• Harvesting deciduous forests
Deciduous forests, which occupy approximately seven per cent of the productive forest land in the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area, are currently not harvested and therefore were not included in the timber harvesting land base. However markets for deciduous timber are developing, making it possible that these areas will become merchantable in the future. Recently, the local timber industry has expressed interest in expanding their operations to begin harvesting deciduous species.
• Intensive silvicultural treatments
In some situations, intensive silvicultural treatments such as juvenile spacing and fertilization, which increase tree growth, also increase the short- and long-term timber supply. However, the Timber Supply Review was designed to assess the timber supply impacts of current practices, which do not include intensive silvicultural treatments. As a result, the range of intensive silvicultural treatments that might be implemented in the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area was not examined. Further analyses are required to examine potential opportunities for intensive silvicultural treatments and the implications of those treatments on timber supply and other resources.
• Commercial thinning
The potential for commercial thinning in the Mackenzie Timber Supply Area is restricted by the small area of younger forests—a result of the relatively short history of timber harvesting in the area. Approximately 14.2 per cent of the timber harvesting land base has forests between 40 to 80 old that might be candidates for commercial thinning. However to date, no commercial thinning has occurred in the area. Some opportunities may exist to thin dense lodgepole pine forests.
