During the past decade, nine timber companies operating on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, together with the
Alberta government, recognized the potential value of a collaborative program to assess tree growth. In 2000, the
Foothills Research Institute helped the companies create the Foothills Growth and Yield Association, a co-operative initiative to forecast and monitor the growth and yield of managed lodgepole pine stands.
Voting and sponsoring members are: ANC Timber, Blue Ridge Lumber, Canadian Forest Products, Millar Western Forest Products, Spray Lake Sawmills, Sundance Forest Industries, Sunpine Forest Products, West Fraser Mills Ltd., and Weyerhaeuser Company. Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and Foothills Research Institute participate as non-voting members. Foothills Research Institute is the coordinating agency, administering the Association on behalf of the other members.
What Are Its Tasks?
The mandate of the Association is to continually improve the assessment of lodgepole pine growth and yield in managed stands by:
- Forecasting and monitoring responses to silvicultural treatments;
- Facilitating the scientific development and validation of yield forecasts used by members in managing their tenures;
- Promoting knowledge, shared responsibility and cost-effective cooperation.
The Association has initiated six projects:
1. Association Development and Management;
2. Lodgepole Pine Regeneration;
3. Comparison of Pre-harvest and Post-harvest Productivity;
4. Cooperative Management of Historic Research Trials;
5. Regional Yield Estimators;
6. Enhanced Management of Lodgepole Pine
The projects primarily involve the establishment, maintenance, measurement and analysis of field trials. The trials monitor growth responses to silvicultural practices throughout the sponsoring members’ forest management areas. The program also involves the scientific development of techniques and forecasts predicting the future development of forest stands. Members share results and knowledge through demonstrations, training courses, field tours, conferences, and publications. Sponsors annually re-assess progress, and related project priorities. The Association collaborates with other organizations involved in forest management and research.
The scientific assessment of growth and yield in managed stands is essential for effective management and sustention of the forest resource. The program will improve forest management in Alberta, and elsewhere throughout the extensive geographic range of lodgepole pine. The Association is helping managers better assess the productive capacity of ecosystems, the sustainable level of timber use, and the selection of enhanced forest management practices. It is successfully promoting co-operation, partnership, and shared responsibility in sustainable forest management.
What Lies Ahead?
The Foothills Growth and Yield Association is implementing, in cooperation with its members and other collaborating agencies, a comprehensive business plan involving the six projects mentioned above. Outcomes will include reliable managed-stand yield forecasts verified by continual monitoring, and an improved basis for forest management planning and operational decision-making.