Several issues raised in the Discussion Paper prompted public input.
Minimum harvestable age
One respondent suggests that a rotation age increase of more than 10 years is required to maintain biodiversity and general forest health. They recommend that it may be useful to set aside 25 per cent of the Strathcona timber supply area to investigate the result of a rotation age of 200 years since even timber yield would be diminished by the gradual impoverishment of the soil habitat by too rapid of rotations.
Another respondent suggests that the minimum harvestable ages of 60 to 110 years used in the Forest Service analysis will produce a mature plantation with a high proportion of juvenile wood and a low quality wood product instead of the close-grained wood for which British Columbia is famous.
· Silviculture treatment
Several submissions suggest that activities such as commercial thinning, use of improved seed stock, tree spacing, use of fertilizer, and a quicker reforestation program could have a positive effect on second-growth harvest levels in the long term.
