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Almforest Timber Co. Ltd.
History:
This 2,500 ha property bordering on the Village of Fruitvale has an interesting history. The entire property burned in a large forest fire (the Rock Creek Fire) in 1888. The property became private land in 1892, as part of the Nelson-Fort Sheppard Railway land grant. In the few unburned patches that escaped the
Rock Creek fire, there is evidence of cedar pole cutting on the property in the 1920’s. Around 1950, intensive logging with portable sawmills started in the young stands that had regenerated after the fire. In 1963, the property became the "MacDonald Tree Farm", under the new taxation Tree Farm program. The managers of the property at that time called for selective logging with diameter limit cut.
Almforest was purchased by the current owners in 1977. During the 1980's, large- scale Mountain Pine Beetle salvage took place. In the 1990's, most of the harvesting was selective logging, designed to nurture the cedar mid-storey trees into commercial sizes.
Since 1999 most of the harvest has been beetle salvage, this time the Douglas Fir stands infested by the Fir bark beetle and the Grant fir is attacked by the Fir Engraver beetle.
Forestry:
Almforest forest cover is a typical "Kootenay Mix", with leading Douglas Fir, Western Larch, Grand fir, and with a cedar under-storey. Volume growth is ca. 5.5 m3/year. The sites have the potential to produce large, high quality logs of Larch, Fir and Cedar.Silviculture:
Half of the property is zoned for uneven-aged management, with 24 m2 basal area retention, and target diameters of 60 cm dbh. The new plantations are planted with Western Larch, White Pine and Yellow Pine. Natural regeneration with Douglas Fir, Cedar, and Pine is abundant and plantations consists of 50% natural regeneration after 5 years. The planting program targets species that do not easily regenerate naturally.Neighbours:
The property borders onto the Village of Fruitvale, and is dissected by the access road to Champion Lakes Provincial Park. Approximately 80% of the Fruitvale Creek watershed is inside the property, and there are many interactions with neighbours. Managing the fire interface between the Almforest property and the village is one the major issues concerning both the village and property managers.