UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest Management And Working Plan #3 Effective January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012 Special Use Permit 15382 Forestr University of British Columbia Welcome to Our Classroom 72 South Seventh Avenue, Williams Lake, BC V2G 4N5 Phone (250) 392-2207 Fax (250) 398-5708 Email [email protected] January 5, 2007 Al Balogh, RPF District Manager Central Cariboo Forest District 640 Borland St. Williams Lake, BC V2G 4T1 Dear Sir: Re: Letter of Transmittal, Management and Working Plan #3, SUP 15382 Pursuant to our tenure agreement, please find enclosed Management and Working Plan #3. This document is intended to guide the management of our Research Forest by resolving our management objectives with strategic direction from the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan. There have been substantial changes to the practice of forestry in the Cariboo since MWP#2 was written in 1996. Working within that Management Plan has helped us to react to change in a constructive manner, and I fully expect that this new plan will continue to support our activities as our world continues to change around us. I would like to direct your attention to several unique aspects of this plan.  I have taken the step of summarizing the history of the area we manage, in the belief that our future is strongly influenced by our past.  I am proposing that we convert our forest management to area regulation, and as such have stated our Allowable Annual Cut in hectares instead of cubic metres.  We will implement an ongoing process of consultation, rather than simply referring this plan for comment.  We have assembled a list of twenty action items, which will take us many years to complete. We hereby submit this plan for your approval. Sincerely, UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest Original Signed and Sealed Ken Day, M.F., RPF Manager Cc: Jack Saddler, PhD, Dean of Forestry, UBC Bruce Larson, PhD, Chair, Research Forest Advisory Committee, UBC UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest Management And Working Plan #3 Effective January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012 Special Use Permit 15382 Y P Prepared By: O C Ken Day, MF, RPF Manager Y ______________ Date P Accepted on Behalf of the UBC Faculty of Forestry O C Jack Saddler, PhD Dean, UBC Faculty of Forestry © Copyright 2007 UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest Forestr University of British Columbia Welcome to Our Classroom Management and Working Plan #3 UBC Corporate Guidance University of BC Vision The University of British Columbia, aspiring to be one of the world’s best universities, will prepare students to become exceptional global citizens, promote the values of a civil and sustainable society, and conduct outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world. Faculty of Forestry Vision To be a world leader in education and research for the conservation and sustainable management of forests and forest products that contributes to preserving the environment and improving the welfare of society. Faculty of Forestry Mission To provide the citizens of British Columbia and the world with knowledge of how their forests grow and change, how to conserve and manage forests and create products to contribute diverse economic, social and spiritual benefits to communities, in ways that respect nature. (Faculty of Forestry 2004) UBC Environmental Protection Compliance Policy UBC will act responsibly and demonstrate accountable management of the property and affairs of UBC in protecting the environment. All individuals in the University community share the responsibility for protecting the environment. Administrative heads of unit are responsible for ensuring compliance with legislation and UBC procedures both on and off campus. UBC Safety Policy The University aims to provide a safe, healthy and secure environment in which to carry on the University’s affairs. All possible preventive measures are taken to eliminate accidental injuries, occupational diseases and risks to personal security. iv Alex Fraser Research Forest January 1, 2007 Table of Contents 1. Management Philosophy .......................................................................................1 1.1. Goals of the Alex Fraser Research Forest ......................................................1 1.2. Forest Management Objectives ......................................................................1 2. Description of the Area .........................................................................................3 2.1. Physical description ........................................................................................3 2.2. Biogeoclimatic Description ............................................................................3 2.3. Area Summary ................................................................................................5 2.4. History ............................................................................................................8 2.5. History of UBC Management ......................................................................15 3. Context For Management and Working Plans ....................................................23 3.1. Tenure ...........................................................................................................23 3.2. Legislation and Regulation ...........................................................................23 3.3. Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan .................................................................26 3.4. Climate Change ............................................................................................27 4. Inventory .............................................................................................................31 4.1. Ecological Inventory ....................................................................................31 4.2. Timber Resources .........................................................................................32 4.3. Riparian Inventory ........................................................................................35 4.4. Range Resources ..........................................................................................37 4.5. Cultural Heritage Resources .........................................................................37 5. Non-Timber Resource Values and Uses ..............................................................39 5.1. Recreation .....................................................................................................39 5.2. Visual Sensitivity ..........................................................................................43 5.3. Cultural Values ............................................................................................45 5.4. Domestic Range ...........................................................................................46 5.5. Fish and Wildlife For Hunting, Trapping, Guiding, Sport Fishing ..............48 5.6. Mineral Exploration .....................................................................................48 v Management and Working Plan #3 5.7. Non-timber Forest Products .........................................................................49 5.8. Water Production ..........................................................................................50 6. Conservation of Biodiversity .............................................................................55 6.1. Landscape Level Biodiversity ......................................................................55 6.2. Stand-Level Biodiversity ..............................................................................60 6.3. Conservation of Species and Ecosystems at Risk ........................................70 7. Forest Management .............................................................................................77 7.1. Organizing the Land Base ............................................................................77 7.2. Forest Protection ..........................................................................................78 7.3. Timber Harvest Priorities .............................................................................85 7.4. Silviculture ...................................................................................................87 7.5. Forest Level Regulation ...............................................................................97 8. Forest Operations ..............................................................................................107 8.1. Timber Harvesting ......................................................................................107 8.2. Access .........................................................................................................109 9. Research and Education ....................................................................................111 9.1. Research Strategies ....................................................................................111 9.2. Education Strategies ...................................................................................113 10. Consultation ......................................................................................................117 10.1. Principles for Meaningful Consultation .....................................................117 10.2. Customers and Constituents .......................................................................117 10.3. Consultation Processes ...............................................................................118 11. References .........................................................................................................121 12. Appendices ........................................................................................................127 Appendix 1: CCLUP Resource Targets Pertaining To The Research Forest .......129 vi Alex Fraser Research Forest January 1, 2007 Appendix 2: Identified Wildlife Potentially Inhabiting the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest .....................................................................................................133 Appendix 3: Forest Cover by Leading Species ....................................................137 Appendix 4: Riparian Inventory and Management Direction ..............................139 Appendix 5: Resource Features To Be Considered During Management Activities. ..............................................................................................................141 Appendix 6: Archaeological Overview Assessment. ...........................................143 Appendix 7: Seral Stage Distribution ...................................................................145 Appendix 8: Sensitive sites, reserves, and deferred areas. ...................................147 Appendix 9: Compartments and Management Objectives ....................................149 Appendix 10: Timber Harvest Priorities ..............................................................151 Appendix 11: Road Master Plan ..........................................................................153 Appendix 12: Research Projects ..........................................................................155 List of Tables Table 1: Biogeoclimatic data for the variants occurring on the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest (adapted from Anon 1987). .............................................................5 Table 2: Area of non-forest land classified according to the updated forest inventory (2004) for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .............................................6 Table 3: Forested area by age class and leading species according to the updated forest inventory (2004) for the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest. ..........................7 Table 4: Cross reference listing of Management Plan components acting upon FRPA objectives. .....................................................................................................25 Table 5: Compliance with Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan (CCLUP) targets affected by Research Forest Management...............................................................27 Table 6: Predicted shifts in bioclimate envelope (based upon CGCM A2x) for particular locations within the Alex Fraser Research Forest, according to T. Wang (Personal Communications 2006) ...........................................................................28 Table 7: Alex Fraser Research Forest area by biogeoclimatic subzone and site series. ................................................................................................................33 Table 8: Riparian features and their extent in the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ...35 Table 9: Lakes inventory for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .............................36 Table 10: Recreation facilities existing on the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ......................................................................................................40 Table 11: Classification and objectives for the lakes within and adjacent to the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. (Anon 2005a, 2005b). .....................................41 vii Management and Working Plan #3 Table 12: Area of visual quality objective class, subregional plan direction (Anon 2005a, 2005b) for those classes, and generalized management recommendations to achieve those objectives on the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ......................44 Table 13: Range Agreements operating within the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .46 Table 14: Seral stage distribution for the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest, comparing sub-regional plan targets (Anon 2005a, Anon 2005b) to the unadjusted 2004 forest inventory. ..............................................................................................56 Table 15: Direction for patch size distribution from Sub-Regional plans (Anon 2005a, Anon 2005b) as applied to the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ............57 Table 16: Area of the Alex Fraser Research Forest as classified by management for the conservation of biodiversity. ...........................................................................58 Table 17: Sub-regional plan direction for landscape connectivity for the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest (from Anon 2005a, 2005b) ................................................60 Table 18: Wildlife Tree Retention targets from Sub-Regional plans (Anon 2005a, Anon 2005b) as applied to the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ........................61 Table 19: Wildlife Tree Patch allocation by site series for the Alex Fraser Research Forest, as of 2005, for those cutblocks harvested since 1995. ................................62 Table 20: Streams found to have fish present within the Alex Fraser Research Forest (bracketed site numbers refer to sample sites from Hallam Knight Piésold 1996a, 1996b). .........................................................................................................63 Table 21: Riparian management for lakes within the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ......................................................................................................................64 Table 23: Red and blue listed species possibly or confirmed to be inhabiting the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ..................................................................................72 Table 24: Provincial (P) and Cariboo regional (C) noxious weeds listed in the Weed Control Regulation (as of September 21, 2006) and their occurrence on or near the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ....................................................................74 Table 25: Plants listed in the Invasive Plants Regulation (as of November 8, 2006) and their occurrence on the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ......................................75 Table 26: Summary of Research Forest area (hectares) for Management Units and Working Circles of the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .............................................78 Table 27: Relative susceptibility of tree species growing at the AlexFraser Research Forest to three principle root diseases. From Province of BC (1995c). .................82 Table 28: Harvesting priority and rank as a function of forest cover for the Alex Fraser Research Forest, including the distribution of past and future harvest volume by those priorities. ...................................................................................................86 viii Alex Fraser Research Forest January 1, 2007 Table 29: Target stand structures for uneven-aged management of Douglas-fir on the Knife Creek Mule Deer Winter Range, interpreted from Dawson and Armleder (2000). .....................................................................................................................89 Table 30: Target age structures for uneven-aged management of Douglas-fir on the Beaver Valley Mule Deer Winter Range, Dawson et al. (2006). .............................91 Table 31: Summary of seedlots registered by the Alex Fraser Research Forest in the Seed Planning and Registry (SPAR) database, as of January 2006. .................97 Table 32: Summary of productive and non-productive area (hectares) for Management Units and Working Circles of the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .......99 Table 33: Silvicultural systems as applied to the timber-harvest Working Circles of the Research Forest .................................................................................................99 Table 34: Calculation of area-based allowable harvest rate for each harvesting working circle of the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ..............................................100 Table 35: Allowable Annual Cut for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ................101 Table 36: Allowable Annual Cut (AAC) compared to average annual net harvest area (ha) during the period from 2001 to 2005 for the Alex Fraser Research forest. Comparison is shown by working circle (BV = Beaver Valley MDWR, GL = Gavin Lake Demonstration A ...........................................................................................106 Table 37: Roads as a proportion of Management Unit and total area of the Alex Fraser Research Forest, as of 2006. .......................................................................110 Table 38: Road construction specifications for the Alex Fraser Research Forest (adapted from BC Ministry of Forests 2002) ........................................................110 Table 39: Landings as a proportion of Management Unit and total area of the Alex Fraser Research Forest, as of 2006. .......................................................................112 Table 40: BC Conservation Data Centre Listed Animal Species for the Former Horsefly and Williams Lake Forest Districts ........................................................134 Table 41: BC Conservation Data Centre Listed Plant Species for the Former Horsefly and Williams Lake Forest Districts ........................................................136 List of Figures Figure 1: Location map for the UBC/Alex Fraser Research Forest. ........................4 Figure 2: Proportion of area by Biogeoclimatic subzone for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ........................................................................................................5 Figure 3: Site series distribution for the Alex Fraser Research Forest by biogeoclimatic subzone. ............................................................................................6 Figure 4: Leading species distribution (area) by age class for each block of the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest according to the updated forest inventory (2004). Age Class 0 represents the area of land which has not yet been reforested. ............8 ix Management and Working Plan #3 Figure 5: Annual harvest levels for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. Sanitation includes any cutblock aimed at damaged timber; dispersed includes timber harvested outside cutblocks; and green refers to cutblocks aimed at undamaged timber. ....................................................................................................................19 Figure 6: 1997 to 2004 change in age class and species distribution for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. Note changes in species composition resulting from partial-cutting to manage mountain pine beetle. .....................................................20 Figure 7: Average market value of log sales from the Alex Fraser Research Forest, comparing average production cost and net value, adusted to 2005 dollars. ..........21 Figure 8: Map of tactical-plan-stand boundaries for the Alex Fraser Research Forest showing Gavin Lake (A) and Knife Creek (B) . The finest division shown indicates stand boundaries. ......................................................................................34 Figure 9: Screen capture from the Mineral Tenures Online Viewer (See: http:// www.maps.gov.bc.ca accessed September 19, 2006) showing the Gavin Lake Block is nearly 100% staked in mineral tenures (pink shading). ..........................49 Figure 10: Portion of the Williams Lake and Area Interface fire Plan overlapping Knife Creek Block (red line); square boundary represents the core and rounded boundary represents the buffer of the fire planning area. ........................................88 Figure 11: Target stand structures by habitat class for the Knife Creek Mule Deer Winter Range, comparing density (stems/ha on left, basal area on right axis) by diameter class. .........................................................................................................89 Figure 12: Net harvest area (ha) by year and by harvest type (CC = Clearcut, PC = Partial Cut, RW = Road Right-of-Way, SV = Salvage) for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. ....................................................................................................................103 Figure 13: Harvest volume (m3 scaled) by year and by harvest type ((CC = Clearcut, PC = Partial Cut, RW = Road Right-of-Way, SV = Salvage) for the Alex Fraser Research Forest. .........................................................................................104 Figure 14: Average annual harvest area (ha/yr) for the period 2001 to 2005 compared to Allowable Annual Cut (AAC) by working circle (TP = Timber Production Area, KC = Knife Creek Mule Deer Winter Range, GL = Gavin Lake Demonstration Area, and BV = Beaver V .............................................................105 Figure 15: Areas of the Alex Fraser Research Forest Gavin Lake Block where slope exceeds 30%. ...............................................................................................107 Figure 16: Logging work practices to reduce damage to the residual stand (from Day 1998), assuming a hand-falling/line skidder operation. ................................113 Figure 17: Summary of research projects opened between 1987 and July 2006 at the Alex Fraser Research Forest, showing: (A) the ratio of research projects by completion status; (B) the ratio of active and completed projects that are physically installed; a .............................................................................................................113 x