2019 Fall Newsletter!
There’s been many interesting and exciting things happening at WWSC!
We’ve gained new members and helped with various silviculture and harvest jobs. We had a successful AGM in June, completed the feasibility analysis on wood heat conversions from fossil fuel use of private facilities, and completed a membership survey.
We are very fortunate to have three full time foresters working with us now as well as some part time help to help serve our membership. The following provides summaries on our activities.
Current Membership
As of December 9, WWSC has 183 members representing 58,636 acres in Western Nova Scotia. Lunenburg and Digby Counties remain to have the highest number of members representing nearly half of the total acreage. The figure and table below provide more details:
Summary of AGM
Our AGM that was held on June 15 in West Northfield, Lunenburg County, was a complete success and very well attended by members; there were 65 in attendance. It was a beautiful sunny day which started off with a woodlot walk on member and director Kevin Veinotte’s woodlot where various aspects of forest management were discussed.
This was followed by a hearty lunch then a presentation on the Wood Heat Conversion Analysis Project by hired consultant Dale Prest of Climate Forest Company that was commissioned by WWSC. The results of the membership survey, that was sent out last May, were presented by Abby Lewis who helped with the survey and summarize the results. The AGM concluded with the business meeting followed by the draw of various door prizes.
After the event, we received many favorable comments from attendees on how informative and enjoyable the day was.
A big thanks to everyone who joined us.
We look forward to the next AGM this coming spring!
Wood Heat Conversion Analysis Project
In an effort to create markets for low-grade wood in Western Nova Scotia, WWSC had asked the Climate Forest Company, as well as ACFOR to explore the opportunities and challenges of wood chip heating in Western Nova Scotia. The 3 main take-aways of the feasibility analysis for the conversion of fossil fuel-based heating of private commercial buildings to sustainable wood chip-based heating were:
1. Good candidates for wood chip heating are facilities that:
a. Are > 80,000 square feet, does not have access to natural gas
b. Have year-round heat load, uses hot water to move heat
c. Have plenty of space on site for a boiler building
d. Are located near other consumers of heat for district heating potential
2. WWSC has the capability to supply low-grade wood for wood chip heating from sustainable forest improvement practices, particularly within Digby and Lunenburg Counites where within a 50 km service radius 70% of WWSC members could be reached.
3. WWSC should partner with one or more heat contractors to provide guaranteed supply of decent quality low grade wood and position ourselves to participate in sustainable wood heat projects as opportunities arise. This will help improve markets for low-grade wood and help improve feasibility of forest improvement work.
The summary of the final report can be viewed on our website by following clicking here
Membership Survey
The membership survey included 26 questions for our members to allow us to get a better feel of members’ basic knowledge, experience and interest in their woodlot and woodlot management, which will help us tailor educational field days, workshops, training sessions, where to focus management efforts, etc. There was a total of 76 members that took the survey, which at the time represented over half our membership. There was good representation from each county which basically matched the total membership percent by county. Most members live near their woodlot and visit it regularly. More than half of respondents have owned their woodlot for more than 25 years, are knowledgeable of past management activities that have been completed, and plan to undertake some form of harvest activities over the next 5 years.
The top 5 things respondents consider their woodlot to be for are: 1. A family property over the long term, 2. A source of wood products (including firewood) for family / personal use, 3. A wildlife refuge, 4. Recreational use, and 5. A working woodlot with periodic income from product sales.
The top 5 subjects / topics respondents would like to partake in for workshops or training sessions include: 1. Silviculture activities and stand improvement (including silviculture funding eligibility), 2. Harvest methods and implementation, 3. Wildlife and their habitats, 4. Non-Timber Forest Products (i.e., medicinal plants, edible plants, mushrooms, maple syrup), and 5. Tree and forest vegetation identification / forest management ‘101’.
These are just some of the results that came from the survey, which will help us moving forward, to view the full results please click here
Introduction of Staff
We are fortunate to have expanded our staff with passionate, competent and skilled foresters. These foresters are very keen, have a genuine interest in private woodlot management and helping private woodlot owners reach their management goals and objectives. It is equally fortunate that each of the foresters have roots here in rural Nova Scotia. They all have proven to be an excellent addition to the WWSC team to help deliver a range of services to our members, help expand membership and build WWSC.
Follow this link to view our Staff biographies.
Harvesting
The total volume sold through the Co-op from April 1 – Nov. 22 has been 9,431 tonnes, and is mostly from Digby, Yarmouth and Queens Counties. At this rate, we’re on track to reach or hopefully surpass the total harvest level that was achieved in the last fiscal year of 13,400 tonnes. The following outlines tonnes and percentage breakdown of products sold to various mills:
Freeman Lumber, 5442 tonnes 58% Other, 142 tonnes 2%
Spec. Resources, 2765 tonnes 29% Local Firewood, 514 tonnes 5%
A.F.T Sawmill, 392 tonnes 4%
Ledwidge Lumber, 176 tonnes 2%
The main products sold were spruce logs, spruce studwood, fir studwood, pine studwood, hemlock logs, hardwood logs, biomass (low-grade) wood, and now some firewood. The total associated with ‘Other’ relates to wood sold to other mills- Lewis Mouldings, Northern Pulp, and Churchill Lumber. This harvest volume has primarily been generated through partial harvesting type of activities such as commercial thinning, selection harvests, and partial overstory removal.
Silviculture
Since September, we claimed funding for 12 various silviculture jobs totaling 156 acres (63 hectares). These funding claims were for 76.3 acres of commercial thinning, 24.2 acres of selection management, 53.2 acres of pre-commercial thinning, and 2.1 acres of manual weeding (early competition control). These silviculture jobs were completed in Digby, Yarmouth and Lunenburg Counties. The total amount of funding claimed was just about $41,000, and the funding was sourced from the Association for Sustainable Forestry and J.A Turner & Sons Ltd. This completed silviculture work and associated funding has helped members benefit from stand improvement activities.
Western Region Woodlot Owner of the Year
We are pleased to extend well deserved congratulations to members Sherman and Cindy Embree from East Sable River, Shelburne County, for being awarded 2019’s Western Region Woodlot Owner of the Year by NS Dept. of Lands and Forestry. They are the third-generation stewards of approximately 460 acres. Their management focus has been and continues to be promoting wildlife habitat, improving growing conditions in forest stands through various silviculture activities, growing Christmas trees, and educating school children and others by hosting local schools and groups on their woodlot. Additionally, the Embree’s have designated a conservation area of their eastern 150 acres that adjoins Johnston’s Pond to conserve rare and species at risk lichens such as Boreal Felt Lichen, Blue Felt Lichen, Mealy-rimmed lichen, and Poorman’s shingle lichen, as well as to maintain suitable habitats for migratory birds and other wildlife.
Special Invitation
Spec Resources Inc., from Concession Digby County, would like to extend an invitation to members to visit their modern wood chip boiler installation, the first of its kind in Nova Scotia. The Boiler viewing will occur on Wednesday, December 18th from 10 am – 2 pm at 1728 Patrice Road, Concession.
See the attached invitation for more information.
Spec Resources Inc. is a member of WWSC and highly supports the sustainable management practices conducted. They specialize in efficient and clean wood chip heating systems, as well as excavation, insulated concrete forms, mulch, topsoil, and compost mix just to name a few services. The Co-op has been and continues to be their main supplier of responsibly sourced low-grade wood (biomass) in the Digby / Yarmouth County areas. They produce and store wood chips from this low-grade wood that is used to fuel the two wood chip boiler furnaces at the Universite Sainte-Anne in Church Point since 2009. They have the capacity to supply, install and maintain additional wood chip heating systems in Southwest Nova, and WWSC has the ability to supply them with responsibly sourced low-grade wood material from responsible forest improvement activities.
If you’re interested to find out more or attend this event, please contact Paul Comeau at 902-769-2777 or email paul@specresources.ca.
Upcoming Educational Events
We have interesting things coming up in the New Year!
Currently, we are beginning to organize some workshops and field days for early in the New Year and the Spring. These include; planning a session on Acadian Forest Tree species and winter tree ID, a workshop on how to use GIS and Mapping technology on your woodlot, and a field day to explore how to identify and promote wildlife habitat in your woodlot.
Mark your calendars! Saturday, March 7th has been set for 2020’s Western Woodlot Owner Conference to be held at the North Queens Fire Hall in Caledonia, Queens County. The Conference Committee is currently working on arranging a variety of interesting and intriguing presentations and booths. Further details will be provided in the January/February issue of the Atlantic Forestry Review magazine, as well as on our website and Facebook page.
There are always opportunities for learning to come, so please stay tuned for these and other upcoming events!
Holiday Wishes
The Board of Directors and staff of WWSC would like to take this opportunity to extend warm and sincere wishes for an enjoyable and safe holiday season, as well as a healthy and prosperous New Year!
Until next time, please be safe and be well!