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Strategies & Market Trends : Winter in the Great White North -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E. Charters who wrote (4818)	7/4/2003 5:29:47 PM
From: marcos	Respond to of 8273

I type at you while overlooking a southern slope that is largely [entirely except for where i play on sundays with the bulldozer] in very healthy second-growth ... some bastard growth, not really old-growth but predating european contact by a few years, probably the result of forest fires that were probably started for the purpose of improving berry production ... and douglas fir the great majority, some arbutus and a very little cedar and hemlock, but mostly fir, because of available sun Timber is always taller on a northern slope, all other things being equal .... this is because the soil dries out faster in spring on the southern slope, you get the soil-water-deficit earlier, so the trees shut down growth for summer earlier, don't get a chance to grow as much as on the northern ..... one thing douglas fir does well, is shut down due to near absolute lack of moisture, and then start up again when it gets water, usually next spring but often on significant mid-summer rain, too .... hemlock and cedar don't do this, dry them right out and they die ... each species has its habits and needs, which must form the base of all forestry decisions On a southern slope there is more advantage to cutting smaller patches, or go to single-tree selection, for this reason, that it helps the soil retain moisture a few more days going into summer .... also, there is so much more light on the southern slope that you don't need to open it up as much as on the northern, to get fir regen growing ..... so logically you treat them quite differently [and i'm not saying that logic was the basis for all cut decisions in this province, i know much better than that] In a few places i've seen northern slopes where no direct sunlight has hit for thousands of years .... very steep ground of course, but there are bits of soil in it, and a few trees believe it or not ... never ever a douglas fir though, and very few cedar for some reason [in the ones i'm thinking of, anyway] Ruminant grazing may be a factor yes, because they do prefer southern slopes much of the year ... but sun and moisture are bigger factors .... once the sapling is above grazing height at two metres, it's off, nothing can nip the leader any more