1. COFI’s 2009 Natural Resource Management Career Awareness Camps
In 2009, the Council of Forest Industries’ (COFI) Forest Education program hosted five Natural Resource Management Career Awareness Camps across north-central BC. In total some 175 high school students and 23 teachers from 22 high schools participated in the 2 to 2 ½ day programs.
Each regional camp was developed in consultation with a variety of local partners including schools, forest companies, forestry consulting firms, post secondary institutions, Ministry of Forests and Range, and other local partners to provide students and their teachers with in-depth, hands-on exposure to a wide variety of careers under the umbrella of natural resource management. Developing the programs with local partners allows each regional camp to offer a variety of workshops based upon the recommendations of industry and educators and the availability of local professionals. Key to the success of these camps is that within each workshop, teachers and students work under the direction of resource management professionals learning skills these professionals use in their fieldwork.
As in past years, this year’s camps experienced continued support from schools and school districts. School districts have incorporated the NRM camps into their career education program schedule and each district supports the camps by providing in-kind release time for teachers, bussing to, from and during the camps, as well as giving school credit to student participants.
2. Agroforestry workshop results
In early December 2009 in Prince George, RNA delivered a highly successful workshop on Agroforestry. More than 50 individuals from communities across the region participated. The participants were able to make connections with experts to discuss how to advance their own agroforestry initiatives. Follow-up activities are now underway. Resource materials as well as presentations under the name of the presenter from the Agroforestry Workshop are available for downloading on RNA’s Agroforestry web page. Workshop Proceedings are currently being developed and will be available by March 2010. If you would like to be added to the distribution list to receive notification when the Proceedings are posted to the website, please email us with this request.
3. Report Released: Assessing and Building the State-of-the-Knowledge on IRM & CIM
In the spring, Resources North conducted a scoping and fact finding process to develop an accurate and current understanding of Integrated Resource Management (IRM) and Cumulative Impacts Management (CIM) in Northern BC. The resulting report entitled Assessing and Building State-of-the-Knowledge on Integrated Resource Management and Cumulative Impacts Management was prepared for Resources North by Tesera Systems Inc. The report’s contents are a reflection of the extensive literature search and consultations with key stakeholders carried out by the authors. The report examines key issues affecting IRM/CIM, knowledge and information gaps, barriers, and opportunities to move forward. The report also provides broad recommendations for IRM/CIM in Northern BC. From these recommendations, Resource North has initiated proposals to work on the development of a website that provides up-to-date information on the implementation of the Mackenzie Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), and to explore opportunities to improve and adapt implementation to take into account changes on the land-base since the completion of the LRMP.
4. Caribou and terrestrial lichens (by Randy Sulyma)
Caribou survival is dependent on their access to high quality habitat, especially during winter. It is important for woodland caribou to ensure that as much of their critical habitat as possible is maintained in a productive state, especially as the mountain pine beetle has extensively changed the landscape. Over the past two years Wildlife Infometrics Inc. has been conducting research to answer questions that will help managers understand ecological relationships influencing the availability and accessibility of terrestrial forage lichens; a primary component of Ungulate Winter Ranges (UWR) used by woodland caribou in the Omineca Region.
The research is fundamental for distinguishing UWRs requiring active management from those that do not. The need for managing UWRs is based on predictions of mid-term shortages in supply of terrestrial lichen habitat which we expect will be exacerbated by the current mountain pine beetle epidemic. Project activities have been designed to gain better understandings of:
- mid- and long-term trends associated with forest floor vegetation community development;
- the use of remote sensing techniques to determine if different phases of lichen vegetation communities can be predicted, helping managers identify priority areas requiring restoration activities;
- the influence of a changing forest overstorey, resulting from mountain pine beetle attack, on understory snow conditions and the corresponding accessibility to terrestrial lichen as a source of winter caribou forage; and
- the use of prescribed burning as an operational tool for rehabilitating terrestrial lichens helping ensuring terrestrial lichen supply does not become limited.
Project information will aid foresters and biologists working in mountain pine beetle impacted stands ensuring that management activities produce outcomes that enhance caribou habitat conditions. More information is available on the Wildlife Infometrics Inc. Projects web page.
5. Landslides and climate change (by Marten Geertsema)
Large natural landslides have increased in northern BC over the past decade as compared to previous decades. Many are high elevation rock slides, and may be caused, in part, by permafrost degradation. The trend is similar in other mountain regions of the world. In collaboration with colleagues from Switzerland and Italy, Marten Geertsema (Research Geomorphologist, Northern Interior Forest Region, MOF) and Vanessa Foord (Research Climatologist, Northern Interior Forest Region, MOF) have been examining climate and landslide relationships more closely. They have installed a network of climate and soil temperature stations across the region, including temperature sensors in high elevation cliff faces. Their results will help pinpoint the causes of the increase in natural landslides, and will help with the prediction of future landslide occurrence as a result of climate change.
6. Canadian Model Forest Network meetings in Nanaimo
RNA is one of 14 contributing members of the Canadian Model Forest Network (CMFN). Each Model Forest site involves numerous partners who all work towards sustainable landscape management. In November, Kathi Zimmerman, attended a full-day meeting in Nanaimo of the General Managers of the CMFN and a full-day joint meeting between the General Managers and the Board. These meetings focused on building the network, examining collaboration opportunities, improving communications and marketing, and finding common approaches to exploring funding opportunities. Kathi delivered a evening public presentation on the activities of Resources North. Recent publications of the CMFN are available on the CMFN’s website. Kathi also attended the Non-Timber Forest Resources: Linking Research, Policy and Economic Opportunities forum hosted by the Centre for Non-Timber Resources of Royal Roads University. Proceedings from this forum are now available from Buy BCwild.
7. Bioenergy workshop announcement
Details for the upcoming workshop Bioenergy: Solutions for Community Sustainability, to be hosted by RNA, FORREX, and the Green Heat Initiative have been announced. See the workshop poster announcement and preliminary agenda. The workshop will take place in Prince George at the Civic Centre from March 2-4, 2010. Please visit the RNA website under the Bioenergy tab for further details.
