2023 Winter Conference Presentations Now Posted

Presentations from the 2023 NSC winter conference have now been posted. Click on the conference link under past events to access the presentations.

Spring 2022 Webinars – Presentations posted

PDF versions of the presentation slide decks have been posted for the two spring 2022 webinars. Click on the link to the webinars under “Past Events” to access.

2022 Spring Webinars

The NSC is presenting two spring webinars
1. March 9 – 9:00 – noon – Managing for Forest Health and Resiliency in response to natural disturbances

2. April 6 – 8:30 – noon – Silvicultural choices for complex stands in changing environments
(with NSC AGM to follow)

Click on the following link to see the speaker line-up and to access the link to the registration page.

Cost is only $50 for both webinars – a great deal!

2021 Fall Webinar

Presentations have now been posted from the 2021 Fall webinar held on November 4th, 2021. Click on the link under Past events to see the agenda for the webinar with the links to the presentations.

2021 NSC webinars

Registration is now open for the 2021 NSC webinars. Click on the link under Upcoming events to see the agenda for the two webinars and for the link to the registration page.

Update on Northern Silviculture Committee (NSC) 2020 Extension Activities

July 7, 2020

To: Members and Colleagues – Northern Silviculture Committee Society (NSC)

Dear NSC members,

I am writing this note to you today to update you on the NSC’s plans and considerations for your forestry and silviculture extension and education events for the balance of the 2020 year.

Since the NSC’s establishment in 1974, our mission and goal has always been, as a “non-partisan organization, to promote cooperation, understanding and improvement in the application of silvicultural practices at the field level”. The sharing of silvicultural knowledge and opportunities for ongoing professional networking are vital components of NSC events.  

The board of the NSC Society has met several times this Spring 2020 to discuss several strategic initiatives for the NSC, and also to discuss how the NSC may continue to deliver our silvicultural and forestry extension and education goals under the current limitations of Covid-19 and related public health measures in British Columbia. These limitations extend, of course, to the design and delivery of NSC events in 2020, and possibly beyond.

The NSC directors are unanimous in our view that although Covid-19 issues may change our means of extension and networking on silvicultural issues for the time being, we will pivot our delivery modules to meeting the continuing needs of NSC members for high-quality silvicultural information. And, as the saying goes “not forever, but for now”.

In this spirit, the NSC board, after much discussion, came to two key decisions:

1. We made a reluctant but realistic decision to cancel the traditional NSC summer/fall field tour for this year, to help do our part in maintaining the health of our colleagues and communities. But;
2. In place of the traditional NSC field tour, we are developing alternative silviculture education extension opportunities for NSC members for Fall 2020, via remote/web delivery, in collaboration with all of our various partner groups.

No decision has yet been made on the 2021 NSC Winter Conference. This will be considered later this calendar year as more information becomes available.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the NSC and our collective goals through your attendance and participation in our various events over the years. We are working hard to keep the NSC active and relevant to your needs in a changing and sometimes challenging world.

We will keep you posted!  Take care.

Mike Jull RPF
President / Chair
Northern Silviculture Committee Society

2020 NSC Winter Conference

The 2020 Northern Silviculture Committee Winter Conference will be taking place on February 25-26, 2020 at the Prince George Civic Centre in Prince George BC. The theme of this year’s conference is “How to meet the demands of our changing forest?” The organizing committee are busily contacting potential speakers and preparing an agenda.

For more details and to register click on the conference page.

Registration deadline: Thursday, February 20, 2020.

Hope to see you there!

2019 NSC Winter Conference

The 2019 Northern Silviculture Committee Winter Conference will be taking place February 26-27, 2019 at the Prince George Civic Centre. The agenda and theme are now available.

For more details and to register click on the conference page.

Registration deadline: Friday, February 22, 2019.

Hope to see you there.

2018 Fall Field Tour

The organizing committee is working on the development of this year’s fall field tour which will be taking place in the Terrace/Smithers area on September 18-19, 2018.

A draft agenda has been posted and registration is now open.

Hope to see you there!

2018 Winter Conference

The 2018 Northern Silviculture Committee Winter Conference is currently under development and more information will be available soon.

Managing for resilience and mid-term timber supply on a dynamic landbase

With an unprecedented wildfire season behind us and the spruce beetle outbreak continuing to expand, there are widespread challenges on the horizon. Some of the challenges are familiar and some seem new due to the cumulative complexity of forests and the systems that regulate them. Land managers must find innovative ways to sustain ecosystems and enhance the value of the available natural resources on a landbase that is ever-changing. In a time where policy, land ownership, ecology and climate are all shifting it is the role of the Silviculturalist to assess the current situation and use visionary thinking to look forward, act now, and create the resilient forests of tomorrow.

The aim of the 2018 NSC Winter Conference is to provide ideas, tools, and contacts that will help you achieve these goals.

For more information about the conference and to register please click on the link under Upcoming Events, on the right hand side of the page.

Registration deadline: Friday, February 23, 2018.

Hope to see you there.

 

2017 Summer Field tour

Registration will be opening soon for the 2017 NSC Summer field tour taking place in Fort St John on September 13-14, 2017.

Moose, Mushrooms, and Mixedwoods

Boreal mixedwood forests are dynamic.  These changes in forest structure and composition provide both dilemmas’ and opportunities for the silvicultural forester.  Join us to consider, and re-consider,  mixedwood silviculture based on decades of research, recent wildfire events, future climates, antlers and ectomycorrhizae.

Click on the link under Upcoming Events, on the right hand side of the page.

Registration deadline: Friday, September 8, 2017.

Hope to see you there.

2017 Winter Conference

Thanks to everyone who attended the 2017 NSC Winter Conference which took place in Prince George on February 20-21, 2017.

PDF versions of the presentations have now been posted. Click here to access them.

 

2016 NSC Summer Field Tour

Registration is now open for the 2016 NSC Summer field tour taking place in Fort St James on September 13-14, 2016.

Click on the link under Upcoming Events, on the right hand side of the page.

A link to a listing of potential accommodations has also been provided. The link is located near the bottom of the event page.

Registration deadline: Friday, September 9, 2016.

Hope to see you there.

NSC 2016 Winter Conference

Improving Silviculture Planning and Practice from Current Standards to our Future Forests

When: February 16-17, 2016
Where: Prince George Civic Centre

Day 1, Part 1: Strategic and Tactical Forest and Silviculture Planning – How are we doing?

8:30:  The role and expectations of the forest professional in silvicultural planning and practices – Casey McCauley, RPF – (Association of BC Forest Professionals) Presentation (pdf): ABCFP Macaulay NSC 2016

9:15: Key Findings and recommendations of the 2015 Forest Practices Board on Forest Stewardship Plans – Del Williams, RPF – (Forest Practices Board). Presentation (pdf): Williams NSC 2016

10:30: Overview of, and critical strategies for future timber supply and AAC management in Interior Timber Supply Areas (Cariboo, Central Interior, Northern, and Northwestern – John Pousette, RPF – (MoFLNRO, Northern Interior Region). Presentation (pdf): Pousette NSC 2016

11:15: Improving the art and science of silvicultural prescriptions (including professional reliance and site planning challenges) – Diana Gerdentis, RPF – (Gerdenits and Associates Natural Resource Consulting). Presentation (pdf): Gerdenits NSC 2016

Day 1, Part II: Opportunities and Challenges for Timber Supply, Wildlife Habitat, and Watershed Management

1:00: Considering cumulative impacts for forest structural retention and wildlife habitat – Dr Chris Johnson and Dexter Hodder – (UNBC and John Prince Research Forest).

1:40: Considering cumulative impacts for forest hydrology (and how to mitigate them) – Pierre Beaudry – (P. Beaudry and Associates Ltd.). Presentation (pdf): Beaudry NSC 2016

2:20: Integrated silviculture strategies: Examples, case studies, and lessons so far – Bryce Bancroft, RPF – (Symmetree Consulting Group Ltd.). Presentation (pdf): Bancroft NSC 2016

3:30: Partial cutting and secondary stand structure management: past experience, current knowledge and potential applications – Phillippe Meek – (FP Innovations). Presentation (pdf): PMEEK NSC 2016

4:10: Commercial thinning in second-growth stands: Coming opportunities and challenges in Interior BC – Ken Day, RPF – (UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest). Presentation (pdf): Day NSC 2016

Day 2: Reforestation Challenges and Solutions from the Stand to Landscape Level

8:30: Back to the wetbelt: What it takes to achieve successful reforestation in wetter SBS and ESSF ecosystems – Peter Forsythe, RPF – (Huckleberry Forest Consulting). Presentation (pdf): Forsythe NSC 2016

9:10: How does survey data in RESULTS link to estimation of future timber supply? – Hubert Burger, RPF – (MoFLNRO). Presentation (pdf): Burger NSC 2016

9:30: Harvest and salvage machines we have used to meet the challenges of our clients, and lessons learned. Joel Runtz, RFT – (TDB Consulting Inc.). Presentation (pdf): Runtz NSC 2016

10:40: The new Pine-Aspen stocking standards: From research to practice – Teresa Newsome, RPF – (MoFLNRO, Southern Interior Region) and Kris Sigalet, RPF – (BC Timber Sales-Williams Lake). Presentation (pdf): Newsome NSC 2016

11:20: Landscape-level Multi-block reforestation standards: The PIR experience – Gary Quanstrom, RPF – (PIR Smithers). Presentation (pdf): Quanstrom NSC 2016

1:00: Overview of the BC Tree improvement program – Brian Barber, RPF – (MoFLNRO Tree Improvement Branch, Victoria). Presentation (pdf): Barber NSC 2016

1:40: The lodgepole pine tree improvement program and its application to central and northern BC – Nick Ukrainetz – (MoFLRNO Tree Improvement Branch, Kalamalka Research Station). Presentation (pdf): Ukrainetz NSC 2016

 

NSC Fall Field Tour – 2015

Prince George BC, September 16-17, 2015

The 2015 field tour will focus on second-growth forest management in the Interior Wet belt throughout the whole rotation, including early, mid- and late-rotation stand management options. A variety of ecological, licensee, and management perspectives will be included. Alternative management options including partial-cutting and complex stand management will also be explored.

  • Day 1 (Wed. Sept 16th, 8 am to +/- 6 pm) will be in the UNBC Aleza Lake Research Forest area, 60 km E-NE of Prince George.
  • Day 2 (Thurs, Sept 17th, 8 am to +/- 4 pm) will be in Tree Farm License (TFL) 30 and the Pass Lake area, east of Prince George and north of the Fraser River.

Register Online at:

http://www.bookking.ca/bkunbccontinuingstudiespub/courses/index.asp?c=1&sc=8&crs=802

If you have any problems call 250-960-5153 for admin support.

Also note that the Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) will be hosting a catered “meet and greet” at UNBC’s Doug Little Lounge on the evening before the field tour starting at 7 pm (Tuesday, Sept 15). Admission is free.