Alberta Reforestation Standards' Science Council

Last Review/Updated: September 5, 2002

Background of the Science Council

In 1999, a committee consisting of representatives from the Alberta Government and Alberta's forest industry met to develop recommendations on amendments to policies related to reforestation. This group's work concluded in March 2000.

In May 2000, the Alberta Reforestation Standards Science Council (ARSSC) was commissioned by the Government of Alberta to review regeneration standards released by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). The Council was comprised of independent scientists who conducted their own analysis of the regeneration standards, that resulted in the report entitled "Linking Regeneration Standards to Growth and Yield and Forest Management Objectives," August 29, 2001. The report contains 23 recommendations, a majority of which SRD views as positive in terms of improving regeneration standards. The press release announcing the Science Council's report is available here.

The ARSSC recommendations are in line with SRD's direction with regard to regeneration standards for Alberta - specifically improving the "link" between regeneration standards and forest management plan objectives. Though the 2000 regeneration standards are specific to trees in specific natural ecological regions in Alberta, it is recognized that forest management objectives may vary across the province, and that regeneration standards should recognize this variation as described in forest management plans (see Q&A's for more on Detailed Forest Management Planning).

Further, the emphasis on more standardized data on regenerating forests is supported by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. Although considerable data was utilized and analyzed in the development of the 2000 standards, it is recognized that industry, government, and academia could develop greater standardization of collection protocols. As the industry develops, more timber harvesting and subsequently regeneration across a wide-range of forest types will occur. The province will gain more long-term, realistic knowledge about regeneration performance to compare with currently conservative predictions of growth and yield.

The Height and Free-To-Grow (FTG) standards in the 2000 regeneration standards are based on a review of all the best available sources of data collected in Alberta - operational regeneration surveys, temporary sample plot data, and permanent sample plot data. SRD acknowledges that increased information on specific geographic areas and increased commonality in data collection methods would assist in improving standards. Again, information is limited, as there is not a long-term history of timber harvesting and reforestation experience across a wide-variety of geographic sites, as exists in other jurisdictions. However, more stringent coordination of existing data collection initiatives (and examination of potential data gaps) is a positive recommendation of the ARSSC, and will be addressed by the department.

Questions related to the Council and their work should be directed to Scott Milligan, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (780) 427-8474 or email at Scott.Milligan@gov.ab.ca.

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