Growing the New Forest: The Evolution of Applied Silviculture in Alberta

Publication from the fRI Forest History Program.

Abstract

Hinton, Alberta, was the birthplace of the province’s modern forest industry, and it became the proving ground for sustainable forest management in Alberta. The lease agreement establishing the province’s first pulp mill there in 1954 granted long-term tenure on a forestland in return for the company accepting all the costs of inventory, planning, harvest, and reforestation. Des Crossley, a former CFS research scientist, was the company’s first Chief Forester. He and his team pioneered many new approaches to sustained yield forest management. These included silvicultural techniques to encourage natural regeneration and, when these were inappropriate, the development of Alberta’s first containerized seedling system. Silviculture systems continued to evolve and improve through a combination of research, data collection, analysis, innovation, and adaptation in each aspect of silviculture at Hinton.

For details on how to access the full paper, visit the CIF’s Forestry Chronicle site.

Citation

Robert D. Bott, Peter J. Murphy & Robert Udell. 2014. Growing the new forest – The evolution of applied silviculture in Alberta. The Forestry Chronicle. Vol. 90, No. 3. pp. 324-329.