OASIS FORUM Post by the Golden Rule. GoldTent Oasis is not responsible for content or accuracy of posts. DYODD.

Especially since we were both involved in our own ways with the Sitka Spruce trials. The Forestry guy I worked with from Kalamalka Research Station was named David Wallden….one of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure to work with. :o) My other Forestry connection was that I was also the Hydroseeder Contractor for many years for the 5 central and northern BC Forest Districts, spraying all the newly constructed forest roadsides with mulch and seed to prevent erosion. Sure have seen lots of Horsetail. :o)

Apologies to the Oasis too for using the bandwidth for so much off topic. All The Best Equis  and the  Oasis ……. Silverngold

It was good to hear at 20:47 from someone who had on-the-ground experience trying to implement the Forest Practices Code of the 1990’s. Your comments were appreciated. I had no direct experience to observe how the Forest Practices Code was implemented and what it meant for operators responsible for forest management, harvesting and regeneration. Our only involvement with the Code was the 1995 “Seed and vegetative material guidebook” which we relied on when we co-authored ‘Ecology and Management of Sitka Spruce’. We did not work directly with Keith Illingworth but we consulted the results of his 1978 report, ‘Sitka spruce trials three years after planting in British Columbia’.

Considering that your re-measurements of your Sitka spruce plantings were probably fed into Keith’s work, it is a small world that we should end up communicating electronically here on a forestry topic 25 or 30 years later. You also mentioned that your spruce trials were coordinated out of Kalamalka Forestry Centre. Our connection with Kalamalka was not in relation to Sitka spruce but instead with Mike Carlson in 1996 when he provided a photograph for our preparation of ‘Black Cottonwood Managers’ Handbook for British Columbia’.

Keep your trees healthy in your part of the province. Cheers. Equiz.

Easy answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZTW8CRQs84

When I had the woodlot and the ranch I donated 2.5 hectors of land to Kalamalka research station for a trial of 880 different species of Sitka Spruce, prepared the site for them and planted the seedlings at 1 meter intervals. Then assessed the site annually by measuring the new growth and the condition of the trees. Eventually we had to thin (space) the stand as the trees grew.

What offended me about that previous google picture showing all the clear cuts was what appeared to be a lack of concern for the aesthetics of the clearcuts with all the (literal) blocks of clearcuts. The picture you just posted is to me very pleasing to the eye and shows the effort they went to to make it so. A concern of mine is that, at least in the past, they were replanting entire cutblocks with single species like all lodgepole pine, or all spruce; then a few years later those cutblocks would be wiped out by pine or spruce beatle for a total loss. What I was doing on my woodlot, aside from select logging, was to fill-plant several varieties of trees. ie pine, spruce, balsam fir, cedar so there would be a natural mix of tree varieties for future harvests.

IMO the forest industry was severely hurt with the Forest Practices Code BC implemented in about (?1990?)which shifted the replanting responsibility from the Province to the logger and also raised the stumpage drastically as well….. but then the Province was guilty of almost never doing their replanting through Section 88 funding as they were “required” to do. Well, it was great for the Province to shift all the responsibility to the logger but many of the mills and loggers went belly up and in central BC most are still not operating. The other things that I notice that were painful for the industry was that when the Registered Forester prepared the 5 year cutting plans, prior to the new Forest Practices Code my cost was $5000 for the 5 year plan. After the change my cost was $35,000 for the 5 year plan due to all that had been added that had to be done. The other thing  that happened is that rather than the forestry being in the forest to make sure the work was progressing properly, they became what we called “Forest Police” because all they seemed to do was try to find infractions and fine the logger for them.

So I guess there is good and bad, pro’s and cons, to everything but it appears to me the Province really shot the logger in the heart and themselves in the foot with that new Forest Practices Code. All IMO of course.

All the Best Equiz………… Silverngold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAYNW_vunfI

pay the bills, many residents still get pi$$ed off when they see cutting patterns in the working forest. As Silverngold pointed out, most people would be happier with the landscape appearance after tree removal if that removal could be done everywhere by single-tree removal through selective logging methods. Selective logging has been successfully used by many woodlot owners, but we are a long way from seeing this method applied on an industrial scale across the landscape. In my opinion, goal number one is to ensure that the logging method guarantees the next crop. Goal number two is to do your best to achieve forest regeneration in way that creates a pleasing landscape. The attached view of a regenerating working forest on Vancouver Island is visually horrible to many who see it, but is aesthetically acceptable to others. When I look at this landscape I see the new forest arising in logged areas. Cant please everyone.

The US National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.

That long-sought and closely guarded ability was part of a cluster of spying programs discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker that has exposed a series of Western cyberespionage operations.

Kaspersky said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said.

more http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/66279485/nsa-hiding-equation-spy-program-on-hard-drives

off the radar because of all the hype about the hoped-for surge in LNG developments. No LNG surge. Now shortage of tree supply in the interior of the province because the glut of beetle-killed timber is being used up. Any spare wood volumes in your neck of the woods?

Things go in cycles, and the forest industry in this province is certainly an example of that. Meantime, the focus for forest professionals is to keep the working forest in working condition for the day when forests are again recognized as long-term renewable resources that provide a reliable, even if cyclical, revenue stream for residents of the province. Most people in our cities have no idea of the importance of renewable revenue-producers like the forests around us. Cheers. Equiz

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/with-an-lng-decision-delayed-bcs-attention-turns-to-forestry/article23012786/

That is a classic! I had viewed it some time ago and am still fascinated by it.

PS. Ever wonder how the famous Brooklyn baseball team got its nickname? In those days people crossing major city streets were called Dodgers!

That was fun! I’d love to walk down the street in that time and place.

Pedestrians beware!

Greek government brands proposed eurozone debt deal as “unacceptable”, ending crunch talks with its creditors in dramatic events in Brussels

• Eurogroup meeting abandoned after three hours
• Greek government dismisses plans to continue accepting austerity in return for its bailout as “absurd”
• Prospect of further meeting to agree deal later this week emerges
• Grexit is ‘inevitable’, former Chancellor Ken Clarke warns

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11414969/Greek-debt-standoff-Live.html

Isis has said that they will eventually take care of Israel but, only after they eliminate the muslim infidels,ie., Shites, in their caliphate area.  Israel views Shite  Iran as enemy #1.  Anything that causes problems for Iran is viewed by Israel as a plus.

is Israel so silent on ISIS ?

The Canadian  and American Governments has issued a
travel warning due to the cold weather.

They suggest that anyone travelling in the current icy severe
winter conditions should make sure they have the following:

Shovel
Blankets or sleeping bag
Extra clothing including hat and gloves
24 hours worth of food
De-Icer
Rock Salt
Flashlight with spare batteries
Road Flares or Reflective Triangles
Empty gas Can
First Aid Kit
Booster cables

I looked like an idiot on the bus this morning!

PS….In such times …humor is always a wonderful place to wander in……

Wanka….loved the breakfast menu!

Just for you Winedoc…..and other lost souls in the EAST!

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Rick+Mercer+Report/ID/2653261189/

Morning Folks

Things are pretty quiet in the markets as expected

Winter storms continue to shut down NorthEAst USA and the Maritimes

Might as well paint the children bathroom says Mrs Winedoc ……….

Best Regards

WD

Early start… maybe I can sleep a bit late in the morning.  Holiday for the bosses, not the worker bees.  No one will know.  Here’s a trainload of steaming hot water for coffee… if you can catch the train!

Art Deco Streamlined Steam, during one of it’s last excursion runs.
This locomotive is currently under restoration and boiler rebuild
and is expected to return to ‘museum’ service in a year or two.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=518788

Any chance the three Amigos, (Flag, wanks, BG) will carry the water to the fire for the coffee urn?