Woodlot Extension Program “ A joint venture between government, conservation groups and forest industry” Toso Bozic Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

Forest as integral part of BHI

Forest characteristics in BHI Over 80 % is aspen/balsam poplar dominated with hazelnut in understory Very few areas with pine/white spruce Most of the forest in old mature over 70 years of age – high fire risk potential Last large forest fire was in 1930 Private forest in better shape then in parks There is approximately in average between 30-50 tonnes of wood per acre

Fire- Insurance/Liability Define the issues that became apparent through the assessment. For example wildland urban interface is a big issue according to our look at ortho imagery. The decedent poplar presents unique fire hazards as there is a heavyfuel loading on the ground, standing dead or standing decaying trees. Fire behavior will likely be of high intensity than anticipated –should consider the fuel type to be closer to the behaviour of an M1 fuel type (boreal Mixedwood – leafless – 25% conifer/75% hardwood Be cautious of the tendency to consider this as a D1 (leafless aspen) as this will severely under estimate the fire behaviour potential. As well, when the fuels are cured particularly in the spring, spread potential can be similar to standing grass.

Incentives PFRA Shelterbelt program is eager to provide large amount of trees for project Hire professional tree planter for tree planting Woodlot Extension Program (WEP) can provide management plans for landowners Tax reduction for forest management plans EGS various incentives from DUC, ACA, etc etc Expertise of various organizations to BHI people Education – eg. Fire Smart, develop community forest

Riparian Area By using trees from PFRA or other tree nursery to re-established the critical riparian area By providing some of the incentives landowners might be more willing to work on riparian area management Introduce BMP to landowners

Reforestation Obtain funding from eg. Heartland consortium or other funding agency to hire profession tree planters for private land Use native tree species Re-introduce pine and white spruce in the area Natural regeneration/suckering of aspen is very common – no cost Priority can be given to the most sensitive/important area –eg riparian area

Questions ?? Thank you !!