6. Forestry in British Columbia
Key Terms
Key Terms
Annual allowable cut (AAC): The amount of forest in BC allowed to be harvested. Currently the AAC is 75 million cubic metres, including the temporary increases totalling about 5.5 million cubic metres that are in place for salvaging timber attacked by mountain pine beetle in the Interior.
Coniferous: Refers to trees that are cone-bearing and evergreen. Coniferous trees make up the majority of broad tree species in British Columbia (pine, spruce, fir, cedar and hemlock) and are the most commonly harvested for the lumber and pulp industry. These trees tend to grow slowly between the fast-growing deciduous trees. Eventually they grow to take the majority of the sunlight and cause the death of the previously predominant deciduous trees.
Davis raft: A raft used to prevent breakup of logs, which was later replaced by much better barge system (self-loading and self-dumping).
Deciduous: A term used to describe trees and shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally (commonly during autumn) and to plants that lose their petals after flowering or fruit when ripe.
Donkey engine: The nickname for a steam-powered winch, or logging engine, widely used in past logging operations, though not limited to logging.
Feller buncher: A machine with metal tracks that cuts limbs and stacks logs all at once.
Forest license: The most common type of tenure in which the holder has right to harvest a stated volume per year. The forest license has same volume-based system of the PSYUs but with 15-year renewable terms.
Interface: The area where urban development and wilderness meet.
Mountain pine beetle: A species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately five millimetres, about the size of a grain of rice.
Multinational corporations: Organizations that own or control production or services facilities in one or more countries other than the home country.
Public sustained yield units (PSYUs): A volume-based tenure. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations determines the volume of wood to be harvested by private companies using harvest contracts and licenses.
Red-attack: A term used to describe the level of mountain pine beetle infestation where the needles of infected trees turn red as a result of the beetle killing the tree.
Reforestation: The natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, usually through deforestation.[1] Reforestation can be used to improve the quality of human life by soaking up pollution and dust from the air, rebuild natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigate global warming since forests facilitate biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and harvest for resources, particularly timber.
Stumpage: The price charged by the province to a land owner to companies or operators for the right to harvest timber on that land.
Tree farm license: A license given to a company for the right and responsibility for building roads, planning, and reforesting in an area. It allows a large amount of private control over the land.
Winch: A mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called “cable” or “wire cable”).