Commitment to Sustainable Forest Management
At Spray Lake Sawmills, we are committed to sustainable forest management; a long-term goal to maintain natural ecosystems, communities and native species in the forest in balance with social and economic needs.
Our Approach features a continuous feedback loop that involves:
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Using existing knowledge/information from completed studies.
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Building new knowledge of ecological relationships, habitat supply and regional social values.
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Integrating this knowledge into the forest management planning process and into the development of management strategies, and.
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Monitoring aspects of the implementiation and its impact on the ecosystem over time.
This process enables us to respond and adapt as new information becomes available.
Information for Forest Management Agreement
Some of the information we currently have or are building for the Forest Management Agreement area includes:
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Alberta Vegetation Inventory.
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Ecological Land Classification.
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Forest Succession Modeling.
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Habitat Suitability Modeling and Mapping.
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Digital Elevation Modeling.
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Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre Data.
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Historic Resource Predictive Model and Mapping of Known Sites.
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Stream characteristics and Water Quality Monitoring.
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Forest Growth and Yield Sample Plot and Research Plots.
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Fire Regime Analysis.
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Biodiversity/Species Observation Database.
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East Slopes Grizzly Bear Project.
Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Research Program.
Resource Management Issues and Values
Under the Forest Management Agreement, the primary use of the forest management area is “for re-establishing, growing, harvesting and removing timber.” Within this context is the need to recognize other resource values and uses. The DFMP currently under development must comply with the South Saskatchewan Regional Land Use Plan.
List of Issues and Values
Following is the list of issues and values developed through this process. The issues/values list formed the basis for the development of the objectives and the strategies in the DFMP. Stay Tuned.
