By KELLY LOUISEIZE
Lumber and logging companies will better understand how their forestry practices impact the water quantity and quality in forest harvesting operations due to a new project that is spearheaded by Lakehead University’s water and nutrient lab.
The Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbances (FORWARD) project, which is manned by seasoned scientists, will examine 16 pieces of land that drain into different bodies of water. They are called watersheds. The watersheds will have natural disturbances as a result of severe damage either through fire or harvesting. If none exists, the scientists will impose such elements on land models.
“When you talk about disturbances they have to be clean and clear enough so there is no doubt there will be some information on the disturbance,” says Ellie Prepas, faculty professor of forestry and forest environment at Lakehead.
There is very little information on how land management maintains living things, says Prepas.
Most of the changes witnessed in surface water are associated with watersheds, Prepas adds, but it
is unclear how or to what degree they have been affected since very few studies have been conducted on watersheds.
The project has had the assistance of a primary funding partner, Millar Western Forest Products, with $1.8 million in funding and in-kind contributions. The Alberta-based company donated approximately $30,000 worth of research infrastructure to the laboratory where experiments will be undertaken.
“The FORWARD project will provide the empirical data needed to identify the best policies to encourage the adoption of forest management practices that reduce impact on the environment,” says Jonathan Russel, chief forester for Millar Western.
Moreover, Prepas suspects the findings from the FORWARD project will leach into the practices of
consumers who will be driven by environmental responsibility.
“This could have positive implications because companies that manage not just land responsibility,
but water too, are going to have more opportunity to sell products to a responsible market,” Prepas says.
Other contributors toward the FORWARD project include West Fraser (Blue Rudge Lumber)
Louisiana Pacific Canada Ltd. and Vanderwell Contractors Ltd.
