Restoration & Rehabilitation

Site Productivity Activity Area Expectations

All restoration activities should be integrated within a watershed, and should be linked to strategic plans, sustainable forest management plans, and the Land Base Investment Rationale.

Site Productivity activities include planting understocked stands, rehabilitation of poorly performing stands, and any site rehabilitation, planting and brushing activities on roads and landings to achieve site potential where a legal obligation does not exist.

Planting Understocked Stands

Understocked stands are reforested stands that:

• contain small areas that are not a reforestation obligation of a licensee (for example, small understocked areas within a free growing stand); or
• are performing below their site potential due to insect or disease infestations (for example, dothistroma needle blight) or any other catastrophic event after free growing.

Planting understocked stands should be limited to situations where it will:

• bring stand production to the yields projected by managed stand yield curves; and
• not negatively impact critical habitat requirements of wildlife species being managed on the site; and
• maintain or enhance long term timber harvest.

This activity should not be undertaken in stands where the fill-planted trees will not reach a merchantable size by harvest or the treatment would be unproductive from a timber harvest perspective.  The cumulative cost of fill planting should not exceed $10/m³ based on the total cost of the treatment divided by the projected net volume produced by the treatment (this may be determined using the Backlog Cost Calculator).

Rehabilitation of Poorly Performing Stands/Problem Forest Types

The objective of this activity is to rehabilitate areas within the operable land base excluded from the timber supply analysis because the timber is not merchantable or because the site is incapable of growing timber to merchantable sizes or volumes.  Any such activity requires District Manager approval, must not involve revenue from recovered timber, and reforestation must be done to a treatment plan.  Where specifications in a treatment plan vary from stocking standards approved under a forest development or forest stewardship plan, the specifications must be approved by a District Manager.

The report, Forest Management Opportunities in Non-merchantable Forest Types, provides an overview analysis of management unit opportunities for bringing some of these excluded areas into the timber harvesting land base by means of some form of incremental silviculture activity, and should be consulted.  The cumulative cost of rehabilitation of poorly performing stands or problem forest types should not exceed $10/m³ based on the total cost of the treatment divided by the projected net volume produced by the treatment (this may be determined using the Backlog Cost Calculator).

Road, Landing, Hillslope and Riparian Reforestation

Opportunities to increase the productive forest land base by reforesting roads, landings, hillslopes and riparian management areas should only be considered when:

• there is reasonable assurance of achieving an acceptable level of forest productivity;
• the trees on the rehabilitated area (e.g., riparian management zone ) will reach merchantable size in time to be harvested with the surrounding timber;
• reforestation will not negatively impact habitat requirements of wildlife species being managed on the site; and
• biodiversity values can be clearly identified, documented and monitored.

The cumulative cost of road, landing, hillslope and riparian reforestation should not exceed $10/m³ based on the total cost of the treatment divided by the projected net volume produced by the treatment (this may be determined using the Backlog Cost Calculator).