Forestry & The Economy

Care about NB forest? Here’s what you need to know!

We cut forests to answer the growing demand of wood-based products. It is a renewable and sustainable resource. Forest are managed to help forests faster and under better conditions to protect wildlife and the environment.

How much forest do we cut?

New Brunswick’s forest cover represents 6,1 million hectares, 1% is harvested annually. Of that 1%:

• 67% of harvested forests are naturally regenerated.
• 33% of harvested forests are artificially regenerated and treated with glyphosate, if needed.

In Canada, 740,000 ha are harvested across the country each year (0.3% of our productive forest land-base). This is less than 1/5 of the annual area consumed by wildfires and less than 4% of the area affected by insects.

What is NB forest composition?

The Maritimes has Acadian forests where the predominant tree species of red spruce, balsam fir and yellow birch grow.

Vegetation management is one component of the overall cycle of forest management. It refers to the tools and methods used by foresters to ensure that specific crop trees are given the best possible conditions to grow quickly and sustainably.

What is the role of a licensee and the government in forest management?

Department of Natural Resources [DNR] is responsible for setting forest management goals, objectives and standards that reflect public values. It is also responsible for the identification and development of forest management policies, objectives and standards and the review and approval of the Forest Management Plan.

Licensees are responsible for developing and implementing Forest Management Plans that meet government goals, objectives, and standards. They prepare spatial Forest Management Plans using the DNR format and submit them in accordance with the established schedule. They also conduct public consultation related to the Forest Management Plan.

The plan has to address the five major activities associated with management of the New Brunswick Crown land forest resource:

• Silviculture
• Harvesting
• Roads and Watercourse Crossings
• Fish and Wildlife Habitat
• Scaling and Utilisation

The amount of forest that is considered available for harvest is carefully calculated.

Annual growth of forests – forests lost to fire, insects and disease = Possible harvesting forests.

The amount of forest that is considered available for harvest is carefully calculated by taking the annual growth of the forest, and subtracting the losses to fire, insects, diseases and other causes. Like a bank account, the forest is considered to be managed sustainably when the capital (growing stock) is maintained and no more than the interest (net growth) is harvested.

What is Selection Harvesting?

Partial cutting of select trees creates conditions that allow species including maple, cedar and white pine to thrive.

This harvest type provides similar light and soil conditions to relatively small natural disturbances in the forest such as light ground fires, scattered disease or high winds.

Forests harvested in this way are generally left to regenerate naturally from the seeds of surrounding trees.

In Canada, this type of harvest is done on approximately 60,000 ha of land each year.

Why do we clear cut?

To remove all trees from a given area to create conditions that allow hardwood species such as poplar and birch, as well as softwoods including spruce and hard pines to thrive.

This harvest type provides similar light and soil conditions to natural disturbances including larger forest fires, widespread insect outbreaks, or severe wind events.

Forest management continues through the entire lifecycle of a stand of trees. Forest Managers use many other techniques to help ensure forest stands remain healthy from seedling to mature forest.

On sites where it is determined that the best approach for forest renewal is to plant trees, it is important to ensure that the planted trees have sufficient resources (sunlight, water, nutrients and space). Many pioneer plant species (grasses, raspberries, pin cherry, poplar) will quickly compete with the planted trees and significantly limit the availability of resources necessary for the planted tree to survive and grow. Forestry professionals use several methods to lessen the impact of competition from pioneer plant species including: site preparation before tree planting, planting high quality seedlings, and herbicide treatments.

Each planted site is monitored to ensure it is not being threatened by competing vegetation. If planted trees are determined to be suffering due to competing vegetation, a tending treatment will be used. A planted site will typically receive 1 or 2 tending treatments in its 40-80 year lifetime.

A planted site will typically receive 1 or 2 tending treatments in its 40-80 year lifetime.

What is being done to protect forests from fire, insects and disease?

By using a carefully planned and regulated set of these techniques, forest managers ensure that Canadian forests remain a healthy patchwork mosaic of different forest types and ages. This allows forests to be naturally resilient to disturbances, while also providing native wildlife, such as moose and deer populations, with the diversity of habitats they need to thrive.

Canada continues to be a world leader in sustainable forest management practices.

Canada continues to be a world leader in sustainable forest management practices. Through continued scientific research, government oversight, and responsible use of these best practices, our forests can continue to provide sustainable economic, recreational, and conservation benefit for generations to come.