permaculture

[sustain_ability@123mail.org]

John, 
Forest waste plays a key part in nourishing new growth and existing
plant life, to wit:
"..
 
Finns envying our 'messy' forests
Sustainable forestry. UQAM prof receives honour for Triad Project in
Mauricie

Tuesday, December 05, 2006
UQAM professor Christian Messier will receive the inaugural Networks of
Centres of Excellence Chairs' Award in Ottawa today for his work in
sustainable forest management.

With dead trees lying helter-skelter on the ground and scrub bush
everywhere, many Canadian forests look as "messy" as they are. This
characteristic was once described with disdain by the Finns whose tidy,
high-yield forests created wealth and set the standard for
forestry-dependent jurisdictions.

But now, with thousands of species on the endangered list in
Scandinavia, the Finns and others are rejigging their forestry practices
and looking to our messy woodlands and Canadian research for better
forestry practices.

"We still have natural forests in Quebec. We don't want to get rid of it
because we know now that that has consequences," researcher Christian
Messier said.

In the international spotlight is one of Messier's research projects
underway in a one-million-hectare tract of forest in Quebec's Mauricie
region. The Triad Project is one reason why Messier is receiving the
inaugural Networks for Centres of Excellence Chairs' Award today in
Ottawa.

The Triad concept essentially divides a forest into three zones:
intensely commercial, protected and subject to sustainable development
practices. Not only does it promise a healthy forest that generates jobs
and supports biodiversity, it should promote peace, Messier said.

"The forest industry used to log without being disturbed by humans but
now, more and more, we are in conflict" about how forests should be
treated, said the Universite du Quebec a Montreal professor and
principal investigator with the Sustainable Forest Management Network.

The Triad concept seeks to encourage "a dynamic forest" and satisfy
myriad human interests, said Messier, whose project has garnered the
support of industry, government and environmentalists.

As it stands, the chunk of forest north of La Tuque has been divided
into three zones. Between 10 to 20 per cent of the forest is subject to
intense harvesting. It will yield 50 to 60 per cent of the wood that
would be pulled out of the entire forest under the old regime, Messier
said.

Strategies employed in countries like Finland - such as the elimination
of brush and other competition to favour certain fast-growing trees -
will be employed in this zone.

(Meanwhile, Finnish foresters are now intentionally cutting healthy
trees and leaving them on the forest floor, in a bid to create
competition and new habitats for wildlife, Messier said.)

Sixty to 70 per cent of the Mauricie test forest is subject to "new
forestry practices" that emulate nature. That zone yields wood for
commercial purposes, but to a much lesser degree than before. Key issues
in the "ecosystem management" areas are biodiversity and biological
heritage.

And about 10 per cent of the forest will be protected and off limits to
human intervention.

It's the protected zones that have encouraged environmentalists, Messier
said. Quebec is far behind other countries in protecting natural
forests.

Two years ago, only one per cent of that million hectares was protected
territory, said Messier, adding that he pushed for 12 per cent while the
government argued for eight per cent.

Although the Triad zoning strategy has been bandied about in the U.S.
for decades, it hadn't really been applied and studied, Messier said.

That changed about three years ago, against the backdrop of public
indignation over the perceived abuse of public forests, a view
reinforced by the findings of a blue-ribbon committee appointed by the
provincial government.

One of the players that made the Triad venture possible was industry, or
more precisely, Jean Girard, then a division forester for
Abitibi-Consolidated, the largest firm with harvesting rights in the
test forest.

Currently more than 20 mills - and their workers - rely on wood from the
one-million-hectare tract, said Girard, now employed by Quebec's chief
forester.

Messier also developed sophisticated computer simulation tools. Vastly
more detailed than the Sim City sort, they can consider individual
trees, entire landscapes or the needs of forest critters.

Forest models can be played centuries into the future, helping
researchers analyze the consequences of today's decisions, said Messier,
45.

According to SFMN scientific director and McGill University professor
Jim Fyles, Messier has been very active in engaging students in forestry
research.

"The future is going to be complex, changing and uncertain for every
Canadian but foremost for those involved with the forest. We need new
people ... trained to cope with the complexities," Fyles said.

Introduced this year, the NCE Chairs' award comes with a tax-free
$15,000. Messier has said he will create a contest open to secondary
students. The two best proposals to promote the value of trees in our
environment will share the money.

lmoore@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006.."

George
http://transitions.stumbleupon.com

On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:02:47 -0800 (PST), "Steve Hoog"
<livingpotentials@yahoo.com> said:
> A full report with pros and cons would be goo---go for it---steve h
> 
> John Fritz <johnfritz77@yahoo.com> wrote:  ..[snip]..
> What I am proposing to the members of this list is a concerted effort, a
> petition if you will, to the Mother Earth News to do a cover story about
> the success of this method in France and how it could be adapted to use
> in the rest of the world. 
> 
> I will be drafting such a petition, and if there is enough interest from
> the members of this list I will post it with a link to the Mother Earth
> News. 
> 
> Any takers?
> 
> John Fritz, NW Arkansas.

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