Resource management plan



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Link To AAC and TSR II


Only juvenile spacing has been modelled in to AAC calculations for TSR 2. The basic assumption is that all stands over 1600 stems per hectare will be controlled for density. The five-year silviculture plan for Arrowsmith TSA assumes that greater than half of all reforested openings will exceed this density. In addition, large areas of the Forest Licence on the West Coast still require juvenile spacing. Poorer west coast hemlock and cedar sites, that have not yet achieved the target 5m height criteria will require spacing in order to achieve minimum merchantable piece size in 100-120 years. The RMP target of 350 ha/yr. allows for completion of backlog spacing and for new areas with higher densities that will soon come on line.
Fertilization has not been included in TSR II because of insufficient modelling. Fertilization will have positive short term and medium term impacts on stands to be harvested.

  1. Opportunities to Increase Timber Supply

    1. Opportunities through TSR Sensitivity Analyses


Backlog and incremental treatments have the potential to increase timber supply in the Arrowsmith TSA by:

  1. Reducing green- up ages. Backlog brushing reduces the time to green up by increasing height growth on regenerating stands. Reducing green up shows substantial effects, particularly in the short term. Please note reducing green up also includes planting improved stock and fertilizing at the time of planting, both of which are currently considered basic obligations and not eligible for FRBC funding.




  1. Creating opportunities to raise mid term harvests through commercial thinning and fertilization. Note that commercial thinning is made possible through juvenile spacing treatments. Fertilization, it is assumed, is generally applied to commercially thinned stands at least 10 years before harvest. Both practices could increase existing unmanaged stand yields by 10%.




  1. Increasing Regenerated Stand Yields. Both backlog brushing and fertilization will have an effect over the mid and long term. Timber Supply Review sensitivity analysis shows a 10% increase over the base case harvest forecast.



  1. Strategies to Increase the Quantity of Future Timber Supply

    1. Short Term


  • Complete brushing of all backlog impeded stands in 3 years. Complete second treatments over the next two years, where necessary. The target of this program is to achieve full green and Free to Grow status of coniferous stands and to improve growth and yield where it is currently hindered by competing brush.

  • Fertilize 1000+ ha/yr of second growth Douglas Fir stands within 10 years of harvest.

    1. Mid Term


  • Continue and complete backlog brushing to reduce green up ages.

  • Juvenile space 350 ha/yr. to allow commercial thinning of both Douglas fir and western hemlock stands. This will also allow harvesting, where not usually possible, in visual quality zones.

  • Fertilize commercially thinned stands to increase final harvest yields.

    1. Long Term


  • Increase regenerated stand yields through fertilization as mentioned above.

  • Reduce green up time frames as mentioned above.

  • Juvenile space to allow for use of alternate silvicultural systems in overcoming adjacency constraints.



  1. Strategies to Increase the Quality of Future Timber Supply

    1. Product Objectives


The following are definitions of premium logs and sawlogs in the Arrowsmith TSA.

Premium Log: 45 + cm dbh for pruned Douglas fir and 200+ yrs for unpruned Douglas fir.

Sawlog: In the former Duncan district portion of the TSA: age at which stand reaches 30m height. In the former Port Alberni district: East Zone- minimum dbh of 25 cm and min vol/ha of 300 m3; West Zone- 400 m3/ha; cable/heli zone-600 m3/ha. Ages range from 45 years on good sites to 165 years on poor sites.

    1. Potential Treatments/Strategy


  • Prune all spaced stands. East Zone: Douglas fir 2 lifts (5.5m). West Zone: hemlock/cedar one lift (3.0m).

  • Target pruning treatments early (if possible, concurrent with JS) to achieve a 10 cm knotty core.

  • Fertilize after crown closure to speed the occlusion of knots an increase diameter growth.

    1. Premium Log Forecast


The proposed strategy is anticipated to have mid and long term effects. In the short term, harvests will largely come from very old stands in the west zone and will not be affected by the pruning strategy. This harvest profile will yield a premium log forecast of about 15%. The mid-term forecast is anticipated to yield a premium log profile of 8% and the long term forecast is expected to yield a profile of 9%.
Note that to achieve a higher premium log forecast, more pruning would have to be accomplished. Pruning on lower site indexes is not considered to yield a good return on investment, therefore only a longer rotation strategy could maintain the current profile of 15%.

  1. Habitat Supply

    1. Issues


A history of progressive clearcuts and silviculture practices that manage primarily for timber values, has contributed to a decreased amount of stand and landscape level biodiversity on the Arrowsmith TSA. Pre-Forest Practices Code harvesting also included cutting up to the banks of all streams.
Although future harvest planning will include practices such as riparian reserve zones, forest ecosystem networks (FEN’s) and landscape unit planning, a deficit of habitat supply will still pose problems.


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