Algonquin Section

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Canadian Institute of Forestry / Forestry Technician Dinner – 2008
By Alain Belliveau

The Canadian Institute of Forestry, Algonquin Section (CIF-Alg) and the Forestry Technician Program of Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley held their annual Forestry Dinner, in the Landing at the Pembroke Campus on Tuesday March 18, 2008.
The dinner of the evening consisted of a fresh caesar salad, followed by one of three main course options, including delectable thick juicy beef steak, delicious chicken cordon bleu, or marvelous vegetarian lasagna. Each of these was served with tasty potatoes and steamed asparagus. As for dessert we enjoyed delightful cherry or raspberry cheesecake. The extraordinary meal was prepared by the students of the 1-year Cooks Apprentice Program, under the watchful eye of Chef Ian Montgomery.
Immediately following the marvelous feast, Peter Schleifenbaum was called up to present his motivating views on forestry’s place in today’s world. Schleifenbaum, manager of the renowned Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve, spoke of sustainability, conservation and stewardship as ‘musts’ in today’s forest management efforts. Much emphasis was set on using wood as a renewable source of energy and material, and on forestry as being crucial to Canada and the world now and for future generations. Schleifenbaum’s speech was both rewarding and inspiring for all dinner guests.
Frank Knaapen, CIF-Alg Councillor and Coordinator of the Forestry Technician Program, hosted the evening. Knaapen also presented the Canadian Institute of Forestry Algonquin Section Award. This award was established in 1971 and is given to a Forestry student at Algonquin College who has achieved the highest academic standing at the end of the first term in the Forestry Program. Alain Belliveau from Saint-Bénoni, Nova Scotia, was this year’s recipient. With this award Belliveau received some beautiful Algonquin Park mounted pictures, from Purvis Gallery, and his name is engraved on the Algonquin Section Plaque, which is kept at the college in the Forestry display cabinet.
The next award was established in 1991, to commemorate a student who tragically passed away before graduation. The James Croll Memorial Award is presented to an Algonquin Forestry student who, in the first term of the Forestry program at Algonquin College, has shown a general concern for environmental matters, demonstrated leadership abilities, exhibited field work skills, contributed significantly to student life at Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley and achieved academic excellence. Even before the award’s description was read completely by its presenter Erroll Downey, Professor of the Forestry Technician Program, all eyes were on its very deserving recipient. This year’s recipient was Pierre Sabourin from Edmonton, Alberta. Sabourin’s name will go onto the James Croll Memorial plaque, which was contributed from the James Croll Memorial fund, established by his family and friends. This plaque is also kept at the college in the Forestry display cabinet. Sabourin also received a generous monetary award from the Croll and Wells family.
The Algonquin College Loggersports team was also presented with plaques and a certificate for their participation and a job well done. The plaques and certificates were made and prepared entirely by the first-class, selfless coach Chris Ryan. In November at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsey, the men’s team finished 27th and the woman’s team placed 11th out of 13 competing teams. The event was best remembered for hard work, dedication and team spirit. In January at McGill University (Mcdonald Campus) in Montreal, the men’s team almost doubled their score and placed a respectable 16th amongst the stiff competition. With a new climbing pole, lots of practice logs, and hopefully more funding on its way in the upcoming years, the 2007-08 team wishes only the best for the coach in future competitions.
The evening was capped off by a fun trivia game, produced by Alain Belliveau, hosted by Pierre Sabourin, and assisted with by Melanie Kotulak. Each of the 13 forestry-related questions was a hard-fought battle, but the war was ultimately triumphed by team “L”. They won various lumberjacking products generously donated by Stihl and Chris Ryan.
In conclusion, this year’s Forestry Dinner was a big success thanks in large part to the planning committee (Frank Knaapen, Chris Ryan, Ximena Salcedo, Melanie Kotulak, Pierre Sabourin, Shonelle Wilkinson and Alain Belliveau) and to the remarkable cooking staff. Everyone ate well and had an enjoyable evening. Thank you to all who participated in making this evening such a great turnout.

Forestry Technician students from Algonquin College sow acorns

On October 18, 2007, 18 forestry technician students from Algonquin College joined forestry staff from Ottawa Valley Forest (OVF), Bancroft-Minden Forestry Company, and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) staff from Pembroke District office and the Southern Science and Information Section to sow acorns for regeneration of oak in Griffith Township.
The stand received the regeneration cut of the shelterwood system in 2005, with excellent thinning from below. It was then chemically site prepared in 2006 using an Air Blast sprayer with Vision-Max, with resulted in very good control of the competing vegetation. The site was then operationally sown with stored acorns (acorns had been stored at 2°C for 3 years and had approximately 40% viability) in spring 2007. In addition, study plots were established along the main access road to compare the survival and growth of oak seedlings from acorns vs. containers. The study consisted of twenty 20m x 20m plots, of which 10 were planted with red oak seedlings in jiffy pots, and 10 were sown with acorns.
When OVF staff returned to the site during the summer of 2007, they noticed a high predation rate on the acorns, and very little evidence of oak germinants. This was confirmed when MNR and OVF staff returned in late summer to assess the study – only 3% of the sown acorns produced a seedling and a hole was found in most acorn sowing spots, indicting that they had probably been dug up by a seed predator (small mammal, deer, bird, etc).
In September, OVF and MNR staff noticed a bumper acorn crop in this stand. Fall 2007 was a good, but inconsistent acorn year in eastern Ontario. Some stands produced a large quantity of acorns, whereas others produced few or none at all. Fortunately, the stand in Griffith Township was one that produced an abundant crop of large, good quality acorns. This was an unexpected bonus and provided an excellent opportunity to re-sow the area. However, given the short notice, it was difficult to organize contractors to collect and sow the acorns.
OVF and MNR staff approached the forestry technician program at Algonquin College for help and they rallied to the call. Erroll Downey recruited the students and with the help of the CIF Algonquin Section, he was able to obtain transportation for the students to the site. OVF staff provided shovels, and OVF and MNR staff provided training and supervision, including a discussion about red oak silvics, red oak regeneration issues, and red oak management approaches in central Ontario. The site was re-sown in 3 hours. Students left the area with a better understanding of red oak regeneration options, and some experience in the sowing of acorns, as well as a chance to meet working technicians and foresters, and exposure to future employers.
Our thanks to OVF staff Liz Cobb, Tom Boudreau, Nadja Morin, Kathleen McNabb, and Dan O’Mara. Representing the MNR was Krista Watters (Pembroke District) and Andrée Morneault (Southern Science and Information). Thanks also to Mike Keenan from the Bancroft-Minden Forestry Company who joined in to help out and pick up some tips for his planned 2008 acorn sowing project.
Students who participated include: Alain Belliveau, Anthony Hobbs, Calvin Hurley, Daniel Reid, David Gibbs, David Vanhooren, Greg Tipman, Isaac Mceachern, John Beck, Josh Carnegie, Kristin Shaw, Kyle Lamarche, Kyle Marsh, Lazarus Mbilinyi, Matt Campbell, Matt Mcintosh, Shonelle Wilkinson, Ximena Salcedo. Thanks to all!

Canadian Ecology Centre Hosts University of Toronto Students’ Tour
By Alex Satel

For some of us, this year’s University of Toronto Master of Forest Conservation class field trip to the Canadian Ecology Centre (CEC) near Mattawa was as much a lesson in Canadiana as in forest management and ecology. Fuelled by numerous Tim Horton’s double-doubles (our Dean’s new favourite), this intrepid group of eleven made our way from the balmy urban jungle to the “sub-Arctic” shores of Lake Nipissing early morning on Friday, March 14.
We received a warm welcome from Nipissing University’s Professor of Biology, Peter Nosko, and were treated to a series of presentations concerning forest management in Ontario, species at risk in the Nipissing watershed, and riveting red oak regeneration research. As a final treat to ease our data-loaded minds, we enjoyed a fascinating look at artists’ interpretations of the forest throughout Canadian history. Many thanks to Brian Naylor, Fred Pinto, Jeff Dech, Lisa Robinson, Kelly Major and Michelle Courville for their insightful presentations. Best of luck in your future research work!
On Saturday, we joined Fred Pinto, Andrée Morneault and Jeff Dech for visits to several managed stands. While some of us struggled with the intricacies of snowshoe bindings, we learned about the various stages of shelterwood silviculture in white and red pine, and selection harvesting in tolerant hardwood stands. We even tried some tree marking – our hearts go out to all the hard-working markers out there!

An evening discussion about upcoming CIF projects highlighted the importance of the social dimensions of forest management and conservation for us – something we feel every forester must always keep in mind. Later, John Pineau broke out the six-string and entertained us all with songs of the North, while some of us debated the peculiarities of the word “eh!” We expect a related research paper by Dean Tat Smith to hit the press shortly.
One of the highlights of our weekend was a Sunday visit to the Peavoy homestead in Mattawa – a true “eco-house” powered solely by renewable energy, and an inspiration for us all to reduce our environmental footprint as best we can. Many thanks to the Peavoy family for letting us poke into every corner of their beautiful home. Thanks also to Allan Hodder of Burk’s Falls for giving us a tour of his biodiesel operation – we all developed a strange craving for French fries on the way home.
The MFC class of 2007 would like to thank all those who made this annual tradition so inspirational and informative for us - our professors, Nipissing University, and especially the staff of the MNR, CEC and CIF.

Alex Satel
MFC Candidate
Faculty of Forestry
University of Toronto
a.satel@utoronto.ca

Canadian Institute of Forestry –Algonquin College - Gold Medal Award – 2007
By Roderick McDonald

Thank you for selecting me for this prestigious award. It is an honour, as well as a privilege. This was a breakout year for me, at Algonquin College, and the Canadian Institute of Forestry Gold Medal award is a nice finale. I finally found a place that was conducive to learning as well as an environment to grow and make new friends. I have my teachers to thank for my success and they can take full credit for my achievements. Without their help, knowledge and encouragement I probably would have petered out midway through the year and just scraped by. When I was selected, as this years James Croll Memorial award recipient, it felt good and made me want to not only maintain, but improve my caliber of work. My name made the Dean’s Honour Roll each term. Lastly, this program has nominated me for the North American Forest Technician Honour Society in the Council of Eastern Forest Technician Schools.
Another of this year’s highlights was not just being chosen as Valedictorian but the whole process of being nominated, writing the speech, presenting it and being interviewed. It was great practice for future job interviews and helped me deal with stress. The butterflies left when I was behind the podium and my smile stayed with me well into the night.
Participating in sports, community and student affairs was something I really enjoyed doing and took pride in. It was the first time I ever heard of Loggersports and I had fun traveling to different cities and competing with my friends under Algonquin's banner. We represented our school at the opening ceremonies as well as the awards banquet. Log decking was my favorite event. During the first week of school Al Watson, Matthew McDonald and I entered Algonquin's 5th annual 3 on 3 basketball tournament held on the courts outside. We were this year’s champs.
My skills as a former telephone operator came in handy when I was chosen by Jamie Bramburger (on the program coordinator’s recommendation) to voice three ads for Algonquin's upcoming school year. That was most exciting as I have never been in a radio station before and I get many emails from friends in the Ottawa Valley saying they heard the ads.
I also had the chance to volunteer at this year’s Renfrew County Woodlot Conference. It gave me an opportunity to make some connections for post college employment as well as familiarize myself with forest practices and equipment. It also made me realize that forestry can be a life long experience.
The provincial Envirothon, organized by the Ontario Forestry Association, was another forestry related volunteer program I took part in. It sure was enjoyable meeting great people like the other volunteers and the different Stewardship coordinators. Watching those students compete was something else. Also, I was able to be a part of the Legacy program and to teach high school students about the importance of forestry in today’s society.
Along with sports and civic volunteering, the class chose me to be their alternate class representative. Besides those duties, I have also acted as peer tutor to my fellow classmates. I chose to volunteer my time as the forestry material came easily and naturally. When a couple of classmates were out with illnesses, I became their note taker. Then, as they recuperated, I helped them catch up on their studies. I blush with pride when my professors said ‘(you) are the main reason that this class has such high spirits and has a high graduating rate’.
As I review the endeavours I have done this year, I see my achievements and it brings me great joy. I can say I contributed and gave back to Algonquin as it gave to me. Currently, my girlfriend and I are traveling to Australia where we will be working in one of the oldest rainforests in the world: the Daintree. I am eager to apply my forestry knowledge as well as gain new ideas and perspectives from visiting this World Heritage site. When I return to Canada, I hope to gain a position with the MNR to help aid and protect our natural resources.

Roderick McDonald - Forestry Technician Class of 2007

Renfrew County Science Fair

Our CIF section has been sponsoring an award at the Renfrew County Science Fair for many years.
This years CIF award was given to Leslie Anne St.Amour for her project titled Invasion of Alien Species. Her summary was; "My project is a study on invasive alien species and their effects on our eco-systems. I discuss how the species arrive in Canada and examples found in our province. Also I examine the different methods being used to eliminate the invasive alien species and its effects."

Highlights from Past Section Executive Meetings

• The section hopes to organize a lichen field tour with Peter Beckett (Nipissing U.) near the end of the school year (contact Brian Naylor).
• Plans to hold International night around November (2008) in Huntsville and hold our section AGM (contact Margaret Penner, Andrée Morneault). Possibly include a field tour.
• The CEC is participating in a National Forest week/IUFRO tour in September. Algonquin section will contribute speaker gifts and consider proposals to increase student participation.
• Our section events are covered under the CIF national insurance/liability policy. If alcohol is served, we need to give one week notice and pay $150.
• OVF tour May 3rd.
• Paul Courville is updating our website.
• Funded $200 FJ McEligott Envirothon (Mattawa) and $200 to Renfrew County Envirothon team
• Supported Nancy Young’s Ireland/Scotland Forestry Tour
• Discussion of setting up more formal procedure for the section to support/promote continuing education for students/early career section members.
• College Forest Technician program are now required to become members of the CIF. Therefore, the current Algonquin College Student Award presented by our section seems redundant (currently they receive a one year membership to the CIF). The award will now a material item for the student award in the range of $50 to $100 (suggestions include a coffee table book, a picture or a DVD of Algonquin Park). The recipient of the Algonquin College student award gets their name put on the Algonquin section plaque. The plaque is now full and a new one will be purchased.
• Update on National Priorities: Currently, the national CIF is focusing on three main priorities…

1. Increasing membership in each section by 15%.
Action Item - Algonquin section currently has 70 members so we need to increase our membership by 11 individuals.

2. Increasing national advertising by $30,000.
Action Item – Section members are to contact John or Fred if they know of any businesses who want to put an ad in the Forestry Chronicle.

3. Increasing the profiles of forestry professionals. The national executive is looking at ways to increase the profile of forestry (and the forestry environment) as a profession. They are focusing on news releases to newspapers and the media. They are encouraging CIF members to submit editorials/stories about forestry professionals. The national CIF will back up all members.
Action Item – The Algonquin section executive will make an effort to get in touch with local and provincial governments to help promote forestry as a profession.

Director
Al Stinson
Forestry Research Partnership
Canadian Ecology Centre
Tel: 705-744-1715 ext 565

Co-Chairs
Andrée Morneault
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
3301 Trout Lake Rd.
North Bay, ON P1A 4L7
Tel: 705-475-5566
Fax: 705-475-5570
Email: andree.morneault@ontario.ca

Nancy Young
Extension Forester
Forestry Research Partnership
P.O. Box 430, 6905 Highway 17 W.
Mattawa, ON, P0H 1V0
phone: (705) 744-1715 ext. 607
fax: (705) 744-1716
nancy@canadianecology.ca

Treasurer
Murray Woods
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
3301 Trout Lake Rd.
North Bay, ON P1A 4L7
Tel: 705-475-5561 (work)
Fax: 705-475-5570
email: murray.woods@ontario.ca

Secretary
Margaret Penner
Forest Analysis Ltd.
1188 Walker Lake Dr., R.R. 4
Huntsville, ON P1H 2J6
Tel: 705-635-1314
Fax: 705-635-9413
email: mpenner@vianet.ca

Councilors
Frank Knaapen, Chairman
Algonquin College
Pembroke, ON
Tel: 613-735-4741
Email: knaapef@algonquincollege.com

Don Willis, RPF
Jiffy
850 Widdifield Stn. Rd.
North Bay, ON P1B 8G2
Email jiffy@vianet.ca
Web www.jiffypot.com
Phone 705 - 495 - 4781
Fax 705 - 495 - 4771

Sue Pickering
Forestry Research Partnership
P.O. Box 430, 6905 Highway 17 W.
Mattawa, ON, P0H 1V0
Susan.Pickering@Tembec.com

Tom MacLean
Silviculture Forester
Nipissing Forest Resource Mgmt. Inc.
P.O. Box 179, 128 Lansdowne Ave.
Callander, Ont., P0H 1H0
tel 705 752 5430 x22
fx 705 752 5736
email tmaclean@nipissingforest.com

Jeff Dech
Nipissing University
100 College Drive
North Bay, ON, Canada P1B 8L7
Tel: (705) 474-3450 x.4701
Fax: (705) 474-1947
jeffreyd@nipissingu.ca

Megan Smith
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
3301 Trout Lake Road, North Bay, P1A 4L7
Phone: (705) 475-5565
Fax: (705) 475-5570
megan.smith@ontario.ca

Brian Naylor
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources,
3301 Trout Lake Road,
North Bay, Ontario, P1A 4L7.
Phone: 705-475-5564
FAX: 705-475-5570
Brian.naylor@ontario.ca

We welcome your comments, suggestions, and help. If you would like to see changes or volunteer for an activity, please contact one of the executive.