>Forest Audits: Access, Site disturbance etc.

Here are some photos from random audits, with some commentary on the good and the bad in each situation.

Access is the worst part of forest management.

This is mostly because of the permanant fragmentation of the forest, which results in people and (other) predators having a tremendous impact. It is likely the cause of the receeding caribou line in the north. Increased predator movement, disturbance by ATVs, increased fires, invasive exotics, stream washouts. Lots of access problems. Other impacts may be neutral, for example, beavers activly use roads as they use the roads as a base for their dams. This generates lots of comment during audits. Trappers like increased beaver acitvity, and beavers can cause renewal of shoreline areas with their own form of logging. Of course the road builders are not happy about the damage the beavers cause.

Here are some examples of access and water crossings from various places across the country.

Lots of rock and metal here.

This photo shows a pretty organized operation.

Obviously very tight procedures for the feller buncher are in place. The site is a bit bare of residual, although it likely meets a minimum distribution requirement. SIte disturbance in Ontario.

Site access to sites can do lots of damage if not well esigned. The pic below is a little larger to show the skidder. As a grapple skidder it holds a lot of weight. The trail is not frozen, as you can see from the mud, and there are pretty good ruts developing. The manager was not happy about htis, but once committed, it is tough to redirect. Decision: fix the damage later; don't use this equipment again.

The bridge looks safe. Rock rubble in the creek is ok, but probably not the natural bottom. It does look as though the bridge is far enough back from the creek bed.

Note the lack of barber poles. The stripped signs that show drivers that they are on a bridge.

This is is possibly the world's longest culvert. The picture is peering into it from one end. Sorry I don't have the exact specs. This fellow is looking through it though, so you can see the size of the hill it passes under. Note it has a nice 2:1 slope. Makes for a big hill.

This is an example of the trouble it was causing. Note how wide the trail is, and how it is now using more than one track.