Group Selection in Old Cedar Hemlock Forests: Five-year Results of the Fleet Creek Partial-cutting Trial

FIGURE 1. Aerial view of the Group Selection openings, Fleet Creek. Introduction Increasingly in British Columbia, forest managers are seeking to use a greater variety of silvicultural system options, and reduce reliance on clearcutting. In BC and the Pacific Northwest, the shift in forest practices in response to changing environmental and land use attitudes is well-documented (Kohm and Franklin, 1997). There has been much work on different silvicultural systems in many parts of BC in the last decade. A major unsolved challenge, virtually unique to British Columbia, is the development of viable partial-cut silvicultural systems for very old unmanaged or “old-growth” forest types (Weetman, 1996). To succeed, such old-growth systems must be both ecologically appropriate and operationally feasible. To date, few silvicultural system trials have tested partial-cut silvicultural systems for the very old, multi-aged cedardominated mixed forests and productive rich sites typical of the wet-belt Interior Cedar-Hemlock (ICH) biogeoclimatic zones in the northern Rockies and Cariboo Mountains. Forest management objectives for wet-belt ICH stands in the eastcentral Interior and northern Rocky Mountain Trench have changed in the last decade, and now include a diverse array of resource values (Jull et al, 1998). Changes in forest practices, however, have been slow, hindered by scant past experience with alternatives to clearcutting in this forest type. The first five year results of the Fleet Creek trial provide some useful insights into the potential benefits and risks of group selection silvicultural systems in old-growth ICH forest types. The Fleet Creek group selection trial (Silvicultural Systems Project SS054, and EP 1119.02), established in 1994, is located in 350-year-old Interior Cedar-Hemlock forest northwest of McBride, BC. We originally designed this operational test of group selection methods with a focus on maintaining low-elevation habitat for mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus). However, these group selection methods are also potentially useful for combining timber harvesting objectives with the management of old-growth ICH forests for many other non-timber objectives. These include high scenic values, old-growth forest attributes, and maintenance of standlevel biodiversity. The purpose of this research note is to present the preliminary results of the Fleet Creek group selection trial to the public, operational forest managers, and forest scientists.