Miller Road Project Fact Sheet
Miller Road Project Fact Sheet Project Name Restoration Treatments Monitoring Project, Ta Ta Creek Location Approximately 130 hectares near Miller Road, off Hwy 95A 3 km south of Ta Ta Creek and 20 km north of Kimberley, BC, Canada
Duration 1996 – 2001
Funding $190,400 provided by Forest Renewal BC Administered by the Science Council of BC
Leader Maurice Hansen, Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society
Members • Murray Houlind & Rob Beugling, Ministry of Forests, Southeast Fire Centre • Tim Ross, Ross Range and Reclamation Services, Wycliffe • Roy Penniket, Penniket & Associates Ltd., Granum, AB • Marlene Machmer, Pandion Ecological Research Ltd., Nelson • Tom Braumandl, Ministry of Forests, Research Ecologist, Nelson • Randy Byford, Galloway Lumber Co. Ltd., Jaffray • Bob Jamieson, Jamieson Ranching, Ta Ta Creek Purpose To demonstrate that restoration of fire-maintained ecosystems is operationally and economically feasible and has a sound scientific basis. The project served as a model to provide empirical results of different restoration methods. (A separate project at the Miller Road site, also funded by Forest Renewal BC, investigated the ecological role of fire for cavity-nesting birds.)
Site The Miller Road site was selected because: • •
fire suppression and the resulting forest ingrowth here had dramatically altered the natural fire-maintained ecosystem the forest cover here was such that results could be extrapolated to similar sites elsewhere in the Trench
Site The Miller Road site was selected because: • • • •
fire suppression and the resulting forest ingrowth here had dramatically altered the natural fire-maintained ecosystem the forest cover here was such that results could be extrapolated to similar sites elsewhere in the Trench the grasses, forbs and shrubs here had the potential to be rejuvenated timber on site could be harvested economically by the licensee, Galloway Lumber Co. Ltd. of Jaffray
Method The site was divided into four plots. Each of three plots was subjected to a different type of restoration, while the fourth plot was left untouched as a control. The three restoration methods (treatments) were: • • •
commercial harvest followed by prescribed burn commercial harvest only prescribed burn only
Before and after restoration, each plot was monitored for: • • •
Diameter, height, type and density of trees. This determines the extent of the forest canopy or overstory. Grass, shrub and forb cover. These provide habitat and/or forage for cattle, ungulates, small mammals and birds, and form the forest understory. Insects and diseases
Methodology was established and data were analyzed by scientists qualified in their fields. Baseline measurements were made in 1996; forest harvesting was done in 1997; prescribed burning was carried out in 1998; and monitoring continued until 2000.
Results •
Simply put, the data showed that opening up the forest canopy sufficiently produces dramatic increases in forage, as much as 100 per cent or more depending on the treatment method. In order to maintain productive forage over the long term, however, it is necessary to do follow-up prescribed burning to keep forest ingrowth in check.
•
Applying what we learned from the Miller Road project is fundamental to the success of ecosystem restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench. What we need to do every year for the next 20 years is to duplicate the Miller Road results ten times over, at ten times the scale.
Key results included:
•
Applying what we learned from the Miller Road project is fundamental to the success of ecosystem restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench. What we need to do every year for the next 20 years is to duplicate the Miller Road results ten times over, at ten times the scale.
Key results included: • • • • • •
production of key forage species increased layer 4 (under 1.3 m in height) trees were effectively eliminated by prescribed burning prescribed burning covered 75-80 per cent of treatment plots selected for burning 25 per cent of treatment plots selected for burning did not experience fire frequent prescribed burns will be necessary to maintain results results serve as a reference for restoration operations in the Trench.
History •
The dry low-elevation open forests and grasslands of BC’s southern interior are defined by the Forest Practices Code Biodiversity Guidebook as natural disturbance type 4 (NDT4), characterized by frequent stand-maintaining fires. Over the past century, a combination of inappropriate logging practices and systematic fire prevention in the Rocky Mountain Trench has resulted in extensive areas of severely overstocked stands of trees that are significantly altered from their naturally occurring state. While suppression of fire in NDT4 ecosystems provided initial gains in timber values and public safety, the resulting ingrowth has degraded wildlife habitat, timber production, livestock and wildlife forage, and has set the stage for potentially catastrophic wildfires.
•
Of the 250,000 ha of NDT4-type Crown land in the Trench, about 3,000 ha are altered each year from open forest and grassland to closed forest, due to forest ingrowth. A solution to the problem is the reintroduction of fire to the previously fire-maintained (NDT4) ecosystem of the Trench.
•
The Miller Road project grew out of the Nelson Forest Region’s EMBER (Ecosystem Maintenance Burning Evaluation & Research) project, planned as a five-year pilot project but halted after two years due to budget cuts. Subsequently, Nelson Ministry of Forests staff sought Forest Renewal BC funding for what became the Miller Road project. The Trench Society assumed responsibility for the project in 1997.
A field tour at the Miller Road project site in June 2001
Duration 1996 – 2001
Funding $190,400 provided by Forest Renewal BC Administered by the Science Council of BC
Leader Maurice Hansen, Coordinator, Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society
Members • Murray Houlind & Rob Beugling, Ministry of Forests, Southeast Fire Centre • Tim Ross, Ross Range and Reclamation Services, Wycliffe • Roy Penniket, Penniket & Associates Ltd., Granum, AB • Marlene Machmer, Pandion Ecological Research Ltd., Nelson • Tom Braumandl, Ministry of Forests, Research Ecologist, Nelson • Randy Byford, Galloway Lumber Co. Ltd., Jaffray • Bob Jamieson, Jamieson Ranching, Ta Ta Creek Purpose To demonstrate that restoration of fire-maintained ecosystems is operationally and economically feasible and has a sound scientific basis. The project served as a model to provide empirical results of different restoration methods. (A separate project at the Miller Road site, also funded by Forest Renewal BC, investigated the ecological role of fire for cavity-nesting birds.)
Site The Miller Road site was selected because: • •
fire suppression and the resulting forest ingrowth here had dramatically altered the natural fire-maintained ecosystem the forest cover here was such that results could be extrapolated to similar sites elsewhere in the Trench
Site The Miller Road site was selected because: • • • •
fire suppression and the resulting forest ingrowth here had dramatically altered the natural fire-maintained ecosystem the forest cover here was such that results could be extrapolated to similar sites elsewhere in the Trench the grasses, forbs and shrubs here had the potential to be rejuvenated timber on site could be harvested economically by the licensee, Galloway Lumber Co. Ltd. of Jaffray
Method The site was divided into four plots. Each of three plots was subjected to a different type of restoration, while the fourth plot was left untouched as a control. The three restoration methods (treatments) were: • • •
commercial harvest followed by prescribed burn commercial harvest only prescribed burn only
Before and after restoration, each plot was monitored for: • • •
Diameter, height, type and density of trees. This determines the extent of the forest canopy or overstory. Grass, shrub and forb cover. These provide habitat and/or forage for cattle, ungulates, small mammals and birds, and form the forest understory. Insects and diseases
Methodology was established and data were analyzed by scientists qualified in their fields. Baseline measurements were made in 1996; forest harvesting was done in 1997; prescribed burning was carried out in 1998; and monitoring continued until 2000.
Results •
Simply put, the data showed that opening up the forest canopy sufficiently produces dramatic increases in forage, as much as 100 per cent or more depending on the treatment method. In order to maintain productive forage over the long term, however, it is necessary to do follow-up prescribed burning to keep forest ingrowth in check.
•
Applying what we learned from the Miller Road project is fundamental to the success of ecosystem restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench. What we need to do every year for the next 20 years is to duplicate the Miller Road results ten times over, at ten times the scale.
Key results included:
•
Applying what we learned from the Miller Road project is fundamental to the success of ecosystem restoration in the Rocky Mountain Trench. What we need to do every year for the next 20 years is to duplicate the Miller Road results ten times over, at ten times the scale.
Key results included: • • • • • •
production of key forage species increased layer 4 (under 1.3 m in height) trees were effectively eliminated by prescribed burning prescribed burning covered 75-80 per cent of treatment plots selected for burning 25 per cent of treatment plots selected for burning did not experience fire frequent prescribed burns will be necessary to maintain results results serve as a reference for restoration operations in the Trench.
History •
The dry low-elevation open forests and grasslands of BC’s southern interior are defined by the Forest Practices Code Biodiversity Guidebook as natural disturbance type 4 (NDT4), characterized by frequent stand-maintaining fires. Over the past century, a combination of inappropriate logging practices and systematic fire prevention in the Rocky Mountain Trench has resulted in extensive areas of severely overstocked stands of trees that are significantly altered from their naturally occurring state. While suppression of fire in NDT4 ecosystems provided initial gains in timber values and public safety, the resulting ingrowth has degraded wildlife habitat, timber production, livestock and wildlife forage, and has set the stage for potentially catastrophic wildfires.
•
Of the 250,000 ha of NDT4-type Crown land in the Trench, about 3,000 ha are altered each year from open forest and grassland to closed forest, due to forest ingrowth. A solution to the problem is the reintroduction of fire to the previously fire-maintained (NDT4) ecosystem of the Trench.
•
The Miller Road project grew out of the Nelson Forest Region’s EMBER (Ecosystem Maintenance Burning Evaluation & Research) project, planned as a five-year pilot project but halted after two years due to budget cuts. Subsequently, Nelson Ministry of Forests staff sought Forest Renewal BC funding for what became the Miller Road project. The Trench Society assumed responsibility for the project in 1997.
A field tour at the Miller Road project site in June 2001
