Landslides Ahead!

This landslide overflowed onto a mainline.
It measured about 3/4 hectare or 3 acres.
Yreka Main.

Culvert overflow.
Teeta 500.

Okay so one should know a little bit about what causes landslides. WATER! Well look at that when it rains a whole bunch the soil can become saturated and liquefies and gravity moves it downward!  It is particularly common in areas with steeper slopes, thicker soils, and exposed soil.  While logging can exacerbate landslide frequency proper forest management and road building can help lessen the impacts.   Over the last 100 years logging practices have changed a whole lot.  Heck in the last 20 years they have changed drastically!  So when the land is exposed and saturated the likelihood of landslide occurrences increases.  As land managers we can do our best to mitigate impacts.

Yreka Main road failure. 1of 3 in close proximity.

At Western we abide by a guide of TRMS or Terrain Resource Management Systems.  This guide differentiates high-risk terrain areas and requires professionals to follow a detailed list of measures to alleviate risk.  A geotechnical professional is hired to walk all of the blocks highlighted as potential risk.  They look at the rock formations, soil types, old slides, new/old road placements, steep terrain, streams, and everything in between. The goal is to minimize risk for debris flow especially that would impact fish bearing streams and habitats with high values environmentally and economically.  A combination of reports and thorough interpretations of the landscapes engineers and foresters develop plans to reduce risk and hazards for equipment operations and land movements. 

Matt & I on heli

Randy & I on heli.

Landslides happen but management is key.  For instance, this last October the North Island experienced a heavy rain event.  In fact it was 223 mm or almost 9 inches of rain in 24 hours!  As you can imagine a few landslides occurred. When 100mm of rain in 24 hours happens operations are shut down. The areas that this occurred in experienced enough slides that delayed logging and safe access to many parts of Jeune Landing. 

My place at the bottom of the slides to survey.
Really muddy!

The following week after the rainfall shutdown was lifted I accompanied the area engineer; Chris, forester reporting landslides; Matt, and operations foreman; Randy in an Astar Helicopter to check things out.  Our purpose was to record and summarize the events and damages obstructing equipment and block access.  For two hours we flew taking pictures and points of slide and road damage.  The more we knew the more efficiently we could delegate clean up tasks to the crews.  We recorded well over 50 incidents that either required clean up attention or was greater than ¼ hectare to be reported to the ministry.

The slide went all the way to the ocean!
Yreka Main.

Matt the modern day forester. Heli + Ipad. nbd
Jeune Landing.

Rock truck and hoe before much work was done.
Teeta 500.

Later on I was on site for one such clean up.  A road fill failed a corned on Teeta 500.  The road was likely originally built in the 1930s.  It is used as a mainline to connect the East to the West coasts of the island.  Hauling was occurring prior to the storm and was not safe to afterwards.  An outside engineer used a design to plan out a new fill to best suit the road.  The fill was situated on an 80% slope and required significant rocks to replace and hold up. We did not know how far we’d have to dig to find a bench to lay a new road or if we’d be luck and find bedrock.  The new fill was built up on huge pieces of rock blast out of a nearby bluff. Many truck loads of rock and fill was removed to expose the bench and set the proper road prism.  The project took almost 4 days to complete.  It closed the mainline for at least a week. There was a rock truck, excavator, and rock drill present to assist in the clean up project. 

Survey equipment and Rock drill preping to blast!
Teeta 500.

In addition to assisting with the road repair, I recorded the significant landslides to present to the ministry.  It became my job to measure the areas using pictures and Google Earth.  I had to identify the cause and effect of each incident. The tracking of these occasions are documented for further analysis for a more complete understanding of the geology and landscape reactions to landslides and debris flows.  They are associated with particular storms and can prove how severe the storm was and where it was focused.   

Improvisation at its finest!
The rock drill's boom was bent and the hoe's bucket straightened it out.

Giving the heated metal leverage.
Good thing a welder was around! Ha.

Dryland Sort

 Dryland Sort

The Lower Dryland Sort at Port McNeill is a major funnel of timber on the North Vancouver Island.  Nearly all of the wood on the east side of the claim is brought to this sort.  The export logs in the claim all come to this sort to be stick scaled.  Many of the logs are boomed down to add to other export inventories.  The Lower Dryland is one of the busiest sorts of the North Island because of the amount of wood that passes through the systems. 

Weigh Scale

A great portion of the logs are weigh scaled. This means that the sorts of logs on the truck are proven to generally be relatively similar and through weight measurements can take a decent estimate of the volume on the truck.  The truck drives on to the scale located at the upper sort and takes the weight.  It then trucks the load down to the lower sort to be unloaded and banded together.  A certain portion of the weigh scale loads must be sampled in order to best estimate the total volumes on each truck.  That sample is then scaled by hand on the deck.  

Stick Scale

When the truck comes in with a wider assortment of logs the load must be stick scaled.  This means the load is laid out for the scalers and graders to calculate volumes, quality, and sort.  All loads with cedar and old growth are stick scaled to catch the variability in the wood.  Scalers and graders check the lengths and diameters to identify possible sorts.  They then look at the size of knots, any rot, or damage to the wood that decrease the value of the log.  With spray paint they may mark lengths that it should be cut by the buckers on deck.  The sort is also marked on the log ends to be further sorted into boom sticks. 

Hooking up logs to pull the boom sticks tighter together

Boom Makers

When the logs are finally scaled, graded and sorted they are banded together with the Bandit.  The two wire cables are locked and the logs are then dumped into the water.  The boom makers in their bumper-car-like boats maneuver the bundles into the allotted ‘sticks.’  The boom sticks are comprised of four bundles across and as many as eight in lengths. It depends on the frequency of the particular sort.  Each boom stick is then attached to all the other sticks ready to be attached. When a full boom is ready a tug boat arrives to latch on and push the logs south.  As many as two booms may be made per week at Port McNeill dryland sort.

It's like playing bumper cars in the water

The boom stick maker.  The logs that surround each boom stick bundle.

Connection to Mills Demands

The dryland sort is intricately connected to the demands of the mills. The mills’ demands react to the market way more quickly that the persons in the woods can react.  It is important for the dryland sort foremen and quality control persons to be tightly coordinating with the bucking prescriptions produced.

The barge with a wench to tighten bundles

 

Retired Foresters Tour North Island

Last week a group of retired foresters visited the North Vancouver Island to see different aspects of BC forestry.   The group consisted of men who combined have over 400 years of experience in the forest industry and sciences.  WFP was kind enough to send me on one of their tour days in the Port McNeill area.  The 11 retirees and the working professionals planned an introduction and explanation of how forestry in the North Island is different than other areas in BC. Western was the main host because they are the main timber company here or Tree Farm grantee. 

 

Stop #1: Dryland Sorts

We visited the lower and upper dryland sorts.  The lower sort is the main sort where logs are dropped into the water after being graded and scaled.  Jerry the yard foreman discussed how the majority of North Island’s timber moves through the lower dryland sort.  There are 6 decks for graders and scalers to work safely around the machines.  The Wagner or Stacker can pick up to 40 tons or an entire log bundle and dump it into the water. 

At the upper dryland sort export logs are stored.  Export logs are all trucked or transported to this yard to collect enough to make a boom. They are then pulled to the south Island to be placed on a container ship.  Poles are also stored here, laid out for buyers to grade and bid.    There is also a weigh scale where more uniform loads can be weighed instead all scaled by hand. 

Stop #2: Orca Sand & Gravel

The Orca Gravel pit has incredible scale.  They have a special use permit on Western’s Crown granted lands.  They are allowed to produce 128 million tons of rock material.  It opened in 2007, seriously bad timing.  Annually they export 4-6 million tons to California, usually San Francisco.  They mine, they sort, they clean, and they export.  This market is heavily dependent on the economic stability.  Almost once a week a barge shows up to ship 40 tons of gravel to San Francisco.  A conveyor belt runs under the highway, about 500m to the ocean, to the transport barge. 

The way the rocks are mined is with these huge tractor scrapers that drive along the bottom of the pit assisted with another to push along the floor until full.  Each scraper can collect up to 4 tons of material. They then bring it to the plant it self to sort and clean.  The piles are on top of sieves that can move the material with a shaking motion along conveyor belt to export.

Waste Management Site off Misty Main

Stop #3: Waste and Stumpage Program

Western recently partnered with a local contractor who utilizes the left over waste from clear-cut harvests.  We visited the first block the partnership began with.  WFP must pay for the left over wood or stumpage to the Crown.  By partnering with this contractor multiple parties benefit while additional use is made of the waste without additional cost. The wood is used for Sea Soil.  It is chipped up and mixed in with fish waste products to create a nutrient rich soil for home gardens.  You may even be able to find it in your local Home Depot. The logs are grinded in my front ‘yard’. It’s loud… 

Stop #4: Quatren, First Nation’s Partnership

Gord, Ralph, Dave, & Ray speaking about Quatren

Next we visited an active harvest site to talk with First Nation, Quatsino leader Ralph and other Western employees active in the partnership discussions. Quatren is a partnership with the Quatsino Tribe and Western to work together so that both parties benefit from the forest resources.  Quatren is a star child within Western to set an example to other branches to coexist in order for both parties to benefit. Together they share profits from working on Crown land 50-50. 

In British Columbia the First Nation Tribes have great influence on industry.  It is a touchy subject that brings out many opinions and challenges for communities and industries.  Companies must recognize that they cannot survive long term without support of the communities they work in yet; it is difficult to please all parties. 

Stop #5: Seven Hills Golf Course; Community Forests & Public Advisory Council

Seven Hill Golf Course is surrounded by prime forests but with acreage, sorry hectares of grass to play golf.  It is located almost equally between three communities for best access.  Again this area was located on Western’s Tree Farm License but given up to benefit the community with a special use permit.  Now one can play golf and even aim at the bears that wander on to the course.  We had yummy salmon burgers at the café while we heard two people talk.

The Community Forest is a partnership between Port McNeill, Port Hardy, and Port Alice; three communities in the North Island.  A community forest is a special kind of land tenure that lasts forever granted by the crown.  Out of the 57 in BC, their CF is 50^th is size yet is also the most profitable. This has to do with the dedication of professionals.  It doesn’t hurt that in Port McNeill alone there are 130 Register Professional Foresters out of the 4,000 residences. The towns act as shareholders and delegate a council appointed board of qualified forest professionals to maximize profits.  All proceeds go equally directly into the communities.  In the last four years that they have been in operation the communities have received funding that benefits sewer, power, hockey rinks, and curling clubs.  The CF helps fund the nuts and bolts of the communities. 

The Public Advisory Council is a group of professional representing public committees between Port McNeill and Port Hardy.  I’ve had the pleasure to attend one such meeting so far.  Anne Mary presented her perspective as an active member in the community on the importance of forestry activism and community involvement.  Once again the urgency was repeated among those present the dire need for more training and interest in the forest industry to see it to continue successfully. 

Stop #6: SCHIRP Research Project

Annette, our informative SHRIP expert

The SCHIRP or Salal Cedar Hemlock Integrated Research Project began in 1988 and has been a significant source of forest research in the North Island.  This integrated project was to measure and monitor the interaction between forests and brush management. Salal in particular can grow particularly thick yet can grow successfully with western redcedar.  This area has been a place of research for countless masters and PHD students that examined the complicated relationship with these ecosystems.  They have seen some incredible results.  The brief tour was a small introduction to the complexity of the many plots.  However regular fertilization and high densities have seen great success in brush management and tree volumes. 

Conclusion

Participating in the tour allowed me to meet, talk with, and listen to some of the most experience foresters in British Columbia.  I hope to see some of them again because I know they can teach all foresters a thing or two.  Hearing them talk and argue about current forest issues shows their dedication and love of forests.  It inspires me to motivate others to consider working in the woods. 

Learning the Layout

Investigating an old logging road

Practicing laying out a block is a bit different than laying it out for work.  Firstly, it is with a very experienced forester versus beloved classmates.  Secondly the timber is actually going to be harvested instead of being a hypothetical area.  It is not over a four hour lab period but several 10 hour days.  While school is comfortable, learning in a professional setting drastically enhances that education.  

Good sized second growth timber

While I have been doing bits and pieces of laying out a block over the course of the last month and a half this time I am assisting in the entirety.  Working with Greg a well-experienced forest engineer he is teaching me how he sees the forest.

Getting to know the Block

Primarily we must understand the contents of the block in order to assign potential systems of harvesting and areas that could be hazardous.  We have to identify streams, timber volumes, rock hazards, sensitive areas, culturally modified artifacts, protected animal habitat, and a whole more.  We must gain an understanding of the landscape, terrain, and features to best fit a harvesting system.  This is called reconnaissance or reckie in Canada or recon in Oregon. 

Harvest System Options

Found a swamp in the middle of a block

While identifying the harvest systems available one must consider the equipment the particular company or contractors have on hand.  One is able to choose from ground based, cable systems, or heli-logging.  The cost increases in value in that order.  Port McNeill offers hoe chucking or shovel logging for ground based systems and are only used on lower slopes.  Cable systems in PM include grapple yarding and snorkel booms.  Grapple Yarders are most common.  Helicopter logging is incredibly expensive and are only consider for high value, steep sloped timbers.  At this point western redcedar is the wood of highest value in general. 

Gathering points with GPS at a Falling Corner

Laying Boundary

Once an area is more of less understood boundary tags are put in the block and marked using a GPS to draw a map.  Boundary must include riparian management areas (RMAs) and special management zones in order to comply with best forest practices identified by both the Crown and WFP.

Surveying the Roads

Once the boundary is set, roads will be put in with surveying methods.  The roads are placed in to best access the timber to load on to trucks. Landings are built on the roads to process the logs and load the trucks.  We as planning engineers use lasers to measure distances, a clinometer to get slopes, a GPS to map and a notebook to record.  Marking tape shows road builders where the road center line should be placed. 

Surveying a road with a laser

Finalizing Harvesting Instructions

The combined information gathered through laying out a block is then combined into a pack of harvest instructions that will be added to an entire package.  Foresters for planting and extra instructions regarding harvest and post-harvest treatments will add to this package.  Geotechnical engineers, biologists, anthropologists are all consultants who may be contacted for further information and professional advice.  The combined information will then be submitted to the Ministry of Forests to be approved.

This is a simplified version but I am still learning and want to teach the audience of this blog what I am doing in the woods. 

Morning of Grapple Yarding

The last couple of weeks have been a collection of activities at Western and the North Island.  From forestry to engineering to road layout to community involvement there has been plenty to learn and be involved with. 

One morning we got to visit an active harvest sight.  A grapple yarder was working off of Cluxewee Main.  A grapple yarder is a cable system that brings a grapple or claw-like tongs to grab logs and drag them to the landing decks.  This yarder had six-barrel drums of cable of varying sizes and uses.  The yarder booms was approximately 40ft tall and can move up or down depending on the amount of deflection needed to carry the logs down.   There were three crewmembers working on the sight that day.  A hooktender was the crew leader who decided where the next road changes would be established. He changed the roads and directed the yarder operator to the best logs to grab.  The operator stayed with the machine while the chaser monitored the guylines and conducted miscellaneous tasks. 

The yarder guyline on a stump anchor

Three out of six barrel drums on the yarder

The foresters had to reassess the terrain because the loggers and engineers realized that the initial harvest plan was not going to safely work.  The original plan was not going to give the yarder sufficient deflection to bring the logs to the landing safely.  The new system was now altered to go into an adjacent free growing block across a stream. This plan ensures better safety practices and the operator is in a better line of sight while fully suspending logs across the stream bed.

It is wonderful to see day-to-day collaboration between foresters, engineers, and operators.  Through the knowledge and experience from these professionals practical, environmental, and safety concerns can be addressed without incidents that could cause harm. 

Late Summer Play Time

The exploration of Vancouver Island has continued as the summer extends into September. The weather at the North Island has been fantastic.  It almost cannot be too hot or sunny. The extra dose of sunshine has extended happy adventures available on here.  I'm going to describe a little bit of the fun I have been having on the weekends when I am not working.  

One Saturday I took time to explore Malcolm Island.  It is about a 20 minute ferry ride from Port McNeill.  The main and only town on the Island is Sointula of maybe 500 people.  Finnish settlers hoping to create a utopian society originally established it.  Their hopes eventually faded but left a charming village with welcoming feel to it.  The goal was to  experience Salmon Days, the annual festival and hike to Beare Point.  I made it across Johnston Straight in time to eat my packed lunch and watch the parade cruise by.  The parade was smaller than Port McNeill’s but included floral tractors and people dressed up like salmon. 

After the quaint parade I hitched up my backpack and mounted my bike in search of logging roads to Beare Point Trailhead.  A pleasant ride through town took me to the logging roads maintained by the Quatsino Tribe (I think).  4 kilometers later I passed through Beare Point Campground to the trailhead.  Locking my bike together I threw it into the bushes and hoped for the best.  The trail was peaceful and quite. I meandered along the ocean coast giving glimpses of water views.  The trail led to a rocky beach where whales are known to rise up to rub their bellies.  It was a gorgeous day. The Beare Point hike was topped off with coffee with fellow hikers.  Two strangers had joined camping together for a few days and I stopped by to chat.  It was a great example of Canadian hospitality at their campsite in the cooling afternoon.

Another recent excursion took me to the water in a different way.  Ladies and gentlemen my new favorite mode of transportation is sea kayaking! Well it at least joins the list of mountain bike, city bus transit, and Amtrak train.  I spent a day in Telegraph Cove to go on a day kayaking trip.  I knew that summer was on its way out so I had to help with the send off. Their tourist season was down and so are their prices.  Alas I arrived 30 minutes early anxious not to miss the boat!    

What was planned to be a group trip turned into a person kayak trip. Brian the nice guide had the two boats and me among his charges.  We paddled East along the Vancouver Island coast line.  The tide was super low at times and we could see the many sea creatures on the ocean floor.  Starfish, bull kelp, anemones, fish, and crabs of different colors and sizes were visible below the surface.  Above the surface we witnessed fish jumping, seals coming up for air and porpoises swimming in the surf.  Eagles stared us down from their high branches of pine trees on isolated islands. To top it off the sun was out and the winds were calm.  It was a beautiful day to be on the water and experience BC from the water. 

Adventures continue inside and outside the office :)

Jess

Summer Tree Plant

Lisa the Forester, WFP

This week has been dedicated to the fall tree planting.  The units or ‘blocks’ as their called in Canada are typically located in areas inaccessible in the spring.  That being said the slopes are steep the roads getting there are long.  Lisa is the professional forester from Western leading the project.  The contractor hired to plant is Timberlands Reforestation.  They brought about 20 people to get the job done.  As foresters from the hiring company we verify the quality and quantity of seedlings put in the ground at each block. 

The clouds finally rolling in at the top on one block

Why plant in the summer? The blocks being planted are typically still covered in snow come spring time.  As long as the ground is moist they should set on great.  Usually the goal is to achieve between 1000 and 1200 trees per hectare.  Depending on site conditions the following trees may be planted: yellow cedar, western redcedar, western hemlock, or Sitka spruce.  The seedlings are delivered every 5 days from the nurseries.  The less time the seedlings are in the field the better luck they have to survive.  Western plants 9 million trees annually. This contract will put 200,000 trees in the ground.  Each seedling will be planted with a fertilizer pack to boost the nutrients available to the plant.  About half of the trees come from a tree nursery owned by Western in the southern part of the island.  

Western redcedar 1 year seedlings come in packs of six.
Measured 4 x 10 cm caps

On Monday, Western Foresters conducted a safety presentation for the planters. They come from all walks of life and experience.  Many of them would be considered professional planters because they may be planting 9 months of the year and have been for a long time.  The planters are a very friendly bunch of people coming from all across Canada.  They were all eager to begin work and put the trees in the ground. 

The first week the planters were split into three groups throughout three blocks the furthest distance from camp.  It is our job to visit each site and verify that the planters are meeting the site prescription.  

Me at plot center

As foresters checking seedling densities we conduct plot surveys throughout each block to get an understanding of planting quality.  The plot circles are 3.99m in diameter and are measured with a shovel at the center with a string to swing the plot.  We count each of the planted seedlings within the circle.  We identify any issues seen such as planted too close, wrong soil type, J-roots, plantable spot, etc.  The trees must be at least 2m apart.  We record all data on an I-pad using an App called PlantWizard, specifically made for seedling surveys.  All data is then shared with the planters in an exchange of data to confirm that the contract is being properly fulfilled. 

Western redcedar seedling in the ground

Last week we went out 3 times to the blocks they were working.  The drive is long, making the actual workday short.  The blocks were near Mahatta a place that once was a small logging town on the Neurosis Bay on the West side of the Island.  It took a mere 3.5 hours of driving to get to the blocks on logging roads.  Four-wheel drive is a must to make it anywhere out there.  Out there in the boonies, Lamare mostly runs Mahatta as the primary contractor.  Lamare World as we called it was a bit of a rodeo navigating the roads.  The roads are unfamiliar and confusing to newcomers.  Directions switch from In or Out to Up or Down.  The roads have nicknames or referenced differently in local lingo.  Luckily the log truck drivers were kind enough to help us out when we did not understand their calls on the radio. 

The blocks themselves are incredibly steep and rough terrain.  The slopes easily achieve 90% in some places.  The ground varies from soft to flat rock to covered in dense slash. Slash is the left woody debris from the harvest.  This particular contract is no easy task.  The elevation is high and slopes steep with little relief for the 10 days they are working.  Immense respect must be given to the planters for the hard work they take on.  Their packs are up to 40 lbs carrying trees and fertilizers to cover the whole block with trees.  It is hard work in the backwoods of North Vancouver Island.