Enhancing Chilcotin Area Forests Through Brush Cutting

From Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation:

Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation (CCR) Ltd. has been at the forefront of many initiatives to improve forest health. 

One such practice showcasing its ongoing commitment to forest conservation is the implementation of brush-cutting practices – a forestry management technique that involves the removal of excess vegetation like undergrowth and small trees from a forested area. 

The technique helps to enhance forest health, mitigate wildfire risk, and foster vibrant ecosystems for wildlife. Daniel Persson, silviculture superintendent with CCR, explained how brush cutting is playing a role in CCR’s efforts to rehabilitate Chilcotin’s forests. “For CCR, we prioritize the important values the forest holds for local communities and the public; social, cultural, recreational, wildlife habitat and economic. To sustain these values now and for generations, we need to manage the forest designed with these values in mind,” said Persson.  Brush-cutting and spacing forested stands are essential for enhancing the diverse values forests hold. 

By thinning dense stands in the Chilcotin region, specifically when they are young, CCR is attempting to increase tree growth in the retained trees as the nutrients for the site will be dispersed on fewer trees than before the treatment, thereby yielding substantial economic value for future generations while creating a more resilient stand against wildfires.  

“If this thinning work doesn’t get done while stands are young, the high stem (or tree) density of the stand will impede tree growth and remain in an overly dense state with limited values and being exposed to a total loss in the event of a wildfire. The higher density stands also limit the movement and use of ungulate (hoofed mammals such as caribou, deer, elks, etc.) species,” noted Persson.  

Persson further elaborated on brush cutting being like spacing out carrots in your garden: you need to remove the unhealthy, weak, and small carrots to leave room for the healthier carrots to grow. Just like carrots, when trees grow, they too compete over nutrients, water, space, and sunlight. With too many trees in an area, they end up competing over the resources and end up in a stagnant growth pattern. CCR has witnessed three notable outcomes by employing the brush-cutting practice: 

1. Visual and Economic value: “Spacing the trees out can boost the growth trend back on track toward a better-looking forest and a more economical future as the trees will otherwise not get large enough to make lumber. This is especially true for large areas of densely stocked lodgepole pine stands in CCR’s operating area,” noted Persson.  

2. Wildfire Risk Reduction: A crucial role brush cutting plays in maintaining forest and community health is mitigating wildfire risk. By ensuring that ladder fuels (branches and limbs) are cut, CCR reduces the risk of fires climbing up trees and igniting branches and needles. Persson highlighted, “For specific wildfire risk reduction projects, we ensure we prune smaller trees and remove fine fuels on the ground to reduce the risk of crown fires where the fire moves to the top of a tree and can more rapidly spread to others.” 

3. Wildlife Habitat Conservation and Enhancement: CCR's brush-cutting initiatives also create improved habitat for wildlife. Species such as moose, deer, and caribou benefit from a more open stand structure, allowing them to move more freely without getting caught on trees and branches. “The cutting of trees also helps release feed for shorter periods of time and can boost feed availability for ungulate species during tougher winters,” added Persson.  

CCR is now in the process of trying to expand its brush-cutting program so they can treat more areas.  “These types of spacing treatments are crucial to do now to set the next generations up well for the future. Once the timing window to perform these treatments has passed, it will be harder to achieve the objectives of the treatment and the stand might not respond as well to it as it gets older,” said Persson. “That is why we are pushing for it now as a lot of the areas affected by the 2017 wildfire need to be spaced out, and soon!”