This review explores the benefits, challenges, limitations, logistics, and cost-effectiveness of different management options to convert conifer-dominated stands to aspen-dominated stands. These alternatives can include overstory removal (harvesting, bulldozing, shear blading, prescribed burning) and site preparation (root trenching, drag scarification, broadcast burning) treatments. On sites where parent aspen trees are not present in the original stand, tree planting will be necessary albeit costly in comparison to regeneration by suckering. While extensive literature exists on the regeneration of trembling aspen through suckering, research on artificial establishment with seedlings and its requirements is still in its infancy and rapidly developing.
Hosted by Edouard Proust, this presentation by David Bevly held on February 10, 2021 highlights an important component of FPInnovations' Transportation and Infrastructure group's work. The concept of truck platooning, inspired by pelotons of cyclists and originally developed for highway use to obtain fuel savings, utilizes technology to maintain the desired distance between trucks by controlling acceleration and braking, and the relative lateral position of the vehicles by steering, reacting faster than a driver can. Truck platooning has attracted the attention of the natural resources sector and its implementation is expected to increase the productivity of drivers. By allowing the operation of driverless following trucks replicating the path set by the human operated leader vehicle, the concept could help mitigate the workforce shortage that impact the sector while supporting the supply of lumber to mills across the country.
Résumé
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Cette présentation de David Bevly a été organisée le 10 février 2021 par Edouard Proust. Elle met en lumière une composante importante du travail effectué par le groupe Transports et Infrastructures de FPInnovations. Le concept d’opération de camions en peloton est inspiré des pelotons de cyclistes et a été mis au point à l’origine pour des applications autoroutières avec pour objectif une réduction de la consommation de carburant. Les camions sont équipés d’une technologie permettant le contrôle de l’accélération, du freinage et de la direction offrant la possibilité de maintenir la distance de suivi entre les véhicules ainsi que leur positionnement latéral relatif. En autorisant la mise en œuvre de camions suiveurs entièrement autonomes et qui répliquent le tracé du camion de tête opéré par un chauffeur, le concept pourrait à terme aider à minimiser l’impact du manque de chauffeurs dans l’industrie tout en supportant l’approvisionnement en fibre des scieries à travers le Canada.
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The clean air initiative led by the British Columbia Ministry of Environment seeks to develop innovative methods to improve community air quality by utilizing harvest residues and minimizing the volume of fibre burned at roadside. Retaining processed tops as roadside oriented piles is proposed as an alternative to burning debris.
These burn trials have demonstrated that in this unique arrangement of fuels and interaction of site-specific variables, particular areas of the piles will be more vulnerable to ignition sources which can lead to sustained burning and high intensity fire behaviour. In addition to the low fuel moisture conditions, other fuel properties, such as the close proximity of piles, high volume of fine fuels (branches and needles) and orientation of piles to road all contributed to enhanced burning at this site.
FPInnovations’ Wildfire Operations Advisory group has asked its researchers to explore a method by which the performance of water-enhancing products can be repeatedly assessed in the laboratory. A new test method, known as the crib test, was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of water-enhancing products on burning woody fuel to simulate direct-attack aerial operations.
This report outlines the methodology for the crib test and describes the findings from performance evaluation tests conducted at the Protective Clothing and Equipment Research Facility (PCERF) at the University of Alberta.
The USDA Forest Service’s Qualified Product List (QPL) provides guidance on the range of permissible mix ratios for water-enhancer products. Due to the proprietary nature of water-enhancer products, there are several unknowns about the rheology of the permissible mix ratios.
This study focused on mapping the viscosity of various suppressant products as a function of their mix ratios. The results revealed a wide range of viscosities across products, with each product showing a different non-linear relationship with different mix ratios.
The results from this study can help understand the optimum viscosity range to achieve desired drop characteristics during aerial operations.
The aim of this study was to capture data on area-based water delivery systems, specifically in the context of logistics, systems differentiation, water delivery, and its localized effects. FPInnovations successfully collaborated with Fire & Flood to obtain this data. A two-day test was executed during which Fire & Flood set up their 4- and 12-inch systems and carried out sprinkler operations.
FPInnovations investigated the possibility of collecting real time temperature-altitude data that could be used to determine the stability of the atmosphere. Unstable atmospheric conditions have been associated with erratic and extreme fire behaviour. An increased awareness of atmospheric stability conditions would provide fire managers an additional tool to plan firefighting activities. A firefighting aircraft with a specific sensor was sourced and two years of data was collected and analysed to determine if temperature profiles could be built using the data. Results show the data was sufficiently accurate and was collected at a frequency where temperature lapse rates can be calculated, and the stability of the atmosphere in the area of a fire could be determined.
Hemlock can have higher moisture content than most other native trees, causing them to sink. Hemlock lumens have large pits (valves) that allow easy transport of water into the wood.
Bigger rings = bigger lumens. Younger hemlock or hemlock tops are more susceptible to sinking. The bigger the rings the more likely to take on water.
This guide provides users with easy to use charts to assist with the design of geosynthetic-reinforced unpaved roads over weak soils. It permits the estimation of key input parameters through simple procedures and judgment based on experience. Further optimization of designs may however be possible through detailed calculations and lab testing which are encouraged
whenever feasible.
Ce guide propose des graphiques simples d’utilisation afin d’aider les utilisateurs dans la conception de routes non revêtues renforcées avec des géosynthétiques. Il permet d’estimer les principaux paramètres d’entrée à travers des procédures
simples et le recours au jugement découlant de l’expérience. Lorsque possible, le recours à des essais en laboratoire est préconisé pour l’obtention de certaines données d’entrée.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AAF) asked FPInnovations to conduct a field trial of two heavy helicopters that had recently been installed with on-board injection and mixing systems. The study focussed on determining the accuracy and reproducibility of these systems to produce effectively mixed water-enhancers for aerial delivery during wildfire suppression operations.
These field trials were conducted north of Slave Lake, Alta. in June 2020. This report discusses the background, methodology, and outcomes of this equipment validation test.
The ongoing evolution of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPASs) with recent advances in micro-sensors and imaging software has the potential to enhance the delivery of infrared imaging services for wildfire operations. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of these aircraft will aid wildfire managers in selecting appropriate RPAS platforms as another "tool in the toolbox" for hotspot detection missions on wildfires.
The current regeneration challenges posed by salvage logging following large-scale disturbances in western Canada, such as wildfire and mountain pine beetle, warrant the need for cost-effective reforestation strategies. Mechanized ground-based direct seeding was assessed in a variety of conditions to explore viability, determine which factors influence success, and determine the expected establishment rate when seeding with B.C. tree species. This report includes guidelines and recommendations for implementing direct seeding in B.C., based on observations from operational trials established in 2013-2017 across the province.
This study tested ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) ropes for log load securement. Destructive testing of used rope samples done in a previous project found that the strength of these ropes decreased with use. To address this problem, the diameter of the synthetic rope was increased. In addition, a different type of rope with a UHMWPE inner core covered with a polyester protective jacket was tested. The outer jacket protected the inner core from dirt and abrasion which may help mitigate the loss in strength that occurs with use. Wrappers were put into service and tested for breakage after three and six months of use.
Cette étude a évalué des câbles en polyéthylène de poids moléculaire ultra élevé (PEPMUE) pour sécuriser des chargements de billes. Des tests destructifs d'échantillons de câbles usagés effectués dans un projet précédent avaient révélé que la résistance de ces câbles diminuait avec l'utilisation. Pour résoudre ce problème, le diamètre du câble synthétique a été augmenté. De plus, un autre type de câble avec une âme intérieure en PEPMUE recouverte d'une gaine de protection en polyester a été testé. La gaine extérieure protégeait le câble intérieur de la saleté et de l'abrasion, ce qui peut aider à atténuer la perte de résistance qui se produit avec l'utilisation. Les câbles ont été mis en service et testés pour la résistance à la rupture après trois et six mois d'utilisation.
Forest fuel characterization at the Quesnel airport (fuel management treatment unit 14A). Collecting forest stand data as inputs to fuel management tools
The City of Quesnel has applied an innovative selective harvesting technique in a mature Douglas-fir forest stand with the objectives of maintaining biodiversity and reducing fuel-load buildup and consequent wildfire threat. FPInnovations researchers monitored and documented the harvesting operations and measured machine productivity to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the operation.
To support the assessment of fuel-load reduction, FPInnovations' Wildfire Operations group conducted fuel-sampling activities to produce a pre-harvest forest fuel inventory. The inventory data were converted to formats to be applied in two fuel-management tools: a photo guide of the pre-treatment fuel environment and a dataset that can be input to FuelCalBC
Harvest operations on soft soils can be particularly challenging in order to respect site and soil disturbance guidelines as well as operational requirements. To address the challenges of operating on soft soils, FPInnovations has worked on solutions designed to reduce disturbance on weak soils while minimizing implementation and investment costs by using machines already being used in the operation.
Hummingbird Network, a British Columbia company, presented its crowdsourcing wildfire detection concept (the Hummingbird Network Smoke Detection Service) during the 2016 Wildland Fire Canada conference. In January 2017, as a follow-up to the conference, Hummingbird Network provided a live demonstration to AAF, BC Wildfire Service, and FPInnovations in Edmonton, Alberta. After a successful demonstration, and at the request of the wildfire agencies, FPInnovations committed to working with Hummingbird Network to provide an evaluation of its wildfire detection system.
The Labrador Forest Management District (FMD) 19A with an annual allowable cut (AAC) of spruce from commercial harvest blocks of 165 000 m3/year is enough to meet the demand of a 40 M fbm/year sawmill (assuming sawmill efficiency factor of 4 m3/MFBM). The estimated average wood supply costs to access all the AAC wood from district 19A for Goose Bay is $58/m3 and Sheshatshiu at $63/m3 (9% price premium paid for wood deliveries to Sheshatshiu caused by the added transport distance of about 40 km per trip to complete the cycle time on average for truck loads). The scenario of a 40 M fmb/year sawmill would require at least 20 full time employees to run the wood supply chain and another 14 part time employees to build and maintain the road network.
