Senior BC Foresters’ North Vancouver Island Tour: Part A

September 21 – 24, 2014

Participants: Al Gorley, Don McMullan, Gerry Burch, Tim Ryan, Kerry McGourlick, Dave Mogensen

(guide), Paul Wooding, Alan Fry, Gordon Weetman, Bill Dumont (upper deck) and Steve Lorimer.

Jonathan Lok joined the tour but missed the Holberg Inlet leg pictured.

Local Guides/Presenters: We were fortunate to have a very good group of guides and

presenters for the tour that included: Dave Mogensen, Dave Steele, Brian Scott, Dave Cousins,

Kelly McMann, John Flintoff, Shannon Janzen, Harriett Cadwallader, Ray Robazza, Andy Steinke,

Ralph Wallas, Gord Glover, Brian Scott, Kerry McGourlick, Blair Hunter, Lawrence Hiebert, Dave

Weymer, Randy Boas, Randy Hunt, Larry Knudson, Nick Russell, Andrew Murray, Trevor Egely,

Bev Weber, Annemarie Koch, Annette Van Niejenhuis, Gerry Lambert, Serge Martel.

Sunday, September 21: A travel day for those that drove up to Port Hardy (Bill, Don, Kerry

& Steve). It was a beautiful, sunny warm day. On arrival we checked into the Glen Lyon Inn,

explored around Port Hardy, and adjacent First Nations reserves.

And… Our Noble

Scribe and

Photographer

End of a summer-like day after traveling up to Port Hardy; Don and Kerry

at the beach looking towards Fort Rupert

Monday, September 22: After breakfast at the Glen Lyon Inn, those already in Port Hardy

(Tim, Al, Don, Kerry, Bill and Jon and Steve) went to the airport to pick up Gordon, Gerry, Al Fry,

and Paul.

Bill provided an orientation at the airport prior to us heading off to our first stops of the day:

Cape Scott Wind Farm: Dave Durrant, the Manager for Vestas who have the maintenance

contract with GDF Suez for the Cape Scott Wind Farm provided background and information

about the project, construction phases and energy generation. Dave Cousins the Site Manager

for GDF Suez for the Cape Scott Wind Farm provided a power point presentation covering the

operational nature of the wind farm and as well as some information about the GDF Suez

company and its operations globally and in Canada.

The following information is taken from the GDF Suez web site summarizes the operations

development: http://www.suezenergyna.com/engineering-ingenuity-at-cape-scott-wind-farm/

A view of the wind farm from the water(GDF SUEZ website) and close-up of single turbine

``Engineering Ingenuity at Cape Scott Wind Farm

On the boggy terrain of the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the 99 MW

Cape Scott Wind Farm proved to be a civil engineering feat for the building team of site

developer and operator GDF SUEZ Energy North America. Completed in November 2013, Cape

Scott continued the company's commitment to growing its Canadian renewables portfolio and

providing sustainable energy to the country's residents. The company now operates wind

facilities in British Columbia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

Dave Durrant, the Manager for Vestas, explains some

of the wind turbine equipment maintenance with our group

The computer graphic indicates each turbine on site and details like the wind speed, direction and

power being generated by each individual turbine and the entire wind farm.

Situated 40 kms (25 miles) west of Port Hardy, the land including Cape Scott soaks in up to 4

meters (13 feet) of rain annually, and accessing the site on the plateau, over steep hills and

twisting dirt and gravel roads is a daily feat.

Much of the early construction focused on clearing segments of the 4,000 hectares (15 square

miles) of land for roads and the turbines, transmission lines and the substation. And before the

55 turbine and substation foundations could be poured, crews had to assemble a small

concrete batch plant on site.

Infrastructure crews installed 33 kms (21 miles) of roadway, 23 bridges, 67 imbedded culverts,

and 500 cross-drain culverts.

Because of the wind park's remote locale, GDF SUEZ also built a 40 km (25 mile) transmission

line to connect the generating facility to the electrical grid and supply its power to customer, BC

Hydro, under the 20-year power purchase agreement.

Cape Scott is located on the traditional territories of First Nations, and GDF SUEZ has worked

closely with the Quatsino, Tlatlasikwala and Kwakiutl communities as well as other residents in

the region during the project.

With a total investment cost of more than $300 million, the project is powered by Vestas V100

1.8 MW turbines and occupies a total footprint of 350 hectares (864 acres) outside of Cape

Scott National Park. Having created 300 construction jobs during the peak construction period

and having a $51 million economic impact on the area, Cape Scott also created 12 permanent

operations and maintenance positions at the facility.

Cape Scott Wind Farm is within the portfolio of the joint venture formed by GDF SUEZ, with

40% interest held by its subsidiary GDF SUEZ Canada Inc., and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Fiera

Axium Infrastructure Canada, LP, separately through their affiliates, with each holding a 30%

interest.``

In addition, on the tour we learned that Amec Black McDonald

(http://amecblackandmcdonald.com/ )were involved in the construction and support phases of

the project.

Vestas( http://vestas.com/en/about#! ) transported and supplied the 55 V100-1.8 MW wind

turbines.

Surespan (http://www.surespan.com/company/ ) set up a bulk concrete plant to provide

foundations for the wind turbine towers on the site.

Lunch on the road: after the wind farm stop, we travelled to Holberg and Western Forest

Products (http://www.westernforest.com/ ) TFL 6. We ate the first of two very good and ample

lunches on the way.

Cutblock 61-152: We were met by Dave Steele at a 68.2 hectare cut block. Retention blocks

totaled 8.2 hectares. Some discussion regarding the size of cutblock compared to the ``40ha``

max size usual under the former Forest Practices Code.

Second growth in the area being harvested averaged 525m3 per hectare whereas the average

for Holberg is 825m3 per ha.

The demand for second growth was discussed. Currently the domestic market is paying about

$60 per cubic meter while the export market for same is ~$90. All in logging costs are ~$70, so

it is obvious for success, export is necessary to be above break-even.

Grapple yarding of second growth in block 61-152. Note the tree topping done on

some of the retention trees to promote windfirmness (on the near right side of photo).

A Loaded truck leaves cut-block. Roadside wood waiting to be loaded out, steep terrain

and road system (up into the fog). Also tree toping of leave trees in setting.

LIDAR

Brian Scott provided an overview of the use of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) by WFP at

their Holberg Forest Operation. It is part of a Pilot LIDAR trial covering a portion of the Holberg

and Port McNeill/Jeune Landing Forest Operations. The data is used to assess and understand

the forest canopy and terrain. While relatively expensive to have LIDAR coverage, WFP has

found this technology to be cost effective in helping with forest management and operational

planning activities.

LIDAR images showing portions of Block 61-152 area for tree height and terrain information

Karst management:

In certain areas of WFP’s tenures on the North Island underlying limestone formations have led

to the development of Karst features. The significance of Karst features can vary, as some may

be substantial caves of interest to spelunkers while others may be more mundane sink holes

that can represent a safety hazard for machine operators and workers in the woods. Where

they are identified, they are marked, and management prescriptions applied. For example,

higher stumps can be left to alert others of their location, both to protect the feature from

possible disturbance and for safety (see photo). In some situations aesthetics can be the

management focus while in others it can be the management of streams and water sources

that influence and create karst. WFP has developed its own Karst manual to guide staff in

management expectations in areas where Karst features are found.

Ribbon and high stumps identify Karst features in the field. The high stumps help to protect the feature and prevent

logging debris from entering the Karst.

Blair Hunter of HAF Forestry Services provided a demonstration of a drone mounted video camera. Drones are being used to get a rapid visual overview of areas that are otherwise difficult to access. It was obvious that the time savings can be significant and we can expect to see more drones used for a variety of forest management applications in the future. Our only disappointment was that the drone failed to deliver the promised beer!

It’s a bird? a plane?.......it`s a drone!

Pruning: There were several examples of tree pruning and topping during our tour. Because of

the high winds in the area that can cause considerable windthrow in leave trees WFP has employed this practice in an effort to save trees that would otherwise be lost. Spiral pruning (see below) in a newer technique to reduce crown size without actually removing branches all around the tree stem or topping the tree.

Spiral pruning to prevent/minimize wind throw

Holberg to Coal Harbour Boat ride: The group was treated to a boat ride from Holberg to

Coal Harbour, with a side trip through Quatsino Narrows and by the village of Quatsino, with Don Griffiths in a water taxi. We were able to see evidence of some of the original ‘A-frame’

logging along the coast, more recent harvest operations further from the shore, log dump sites, and one of the Quatsino First Nation’s village sites, all on the way to Coal Harbour. Bill had the privilege of driving the van from Holberg to Coal Harbour to pick up the group.

Scene along Holberg Inlet showing a log dump site. Most of the area along the shore

was ‘A-frame’ logged first pass.

Coal Harbour; site of a WW2 amphibious airplane base, and later whaling station.

Ramp going into water was originally to allow plane access out of water; later used to drag whales up out of water.

Quatse Salmon Stewardship Centre: Louisa Clarke gave an excellent tour of the hatchery,

explaining the history and development and the details of the process to gather, incubate, raise and release the salmon fry.

Quatse Salmon Stewardship Centre Albino Chinook fry (11 of millions of eggs hatched)

Louisa Clarke Guides group on hatchery tour, as we observe the first of the pink salmon coming up-stream to spawn in the Quatse River.

Of interest was the albino fry that they had in a tank inside the Stewardship centre which is a very well done educational facility with very good displays showing various aspects of the life cycle and habitat needs of salmon and the importance of this important resource to the local area. More specific information on the Stewardship Centre can be found on their website: http://www.thesalmoncentre.org/index.php.

Reception at Hotel and Dinner: Upon returning to the hotel in Port Hardy, the group

relaxed and enjoyed some very good appetisers from Master Chef Bill and Sous-Chef Dave (Mogensen) and refreshments prior to going for very good dinner at the hotel. Servings were generous and we left having eaten more than enough.

Port Hardy Museum Society: After dinner the group reconvened and enjoyed a very good

presentation regarding some of the local history of the North Island area. Harriet Cadwallader, President of the Port Hardy Museum Society provided a most interesting review with local

flavor, including some information about her own roots to the area, including ties to the Hudson’s Bay Company and local First Nations. “First contact with Europeans occurred in the early 19th century when the steamship S.S. Beaver was sent on an exploratory trip by the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) in 1836. Coal deposits motivated the HBC to establish a fortified trading post at Beaver Harbour a dozen years later. The trading post was named “Fort Rupert” after the company's governor, Prince Rupert, Duke of Bavaria. Though little of the fort remains today, the Kwakiutl First Nations continue to reside adjacent to the former fort site. The current location of Port Hardy was settled at the turn of the century when Alec and Sarah Lyon operated a store and post office on the east side of Hardy Bay. A 1912 land deal promoted by the Hardy Bay Land Co., put the area on the map and increased its population. By 1914, 12 families had settled, built a school, sawmill, church and hotel. There was limited access to the community until the logging road connecting Port Hardy to Campbell River was paved in December of 1979. Port Hardy’s population grew to a little over 5,000 residents during the Island Copper Mine years (1971-1995). “ taken from Port Hardy website. Harriet also talked about the starting of the Port Alice Pulp mill in 1917 and one of the well know loggers of the area Bill Moore, who apart from his logging exploits brought and made an event the ‘Downtown Winter Harbour Music Festival’ for a number of years. We also learned about pioneer electrical wiring and the doorbell that turned the furnace on!

Day 2, September 22, 2014

Logger Fundamental Training – Woss Office: We arrived at Woss at 7:30am (or slightly

later) to be greeted by the crew of students (6) and instructors involved in a unique and effective training program being sponsored by WFP. It is provided to young people including local First Nations that are interested in acquiring the skills necessary to become proficient and safe employees. Breakfast was provided and we heard from instructors Lawrence Heibert, Dave Weymer (Dazy), Dave Hamling and Operations Manager Randy Boas. The Englewood Forest operations currently employs 170 and has about 100 contract employees as well, so not all graduates will necessarily be employed there. (see attached for summary information on Englewood Operations) The program also called the New Worker Training Program, has developed its own curriculum based on WorkSafe Logger Safety Handbook and the Switchback programs. Safety first is emphasized. The students spend 3 weeks on a Steel Spar and 3 weeks on a Grapple yarder. There have been 7 classes to date, and 18 students/year go through the program. WFP gets a

first look at the class, although the students can go to contractors or other companies as jobs are available. It costs about $10-15,000 per student for the program, including trainee wages. Some funds have come from the North Coast Sustainability Trust. One of the most important points made regarding the selection of students was that they are selected through an interview process that seeks those most likely to be interested and capable of succeeding. There are no requirements, often found attached to publicly funded employment training programs, that force the inclusion of individuals not likely to continue on in the forest sector. As noted by one of the trainers, “We are not just instructing, we’re setting standards – we have an investment in the students” Currently a survey for the program graduates is being developed as a feedback mechanism for improving future course content and following career paths. WFP would like to see the program franchised, but are cautious at present.

WFP Logging Railroad: Randy Hunt gave us some background regarding the operation of the railway. It operates on 2 shifts with each train carrying 40-55 loads (cars). There are about 16 people involved in the rail operations including the hauling and maintenance aspects. The BC Safety Authority is the regulator of the railway. 20MPH is the maximum speed allowed for this rail operation. The maximum grade they have is 2.2%. Approximately 6000 ties are replaced each year. Operating costs for rail transportation average between $5 and $6 per cubic metre. The engineer, Larry Knudson, demonstrated his experience and abilities in operating the train and gave rides to 4 of the group that answered skill testing questions as there was no room in the engine for more than 2 passengers at a time. Larry has 35+ years working at Woss.

Gerry heads off on the WFP railroad, delivering logs to the reload area for transport to Beaver Cove DLS