If forestry is your interest, you won’t want to miss this!

Internationally renowned speakers, forestry experts, Mi’kmaq Elders, and industry leaders are meeting to take an in-depth look at the state of hardwood forest management in today’s Acadian forests.

Forestry management guru, Ralph D. Nyland, is the featured presenter at Sustainable Hardwood Management in Today’s Acadian Forests–a conference on best management practices for sustainable forest communities organized by the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources for July 8 and 9 in Membertou.

The two-day conference at Membertou’sTrade and Convention Centre will feature presentations by experts in the hardwood forestry and sustainability field. Its objective is to enhance the hardwood forests of Cape Breton by educating our forestry industry.

Ralph Nyland specializes in northern hardwood silviculture and is Distinguished Service Professor–Silviculture at State University of New York College of Environmental Science of Forestry.

At this conference, Mr. Nyland will be presenting five different sessions on a broad range of topics, including: Silviculture and Ecosystem Management, Even-age and Uneven-age Management, Disadvantages of Diameter Cutting, and Restoration Silvicultural Practices.

Elder Albert Marshall of Eskasoni will look at First Nations’ perspective on forest management, and Brendan Hemens from Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources will discuss the historical and present use of hardwoods in Nova Scotia.

Muskie Sockabasin will give a presentation on First Nations’ management of Black Ash and hardwoods in New Brunswick. Patricia Amero, Picea Forestry Consulting & Woodlot Services in Bridgewater, will talk about growing high-value trees and her uneven-aged management outreach project.

Jean-Martin Lussier, research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, will discuss the economic objectives in optimizing selection harvesting prescriptions.

Tim McGrath, senior forester with Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources will make a presentation focusing on Nova Scotia silviculture management and the development and use of hardwood models in Nova Scotia. Gary Schneider from PEI’s Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project is a strong believer in the importance of biodiversity and creating strong systems and, in his presentation, he will look at ecosystem hardwood management in the Acadian Forest.

Conference registration is $50 and includes two days, luncheons and nutrition breaks. Pre-registration is recommended, as space is limited. Attendees can register at www.uinr.ca/hardwood.html

Ralph Nyland studies reproduction methods for both even and uneven-aged stands, the dynamics and tending of immature stands and age classes, and the production potential of alternate management strategies. Recent work includes effects of silviculture on wildlife habitat and other non-commodity values. His selection system research and studies of even-aged reproduction methods date to the early 1970s. It includes permanently documented stands, with some into the second cutting cycle. He has authored or co-authored more than 135 technical publications, written two books, and edited another.

The conference is sponsored by Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources with assistance from Nova Forest Alliance and Canadian Forestry Service’s First Nations Forestry Program and Canadian Wood Fibre Centre.

For more information contact Mark MacPhail: mark@uinr.ca

From UINR Marten – Vol.4. Issue.2 – Summer 2008