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

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all species in Northwestern Ontario. A considerable effort will be required using all the silvicultural techniques presently available as well as some which may yet be developed. The emphasis will have to be on forms of natural regeneration which do not require a high labour content and on increasing mechanization of the regeneration techniques. We must place our emphasis on the more inexpensive techniques such as seeding if we are to use the funds that will be available to obtain the greatest result. There are several seeding systems and devices which are now available in the province, some of which were designed and constructed in Thunder Bay. The move to expand the planting program has made it necessary to extend the normal planting season. This has been accomplished by the development of field cold storage units capable of holding stock lifted in the spring until planted in late June. An additional support to this approach has been the planting throughout the spring, summer and fall. This is possible by using the storage mentioned above and then planting stock in the summer which is delivered daily from the nursery and planted immediately. One such year- long planting is conducted from the Dog River Silviculture Camp which is equipped with a cold storage unit. This camp also carries out other silviculture treatments during a brief period in early July when planting is not done. This camp serves as a focal point for all silviculture activities on a portion of the Great Lakes Paper Company license. Other such camps will be required in the future if we are to meet our goal. Trends in silviculture treatments are illustrated in the graph which follows on the next page.

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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

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PRE DICTED REGENERFmoM PROGRAM PRtACUfcNGE ooZ Pf RCCimT of 83 ' bo- 7° (,0 So 3o b. 9 g- e k e r wt o w PERCENT OP 5% 4%, SEED TR = E VfSTEV flOO T E© HARDEST CajTTx Ot SEEPING E ftRE KOOT PL NVWiCr 12% ■ 7o 7o - So 3o o mi - so.ooo acres NOTE - - «R eP «.ECrEv ERftTE. I t .C vEV i S IN TEN YfftWS. T HE E •fVPvt ftOO TlON V AC SbF HARM ' EST UifcWCU REGrE e«T TEO Vv TY OV T TREE T E= }T fcSYiYVRTEO ftT op CUT- 00 •