Check out this upcoming free webinar "Mi'kmaq Forest Knowledge", with topics being presented by Troy Robichaud of The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and Sherilyn Young and Dr. Heather MacLeod-Leslie of the Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office.

It happens on Wednesday, March 9th, 2022 at 7 PM AST.

This is the second of a series of webinars that will be offered through the Woodlands Conferences partners in 2022 so stay tuned for future events!

To register and for information on this and future events, click the following link: https://www.nswoods.ca/events.html

Check out this upcoming free webinar "The Lichens in your Woodlot", presented by Brad Toms, Wildlife Biologist with the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI). This is the first of a series of webinars that will be offered through the Woodlands Conferences partners in 2022 so stay tuned for future events!

It happens on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022 at 7 PM AST.

To register and for information on this and future events, click the following link: https://www.nswoods.ca/events.html

NOTICE: Unfortunately, due to recent developments on COVID-19, this event has been postponed until a later date in order to take precautionary measures to help stop the spread of the virus.

Woodlot Management Mentorship Field Day

(Rain day April 5th)

Saturday April 4th, join Peter Francis for a day spent walking in the woods and learning more about ecological forest management practices, and how you can use these methods on your own woodlot!

This is one of several, province-wide events funded by the NS Department of Lands and Forestry. These field days are aimed at creating opportunities for family forest owners to learn from each other. It is also a great opportunity to learn from people with many years experience in woodlot management.

For more details, or to register for this event, contact: (902) 682-2371 or email colin.gray@merseytobeatic.ca

It’s that time of year again!

Mark your Calender’s for the 2020 Woodland Conference Series!

This is a great way to connect with fellow woodlot owners and forest professionals, learn about the various forest businesses and organizations across the Province, and discuss topics to help you manage your woodlot.

Some examples of presentation topics happening at the Western Woodland Conference are:

• Mi'kmaq Forestry Initiative

• Managing woodland in a changing climate

• Specialty wood markets (non-timber forest products)

• ASF Silviculture & Ecological Forestry

• Hemlock Wholly Adelgid

Dates:

Western Woodland Conference

Saturday, March 7th 2020

North Queens Fire Hall (9793 Highway 8, Caledonia, NS)

Central Woodland Conference

Saturday, April 4th, 2020

Millbrook Community Hall (72 Church Road, Millbrook, NS)

Eastern Woodland Conference

Saturday, April 18th, 2020 

Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre (606 Reeves Street, Port Hawkesbury, NS)

Fees:

     $20 Pre-register
     $25 At the door
     $15 Students

Come see us at the 2020 Western Woodland Conference!

Topics

• 2019 Western Woodland owner of the Year Winner

• Managing Woodlands in a Changing Climate

• The Triad Approach to Forestry

• Modern Wood Chip Heat

• Bat Health

• Specialty Wood Products

• Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

• Mi’kmawey Forestry Initiative

Register here :

www.nswoods.ca/2020-western-woodland-conference.html.

Do you have trouble navigating on your woodlot, or remembering the location of interesting locations on your property, or areas you like to hike? Well, this event may be for you!

Join the WWSC, Saturday, February 29th for a navigation workshop at the NSCC- Lawrencetown Campus!

This workshop will be focused on the use of the Avenza Mapping application for smart phone/tablet users. This will be an intro level workshop, to teach you how to download the free version of the app, navigate, and collect data to help better manage your woodlot!

Attendees will be required to bring their personal smart phones or tablets capable of running Avenza Maps, and to pre-register for the event before February 26th at 5 pm , as limited space is available.

For additional information, or to register for this event, please contact Cara Gillis by email, or by phone:

cara@westernwoodlotcoop.com

or

(902)-578-3271

Hope to see you there!

See details below for this upcoming event hosted by Mersey Tobiatic Research Institute:

As you know Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) is a serious issue that we are now facing within NS, so we are left with making some fairly crucial and likely controversial decisions.   

Chemical and biocontrol conversations to help slow the spread of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in Nova Scotia should soon begin. We have good scientific evidence from our neighbours to the south that both these methods are working. Treating our hemlocks with the neonicotinoid insecticide Imidacloprid will bide us some time (5-7 years /injection) with the hopes that other, perhaps more environmentally friendly methods can be used to continue to keep these magnificent trees alive.

The cost at the moment is prohibitive on a large scale, but if companies such as ArborJet see that doing business in Nova Scotia could be profitable perhaps we can negotiate a more reasonable price.

We have an opportunity to bring in a couple of specialists in their field  to speak on chemical control and biological control in February.

The intent is to help people understand that saving hemlocks likely requires a two-stage strategy:  1) chemical control to span the gap of ~ 10 years (perhaps requiring only 2 inoculations) while research is feverishly completed on -> 2) biocontrol predators of HWA- to help our hemlocks live in balance with this new species in the Acadian forest.

Chemical Control. 

Learning from ArborJet scientists about ImaJet trunk injections for saving hemlocks, the only Canadian-approved chemical presently available for low dose, targeted treatments against HWA.  ImaJet is immediately available to save hemlocks in your woodlot.
Speakers: Joseph Doccola, Director of Research and Development, ArborJet Inc. -  Rob Gordon, Director, ArborJet Inc.

Biocontrol

 Learn about biocontrol research and the search for native predators for HWA. 

Speaker:  Jeffery Fidgen, Canadian Forest Service, Fredericton.

Want to brush up on your winter tree ID? We're offering a free Winter Tree Identification Workshop:

Join us at Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute for an afternoon out in the woods learning how to identify common trees of the Acadian Forest in the winter.

Create your own twig collection and learn how to use a simple key to identify each species.

  Where: Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, 9 Mount Merritt Road, Kempt, Queens Co. NS
  When: Saturday January 25 @1:00 pm until 4:00 pm

Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided :-)

 Pre-register by calling (902) 682-2371 or email colin.gray@merseytobeatic.ca

On Saturday, October 26th join us for the sixth Women in Forestry Workshop!

This session will be focused on ecological forestry and how it affects forest management. The event is open to any female woodlot owner, aspiring forester or anyone looking to learn more about forests and how they are managed.

The cost is $20 and registration is required! Contact abby.lewis@merseytobeatic.ca (902-682-2371).

We hope to see you there!

Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry is funding a field day for family forest owners to learn how to manage their woodlot using ecological forestry! This free event will be a great opportunity for all attendees, regardless of experience level, to learn and to share experiences with woodlot management! Contact colin.gray@merseytobiatic.ca or 902-682-2371 for more details and to register :)

THIS SATURDAY!

Come and join us for the 2019 Woodlot Owner of the Year field day. This event is open to anyone who wants to learn more about the importance of woodland management, and the importance of forestry in Nova Scotia.

The event will be held in the Spence Managed Forest- Located approximately 2.5 km down access road 101-01, which is across from 128 Williams Rd, Ellershouse.

We hope to see you there 

The Western Woodlot Services Cooperative would like to invite you to attend a forestry field tour on Saturday April 27 from 10am to 3pm. The tour will visit and discuss 40 years of ecologically based intensive forest management using natural regeneration strategies on several woodlots managed by Harold Alexander of North Range Forest Products in North Range, Digby Co.

The sites we’ll visit are predominately Red Spruce (even-aged) stands at various forest stand development stages from regenerating to mature forest that have received one or more silviculture entries.  We’ll also visit portion of a neighbouring woodlot that is multi-aged and has not been worked for 30 years which just received its first harvest entry considered as uneven-aged management.

Part of discussions will include hearing Harold’s views on intensive/high production forest management as part of the triad model recommended in the Lahey report, as well as optimizing tree volume growth capabilities, quality development/optimum time to complete silviculture entries, eligible silviculture treatments, silviculture funding and rates, costs and revenues associated including challenges.

The sites the tour will visit include:

1.     Red Spruce seedling establishment and development after thinning in older stands (shelterwood)

2.     Stand age 15-20 years: 1st thinning (pre-commercial) 

3.     Stand age 35-40 years: 2nd thinning (Commercial/ Merchantable)

4.     Stand age 50-60 years:  3rd thinning (shelterwood type cut)

5.     Uneven aged management in old growth mixedwood forest dominated by Red Spruce.

Please join us for a walk in the woods to see various stages of forest stand development, silviculture, and to participate in various discussions. If you’re able to attend, we ask participants to please pre-register and indicate the best email address or phone number to reach you so we can notify participants in case of cancellation. There is no cost to attend although we ask that participants bring their own lunch. If you have any woodlot owner friends that may be interested in attending this event, please share this with them.

To pre-register, please email info@westernwoodlotcoop.com.