Forest Resource Management at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited

The mill at Corner Brook requires approximately 680,000 cubic meters of wood each year.  While a primary objective of our forest management is to provide a sustainable supply of high quality raw material to the mill at a competitive cost, we must also ensure a sustainable flow of other forest values such as clean water, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Timber Limits

The Company manages approximately 1.5 million hectares (3.6 million acres) of forest land on the island of Newfoundland.  These timber limits span the island from the Codroy Valley on the southwest corner of the island to Cat Arm on the Northern Peninsula and east to Gander in central Newfoundland.

Of the 1.5 million hectares of total land area, only 760,000 hectares are forested.  The remainder of the land is bog, barren, water and shrub land.

There are a number of documents that provide details on forest management on Corner Brook Pulp and Paper timber limits, the 5-Year Operating Plans and the Sustainable Forest Management Plan.  The 5-Year Operating Plans are described below; the Sustainable  Forest Management Plan is also available on this website.

GOVERNMENT PLANNING FRAMEWORK

20 - Year Forestry Development Plan

The first 20 -Year Development Plan was produced by the Newfoundland Forest Service in 1984.  This plan is revised every 5 years, with the current Development Plan produced in 1996.  In addressing the many resource values related to sustainable forest management and ecosystem management, input for this Plan was provided by key industry personnel, as well as federal and provincial representatives from various government agencies (i.e. Wildlife, Tourism, Culture & Recreation, Water Resources, Agriculture).  This development plan describes the goals and objectives of the Newfoundland Forest Service over the next 20 years and sets the stage for the protection of natural ecosystems by ensuring that management is conducted in a sustainable manner through adaptive ecosystem management.

This Development Plan also contains the timber resource analysis and forest management strategy for the Province and provides the framework upon which Corner Brook Pulp and Paper bases its overall Sustainable Forest Management Plan.

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FIVE - YEAR OPERATING PLAN

The Five -Year Plan is a required planning document, prepared and submitted to the  Newfoundland Forest Service for each management District.  This plan has a detailed format that identifies where, when, and how forest management activities will occur within a particular District.

Preparation and development of this Plan involves a public consultation process whereby input is solicited from various government agencies, community and user groups, as well as the general public.

Following approval of the Five-Year Plan by the Newfoundland Forest Service, implementation begins with registration of the Plan for review under the Environmental Assessment Act.

Specific forestry activities outlined in the Five-Year Plan are:

1. Timber Supply Allocation

2. Fuelwood/Domestic Cutting

3. Silviculture

4. Forest Access Roads and Bridges

5. Protected Water Supply Areas

6. Forest Protection

1. Fire Protection

2. Insects and Diseases

3. Landscape

4. Wildlife

5. Ecosystem Protection

6. Environmental Protection Plan - General Guidelines

ANNUAL WORK SCHEDULE

Submission of an Annual Work Schedule is a requirement of the 1990 Forestry Act.  The Operation Plan is submitted to the Newfoundland Forest Service each September in advance of harvesting planned for the coming year. Significant detail is also included with respect to wood supply, access road development, planned harvesting and forest renewal activities.  The Annual Work Schedule also addresses and deals with comments and recommendations generated by our Five -Year Operating Plan from various government resource agencies.

Agencies that have a direct interest in the environment are given an opportunity to comment on the Annual Work Schedule.  The Forest Management Division acts as a mediator between the Company and anyone who has a concern with the plans.  Situations usually are resolved through discussions and compromise.  When submitted plans are approved, recommendation is made for issuance of a Certificate of Managed Land by the Minister of Forest Resources and Agrifoods.  An outline of these documents is included further in this section.

Specific information in the Annual Work Schedule includes:

Wood Supply

1. Wood supply requirements

2. Summary of planned harvest on Company lands

3. Summary of the Company's planned harvest on Abitibi Consolidated and Crown exchanges.

Access Road Development

1. Proposed access road construction or road upgrading

2. Proposed watercourse crossing locations and bridge construction.

Harvest Information (for each harvest cutback)

1. Written description of operating area

2. Map of operating area

3. Proposed cut

4. Stand type

5. Harvesting method

6. Season of harvest

Site Concerns

1. Stream Buffers

2. Caribou calving areas

3. Protected water supply areas

4. Land use conflict resolution

5. Municipal planning areas

6. Mining and Fisheries

 Forest Renewal

• Summary of renewal treatments including pre-commercial thinning, scarification,  planting, herbicide applications, seeding and controlled burning.

• Support activities including regeneration surveys, growth and survival assessments of plantations, various research projects and projected operational planning.

APPROVAL AND PERMITS

Following the submission and approval of the Company's Annual Work Schedules, a Certificate of Managed Land is issued by the Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods.  This certificate includes a schedule of the Company's timber harvesting areas and the operations specifications for each, as well as any special conditions that may apply to a particular harvest block.

All criteria outlined in the approval certificate must be adhered to and are subject to inspection and enforcement by Newfoundland Forest Service staff.

Additional permits may be required for forestry operations with respect to municipal areas. Government municipal area guidelines are as follows:

1. Timber harvesting, resource road construction, silviculture, processing facilities, and support services are developments under the Urban and Rural Planning Act. Where these activities occur within a Planning Area Boundary or within 400 meters of a Protected Area Boundary or within 400 meters of a Protected Road, a development permit is required before any activity takes place.

2. Consultation with the planning agency (usually municipality, but also the Development Control Unit of the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs) is to be made at the planning stage so that regulatory requirements can be made known and taken into account. This should occur three months before the desired commencement of development and the permit obtained about one month before development is to start.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

Forest management responsibilities require accurate tracking of vast amounts of information related to Corner Brook Pulp and Paper timber limits.  The base information used for forest management planning is the Newfoundland Forestry Inventory, made available to the Company in digital format and stored on the Company's GIS.  The GIS is a computer based mapping and information system.  It is used to link individual geographic features (e.g. forest stands, lakes and roads) to specific descriptive tabular data (e.g. tree species, age and volume).

Each type of geographic feature is grouped into related "layers" on the GIS (e.g. forest type map, land cover and hydrology).  The data base can be used for both descriptive and analytical purposes and the output can be altered in tabular or map form.

Additional data added to this baseline information includes details related to past harvest areas, silviculture activities, roads and other disturbances.  This information, in conjunction with other forestry tools, is used in the development of forest management plans.  The Company's GIS department has developed a 3-year GIS System plan which will improve efficiency and effectiveness of our operational planning. This plan is designed to be "evergreen" and will be updated annually.

Record Keeping and Reporting (GIS)

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is responsible for maintaining reports, records and maps for all its forest operations and renewal activities.  Activities will be documented in the Company's Geographic Information System.  The Company's maps and reports are available to government forestry personnel for forest inventory maintenance and updating purposes.  This information is in addition to the development of long term forest management plans and annual work schedules.

Each year the Company prepares and submits a Report of Past Annual Operations to the Newfoundland Forest Service, which summarizes the past year's forest management activities.

Monitoring

Monitoring activities are an important component of forest management on Company timber limits.  Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is responsible for maintaining reports, records and maps for its operations and renewal activities.  By monitoring the results of forest management activities which have been implemented, the Company is able to make any needed adjustments and changes to achieve continuous improvement in its operations.  Record keeping and reporting to inform the appropriate government agencies and the public of the Company's activities is ongoing.

Harvest Records

The harvest (cutover) records are collected each year and digitized into the GIS.  Road construction activity is also recorded during the harvest record collection process.  Along with the actual areas harvested, information on volume, logging method, contractor, etc. is entered into the database.

In order to maintain an up-to-date forest inventory, information on the harvest cutblocks will be transferred to the GIS inventory coverage.  In this way, the status of affected stand can be clearly ascertained, reflecting the current state of the forest.

Forest Renewal Records

With the completion of forest renewal programs, related information will be entered into the GIS database.  Forest renewal data entered includes:

 1.    Scarification/site preparation.
 2.    Tree planting.
 3.    Pre-Commercial Thinning (PCT).
 4.    Herbicide release.

For more information on Planning download section 6 on our FMPOPs page

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