John Prince Research Forest - Resilience
Treatment: allow some change in current conditions, but encourage eventual return to reference conditions
Management Goals
- Maintain or enhance forest structural and age diversity, including larger diameter Douglas-fir
- Enhance present species diversity by increasing hardwood relative abundance in overstory
- Reduce fire risk and decrease ladder fuels
- Increase resilience to pests and pathogens
Strategies & approaches
- Variable matrix of skips and gaps with flexibility to adapt to microsites
- Variable gap size from 0.1 – 1 ha
- Target residual basal area of 10 m2/ha
- Thinning from below for vigor and to remove ladder fuels and light thinning from above of softwoods to shift overstory composition
- Planted future-adapted southern / drier sourced Douglas-fir on mesic and drier sites, hybrid white spruce on wetter sites and lodgepole pine across all sites
- Promote natural regeneration of aspen in openings
Management Goals & Treatments
Site Leads & Partners
Dr. Che Elkin, (University of Northern British Columbia), Sue Grainger (University of Northern British Columbia), and Dr. Kristen Waring (Northern Arizona University), and Dexter Hodder (JPRF, University of Northern British Columbia) are the site leads for the John Prince Research Forest ASCC site. Key partners include Colorado State University, Natural Resources Canada, B.C. Ministry of Forest, and the Northern Institute for Applied Climate Science.
Ché Elkin
Site Lead
Associate Professor
Ecosystem
Science & Management Program
University of Northern British Columbia
Forestry Sciences Laboratory
3333 University Way
Prince George, B.C. V2N 4Z9
Phone: 250-960-5004
che.elkin@unbc.ca
Sue Grainger
Site Lead
John Prince Research Forest
Box 2378
Fort St James, BC, Canada, V0J 1P0
Phone: 250-996-3700
grainger@unbc.ca
Kristen Waring
Site Lead
Professor – School of Forestry
College of the Environment, Forestry,
and Natural Sciences
Northern Arizona University
Southwest Forest Science Complex,
200 E Pine Knoll Dr
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Phone: 928-523-4920
Kristen.Waring@nau.edu
Dexter hodder
Site Lead
John Prince Research Forest,
Director, Research and Education
John Prince Research Forest
Box 2378
Fort St James, BC, Canada, V0J 1P0
Phone: 250-996-3700