The Lower North Thompson Community Forest provides funds to support a variety of classroom- and field-based excursions. These events aim to promote forest education and awareness including but not limited to forest ecosystems in our local area, current management practices, and industry skills that are commonly being utilized.
The LNTCFS also periodically hosts field-tour events where participants are taken to various areas within the K1Z tenure with a focus on having discussions around forest management and operations.
If you are interested in having the LNTCFS organize or accompany you on a forestry-related event please reach out to us!!
2024 – District Field Tour
LNTCFS hosted the Ministry of Forests staff, primarily with folks from the Kamloops (District Thompson Rivers) staff to K1Z CP 10 Block 8 with broader discussions that include CP10 blocks 7 and 9 which were subject to the same treatment. Timeline for ongoing fuel treatment program:
Wildfire Risk Management Plan 2019/20 – identified strategic harvest areas for defensible fuel treatments at the landscape level.
More information can be found on our website: Wildfire Risk Management.
Prescriptions Summer 2021 – A mechanical select harvest treatment due to stand suitability and management objectives. BCCFA Funded.
Logged 2022/23 winter – logs sold to Interfor and Arrow. Logging contractors paid an hourly rate which removed incentive to target larger stems (volume-based rate). 3 Blocks (~50ha total) -> 7,850m3 total volume removed (157m3/ha).
Revenue ~$617k ($78.60/m3) Costs $814k Net -197k cost, (-$4,000/ha)
Grinding – separate fiber utilization project that resulted in 5,000m3 Hogged Tree Material ~85m3/ha. FESBC Funded.
Slashing – post-harvest treatment with brush saws (2023 Summer Students). Targeted removal of layers 2, 3, and 4 stems. ~$500/ha. FESBC Funded.
Piling – post-harvest treatment in the fall of 2023 to spring 2024 to concentrate surface fuel accumulations created during prior phases. FESBC Funded.
Burning – completed in the fall of 2023 and fall of 2024 to remove dispersed piles of surface fuels. FESBC Funded.
2024 – Forestry Education
Sky and her son Cedar accompanied the group which included the Barriere Scouts a half dozen adults and 9 local kids. They met at the Barriere Secondary School and convoyed out to the bottom of the Wikkiup which is located in the Community Forest. There was a discussion about wildfire risk reduction fuel treatments being undertaken by the Community Forest and the goals/ benefits of the work for local rural communities. The one Scout (parent) said “I live 15 mins away, and this fuel treatment could save my house (gestures to her son), our house”
The group walked to a stream that was located at the West end of the block to look at the 1.34m Cedar Vet along with some of the neighboring Fir Vets. This led to a discussion about Natural Disturbance Regimes, historical logging in the area, and some plant IDs. Sky handed out the “Old Growth Handout” to the adults and led a discussion on old-growth forests, attributes, and definitions—with a broader discussion around our proposed alternative management strategy and biodiversity values.
Once back at the trucks Sky took out the drone and gave a quick introduction to the controls and the application of this technology in forestry. The Scouters each got a turn flying the drone// taking pictures. Many were quite eager to see/ fly the drone.
2023 – Site Tour
In the fall of 2023, the LNTCFS hosted a diverse group of community members and forestry professionals including the LNTCFS board of directors and woodlands staff, the Forest Enhancement Society of BC, Simpcw First Nation, Tolko, and the Ministry of Forests. This tour focused on some of the operational activities within the Community Forest including its wildfire risk reduction fuel treatments and a research trial looking into the responses of stand thinning on tree growth rate and form. The group had lunch at the South Barriere Lake Rec Site.
2023 – BC Community Forestry Association Conference & AGM
In the summer of 2023, the LNTCFS provided funds for staff, summer students, and directors to attend the BCCFA Conference and AGM in Kamloops BC. This 4-day conference included field tours of WoodCo Mill, LNTCFS Mill, and Logan Lake Community Forest. There were also 2-days of classroom-based sessions that covered a range of topics from prescribed burning to old growth management to effective governance.
2023 – Community Planting Events
In the spring of 2023, LNTCFS forest technician Sky, joined up with The local Girl Guides and Barriere 1st Scouts to host two different community planting events.
Youth participated in engaging discussions around the values and ecosystem services that forests provide. They also got to practice their tree ID and learned about proper seedling handling and planting techniques.
2021 – Site Tour
In the winter of 2021, LNTCFS Woodland staff invited its Board of Directors and a visiting guest from the Creston Community Forest to visit an area that was being developed for harvest. The group chatted about old-growth values and attributes, forest health, and wildfire resiliency in the Community Forest. The group also cored some trees and talked about forest growth and development.
2021 – Grade 8 Fieldtrip
In the fall of 2021, LNTCFS forest technician Sky joined up with the local Barriere Secondary School Grade 8 class for a forestry-based field trip. First, they headed to the Dunn Creek Hatchery which is maintained and operated by Simpcw First Nation. Here they learned a bit about cultural resources including salmon, plants, and trees. After lunch, they headed to the Chu Chua bike trails and talked about tree growth and forest development focusing on the 4-stages of stand development. These are stand initiation, self-thinning, understory reinitiation, and climax. The students also got to help core and age one of the larger Douglas fir trees located along the side of one of the trails.
Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society 