Field Tours

Wednesday Conference Field Tours 

These field tours are included in full conference registration 

Tour 1 – Bay of Fundy
7:00 am – Load busses at Delta Fredericton for breakfast at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Complex 8:00 am – Leave
Fredericton for St. Martins

10:00 am – Arrive Fundy Parkway in St. Martins and meet tour guides

10:15 am – Enjoy beautiful vistas of the
Bay of Fundy while learning about the history and interesting facts regarding the bay. A washroom will be available and short coffee break.

11:00 am – Forestry professionals will discuss the ecology and management of red spruce, which is a prominent species in this costal region.

11:45 am – Discussion regarding the history of the forests of the region, industry, and development. Visitors will have a chance to explore the local interpretation center and view hillsides that still exhibit scars from logging of years gone by.

12:30 pm – Lunch at the interpretation center. Washrooms are available.

1:15 pm – JDI Irving foresters will discuss the history and expected yields from a Norway spruce plantation on Crown land.

1:45 pm – Arrive at stand to discuss advances in silviculture and growth and yield in
New Brunswick. Discussion will focus on use of intensive forestry in our management planning.

2:30 pm – Leave St. Martins for
Fredericton 4:30 pm – Arrive in
Fredericton.

Tour 2 – Upper St. John River Valley

7:00 am – Load busses at Delta Fredericton for breakfast at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Complex

8:00 am – Leave
Fredericton for Nackawic

9:30 am – A tolerant hardwood tree marking trial will be visited for the first stop on this tour. Researchers, from CFS and
University of
Moncton, will explain the design of their trial.

10:15 am – We will visit a tolerant-mixedwood stand that is currently undergoing harvesting. A representative from J.D. Irving will explain the prescription and challenges of working this forest type.

11:00 am – Our next stop will be a strip cut harvest in a tolerant-mixedwood stand from approximately 10 years ago.  

11:30 am – We will arrive at
Crabbe
Mountain and learn about the geology, climate, and natural history from a forest ecologist.
Crabbe
Mountain provides us with an interesting vista of the areas we just visited.

12:15 pm – Lunch at
Crabbe
Mountain. Washrooms provided.

1:15 pm – We will visit A.V. Nackawic mill yard, which has just undergone a recent upgrade, to discuss their operations and what products they are producing. Company staff will be on site to answer specific questions the group may have.

2:45 pm – Arrive at Federal Fish Hatchery in Mactaquac. Representatives from the Canadian Rivers Institute will meet us to discuss various aspects of the
St. John River watershed. Experts will be speaking on fish populations, watershed health, invasive species, and human impacts.

3:30 pm – Leave Mactaquac for
Fredericton

4:00 pm – Arrive in
Fredericton.

Tour 3 – Acadia Research Station

7:00 am – Load busses at Delta Fredericton for breakfast at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Complex 8:00 am – Leave Fredericton for
Acadia
Research
Forest

8:45 am – Arrive at
Acadia
Research
Forest and meet hosts.

9:00 am – 12:00 pm – Various tour stops in the Acadia Research Forest Our tour of the research forest will take us to a range of Acadian Forest Ecosites to view and discuss different treatment options aimed at establishing desirable regeneration.

12:00 pm – Depart
Acadia
Research
Forest.

12:45 pm – Arrive in
Fredericton.

Silvicultural systems at Acadia Research Forest (ARF) rely on natural regeneration.  Traditionally, most regeneration has become established before final removal harvests and released in a “one-cut shelterwood” or “overstory removal”.  It has been assumed that high densities of undesirable growing stock could be dealt with post-harvest with pre-commercial thinning treatments.  Today the value of pre-commercial thinning treatments is being questioned.  Perhaps investments made in pre-commercial thinning treatments would be better spent on establishing desirable natural regeneration through shelterwood methods and site preparation before final removal.

Our tour of ARF will take us to a range of Acadian Forest Ecosites to view and discuss different treatment options aimed at establishing desirable regeneration.

Post Conference Field Tour

The forest in all its colors
 
7 am  Leaving from the Delta in Fredericton

10 am  Visit of the Montagne-verte sugarbush
The owners of the Montagne-verte sugarbush, Chantal and Patrick Levesque, winner of the prestigious Master sugarmaker in 2007 from the New Brunswick Maple Association, invits you to visit their facilities which have earned them many excellence prizes over the years.  Experimental displays of non timber forest products as well as alternative silvicultural systems will be part of the visit.

Noon  Lunch (included in the price) at the sugarbush Montagne-verte

1:30 pm Visit of the Acadian Timber tree nurseries

3 pm Visit of alternative silvicultural treatments in hardwood stands

5 pm Leaving to go back to Fredericton

8 pm Arrival in Fredericton