Enjoying my time in Peace River
August 7, 2013 11:28 am Leave your thoughts
I am really enjoying working for DMI and spending time in Peace River.
I was able to make sometime the other day to check out the Peace River valley and take sme pictures up on one of the highest hills in the area “12 Foot Davis.”
One interesting thing I have done recently is collect root samples from aspen trees. I and a few other summer students from DMI travelled to a tree improvement test site close to Manning and were instructed by a former DMI employee on how to successfully collect root samples. This entailed carefully digging around the roots of the tree using various tools to expose and collect a total of 1 metre of roots. These roots were then taken to a nursery in Fairview where they will be used to grow clones of the same trees. This way the trees with the most desirable traits can be selected and replicated.
I worked with one of my colleagues here in woodlands the other day that specializes in planning the layout of cutblocks to learn more about the process. We went hiking in the woods and assessed the conditions of the stand to see where layout might have to change, as it was laid out in the winter and conditions may often change seasonally. I learned more about some of the parameters that individuals planning the layout of a block take into account like what conditions the harvesting equipment can function in, the slope of the surrounding terrain, the presence of streams and whether there is access to an area. I also learned more about the insight that LiDAR gives people when planning harvesting activity.
DMI often gives tours of the forest for local schools around the end of the school year and this summer I was able to take part in this. Initially I and some other DMI employees walked the trail replacing signs and clearing away trees that had fallen across the walking path.
I and a few others from DMI led a tour for a grade six class through the forest surrounding Leddy Lake. This forest area is great for teaching people about forests because it clearly shows the change from a deciduous forest stand dominated by aspen to a coniferous forest stand dominated by white spruce. This change is quite dramatic as one travels down a hill closer to the lake and I think the kids were really able to grasp an understanding of the difference between conifers and deciduous trees and see how the composition of the plants growing in the understory changes when one moves from a deciduous stand to a coniferous stand. It was enjoyable teaching the kids about various aspects of the forest and I think that they were able to have a great time and learn a lot, in spite of all of the mosquitoes.
