Lakehead University Forestry Association - Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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Following World War II, a major change took place in the management of Ontario ' s forests. The first major forest inventory in the world based upon aerial photographs was instituted and the province moved to est ablish forest management units through out the province. This move set the base for an expanded management program although the initial emphasis was to develop allowable cuts and operating plans aimed primarily at extraction. At this time, it was legally the responsibility of the forest industry to manage and regenerate those areas under license. This approach did not prove to be too successful and in 1962, the Crown Timber Act was revised and regeneration became the responsibility of the Department of Lands and Forests. From 1950 to the present has seen a gradual but ever increasing expansion in the regeneration efforts of the now Ministry of Natural Resources. During this period, the ingenuity of Ontario Foresters and Technicians showed itself in the development of numerous site preparation and regeneration techniques. Many of the techniques and equipment developments are now used in other Canadian provinces and in the United States. As might be expected, the major emphasis during this period has been on artificial regeneration, primarily planting with 1,020 million trees planted between 1951 and 1973. In the late 1950 ' s, there was a move to the artificial seeding of jackpine from the air and ground. Generally, these efforts proved successful and started field foresters to thinking how they could utilize the jackpine seed always present in the slash following cutting. The exposure of the mineral soil had been proven a necessity by the seeding trials. There were several fairly simultaneous field developments in different districts. In Geraldton, they first tried scarification by pulling large poplar trees behind a bulldozer; the next step was to pull large boulders and then oildrums filled with concrete with pieces of railway track protruding from the sides. It was a short move from this to the finned barrels which have become a standard piece of equipment. Other major pieces of site preparation equipment which were developed by field foresters at that time were the tractor pad and spiked anchor chain which is now the standard unit for scarification of jackpine cut-over for natural regeneration.

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EVOLUTION OF SILVICULTURE IN ONTARIO by J. F. Flowers Regional Forester, M.N.R. (N.C. Region) Silviculture is the key to a successful and well-managed forest. Silviculture has always been recognized by Ontario ' s forestry profession as the keystone to sound management of the province ' s vast forest resource. Unfortunately, it has not always been possible for the profession to function as it would wish. In this modern world, decisions are often largely controlled by economic rules or rather economic considerations. Initially, silviculture as such was given little consideration in forest management; the main emphasis being placed on the economic extraction of the specific species or products required to meet the public demand of the times. The forest was an obstacle to man in many cases and was unlimited so it was not considered necessary to worry about regeneration. These statements are not made to criticize those who made these decisions. They were appropriate to the times and the higher priority of opening up and developing the country justifiably took precedence. This situation existed until after World War II although at the turn of the century foresters were recognizing the need to reforest lands already cleared as evidenced by the establishment of the first forest tree nursery in 1908. The major emphasis in the succeeding years was the planting of abandoned farm lands in Southern Ontario. Little consideration was given to the regeneration of areas harvested in Northern Ontario. In fact, many of the central Ontario forests which were highgraded ' for specific species or products often regenerated satisfactorily due to the pseuedo shelterwood system used. The species were, of course, the result of chance and often of inferior quality - at least in relation to the species demand of the time. We are, of course, now seeing demand reaching a level which tends to equalize the value of the various species.

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In the east and south, planting machines were an important part of the artificial planting program with machine modification combined with a large V blade which allowed very rough and brushy areas to be successfully treated in this manner. The need for mechanical regeneration techniques was seriously recognized in 1970 with the establishment of an equipment development unit under J. Scott at Toronto. Various pieces of equipment from all over the world have been purchased for testing but the main effort has been to develop a tree planting machine capable of planting under most field conditions. Although still in the prototype stage, the Mark II Ontario Planter will go operational in the 1974 summer season with three in Ontario and four in the U.S.A., purchased by Weyerhaeuser for use on their vast holdings. It is hoped that this machine will make it possible to plant areas successfully without the heavy demand for labour required by conventional hand planting. Most parts of the province are experiencing increasing difficulty in obtaining adequate labour to meet requirements. Many other site preparation techniques are in use or being developed throughout the province and with the expanding silviculture program required to adequately regenerate the vast acreage which is being harvested and which will continue to expand in the future, this trend must continue. In 1973, the Ministry developed a production policy which the government has authorized implementation in part. Approval has been given for the development of a silviculture program which will ensure the availability of a 9.1 million cunit allowable cut after the year 2020. This will, in effect, expand the present silviculture program to twice its present level by the year 1983. Since the recent expansion of industry has been far in excess of expectations in Northwestern Ontario, it has now become evident that a considerably greater effort will be required in the northwest if we are going to, in effect, maintain the predicted level of cutting into the next rotation. Predictions are that within five to ten years, we will approach the calculated allowable cut of