Case Harvest
Level
New Harvest
Level
About 120,000 m3/yr more
What happens
when 1/2 the
area SIharvest
27+ that
would
Stand conversion
Douglas-fir
in long
term.
Douglas-fir
naturally regenerate to hemlock is converted to
Harvest
Douglas-fir?
600
500
400
300
200
Base Case Douglas-fir
Harvest
100
0
0
50
100
150
Years from now
TFL 39 Blk 1 Type II Silviculture
Analysis
200
250
Partial cutting issues
and forest health
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With the coast action plan we
will see trends of intensifying
forest harvesting and
silviculture on a diminishing
forest land-base
Key issue will be to ensure
we don't end up with lots of
mistletoe infested stands
Mistletoe is a serious concern
in some variable retention
areas.
On the coast the significant change in partial cutting
has the potential to result in different types of
retention and regeneration and growth
100%
CLEAR
RETEN
CCRES
IMCUT
PATCT
SEEDT
80%
Proportion of 60%
harvest area 40%
20%
19
89
19
91
19
93
19
95
19
97
19
99
20
01
20
03
20
05
20
07
0%
Year
Partial cutting issues
and forest health
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Previously, even-aged
silvicultural regimes almost
completely eradicated mistletoeinfested trees.
Recent increases in Variable
Retention has often left mistletoeinfested trees
mistletoe infestations can reduce
tree volume growth by 15 to 40
percent
Silviculturists need to actively
manage forest health
Stocking Standards
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Just because Hw grows on a site does not mean we should manage for it on
that site.
Stocking standards should reflect the species we are focussing our
management efforts on - should not be based on ad hoc approach of "it occurs
it must be good".
The selection of a tree species must include consideration for growth rates,
forest health and commercial value.
Hemlock may be commercial on the island but at the back-end of a remote
coastal drainage it may not be economically feasible to harvest that stand in
the future.
The choice of a species as a regeneration option should not foreclose on future
harvest options.
Doing good basic silviculture
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Prompt stocking of denuded
sites needs to be a key coast
strategy
Improved Hw stock can
result in 20-30% increases in
volumes and carbon
sequestration
natural regeneration with Hw
can be a viable strategy but
there are risks to loss of stand
productivity if there are
regen delays and stocking is
patchy
Hemlock stand value
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A Queen Charlotte Island study indicates lots of biologically
mature Hemlock on the island, but its not economically operable.
“Although the physical dimension of the second growth resource
is impressive, its economic operability is questionable”
There is considerable value in having stands achieve a
merchantable size at an earlier date.
Economic operability
and harvest availability
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Impact of Piece size on: Harvesting
costs and product value
Data suggests the marginal log piece size on the coast is
roughly 25-28 cm depending on equipment
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Source: Potential financial returns from alternative silvicultural prescriptions in B.C. second-growth (Howard & Temesgen, 1997)
Harvest-origin hemlockleading stands have also
reached cutting age (40-60
years) but are currently not
economically operable,
unless other, higher-value
stands can carry the
operating costs
Economic operability and
early harvest availability
will be a key issue as we
move forward in this period
of constrained landbase and
harvest levels on the coast.
Economic operability
and harvest availability
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We should look at managing
stands that will produce logs
that are of appropriate
dimension for small to
medium sized log mills and
market-demanded products.
Need to consider designing
stands to harvested with
Mechanized systems as they
are:
 cost effective
 capable of producing a
high quality log
Stand tending
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To produce economically
valuable Hw stands which are
low cost to harvest, some
tending will be required
Over-dense stands have more
stems at harvesting age
These stems need to be
handled if harvesting occurs.
The added cost exceeds the
value.
Stand tending
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Foresters should consider
early stocking or density
control to concentrate growth
on crop trees
Key issue will be to have
wood available on time,
provide options for early
harvest and scheduling
flexibility
Forest Level Volume Impacts of Spacing
– A Case Example – TFL 24
Hectares (thousands)
20
15
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Serious shortage of stands for
harvest in 50 years
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Spacing young stands will allow
them to reach a harvestable size
sooner than unspaced stands
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Stand level – spacing assumed a
slight volume loss
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Forest level – spacing provided an
additional 13.9% (16,000 m3/yr) by
producing desired piece sizes
10–15 years sooner
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Stand level NPVs are only
increased by $102,000/yr
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Forest level NPVs are increased by
$608,000/yr
10
5
0
5
15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 105 115 130 141+
Age
Stand Management for value
Impact of Spacing on: Stock Table Distributions
Pre-commercial Hw Thinning Trial, Olympia Peninsula,
Wash. (Site Index 36 m; 38 year results)
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Early stocking control or
density management can
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Total Vol.
575 cu. m/ha
440 cu.m/ha
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Vol.25cm
Control
Source: Guidelines for Developing Stand Density Management Regimes, Information Session, 1999
135 cu.m/ha
425 cu.m.ha
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reduce the % of pulp
grade logs
ensure stands achieve a
higher % of J-grade logs
produce a higher % of H
grade logs which have a
significantly higher value,
Stand Management for value
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One thing that we have not analysed well is the impacts
on stand value of spacing and favoring other species
Spacing Hw leading stands with other tree species can
lead to significant increases in value
I.e. by spacing a SI 27 m stand with Hw9Fdc1-9000 sph
and converting the stand to Fdc 9 Hw to 900 sph
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29% increase in stand value
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Whether density management is appropriate will be
dependant on Merch volume and value objectives
Fertilization of Hw
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Fertilizing of SHIRP
type sites is still an
important forest level
timber supply option
Climate change
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BC forests and the forest sector can contribute to a climate
mitigation strategy
A sustainable forest management strategy aimed at
 maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks,
 while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fibre or
energy from the forest,
 will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit (IPCC AR4).
The coast strategy and climate change objectives can work
together in a complementary sense.
Summary
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Coastal Silviculturists
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have the defining impact on the future forests for a precious public asset
must have up to date information and clear objectives for the growing
stock portfolio they are managing for future generations.
are responsible to ensure that the owner of the portfolio doesn’t end up
with junk bonds and low value assets
Forest Management Plans, FSPs and silviculture strategies need
to contain clear objectives as to the type and proportion of
Hemlock stands that are going to be managed in the portfolio.
Our generation is responsible for ensuring that today’s harvesting
and silviculture practices result in healthy, valuable stands that
will be available in a timely manner for the next generation
THANK YOU!
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The CSC organizing committee for the
invitation to speak to you
Peter Jacobson – Economics and Trade
International Wood Markets Group
Doug Williams, Andy Howard – Cortex
Consultants
Al Powelson, Pat Martin, Brian Raymer –
Forest Practices Branch
Rod Negrave, Kevin Derow, Craig
Wickland, Scott Dunn, Paul Barolet, Louise
de Montigny, Brian Barber, Charlie
Cartwright - MoFR
John Muir, Mei Ching Tsoi - Consultants