Size of the timber harvesting land base
Four submissions suggest that the net productive timber harvesting land base is underestimated; three cited changing markets and technology, one cited an overestimation of roads and environmentally sensitive areas.
One respondent notes the land base used in the Forest Service analysis is 70 per cent less than that used two years ago in the Status Report for the Kalum-North portion of the Kalum Forest District.
Forest growth and yield estimates
Three respondents indicated the timber productivity of sites currently occupied by old-growth forests is seriously underestimated. One referred to the analysis completed for Orenda Forest Products Ltd. by Dr. Don Reimer, which concluded the average growth rate for Orenda's operating area is likely higher than 4.0 cubic metres per hectare per year, almost twice the estimate used in the Forest Service analysis. Adjusting this estimate effectively increases the projected long-term timber supply level by 237 per cent to 970,000 cubic metres per year.
Many submissions acknowledge that forest productivity affects the long-term timber supply; one suggests the long-term level should be 1,250,000 cubic metres per year. Two submissions state that current forest productivity estimates reduce the area within the low productivity class (which was deducted from the timber harvesting land base) and reduce green-up periods.
One submission states that the growth and yield projections and sensitivity analysis shown in the Forest Service analysis are weak; another recommends further studies into site productivity and notes that an underestimation of productivity may limit the range of resource management options available.
One respondent notes that research has proven that managed forests yield seven to 10 per cent more timber than natural forests and suggests that this information should have been incorporated in the Forest Service analysis
Amount of existing mature timber
One respondent does not agree that the Variable Density Yield Predictor used in the Forest Service analysis overestimated existing timber volumes by 10 to 20 per cent.
Timber inventory
One respondent notes the timber inventories on 61 mapsheets in the Upper Nass are outdated.
