February 2006: Volume 3                                                                    Private Land Section
                                Forest Management Plans
                                              Your Forest Stewardship Guide
            Surveys indicate that most              Thousands of Island forest           Getting Started
        landowners care deeply for their        owners have developed forest                 Your forest management plan
        woodlands and usually see               management plans to help them            should offer usable information
        themselves as stewards of their         meet their forestry goals in an          designed to match your goals and
        forest. Many use their forest lands     effective and efficient manner.          values with the capabilities of
        for products such as firewood,          Their plan is a blueprint to follow      your land. Therefore, the first part
        Christmas trees and lumber. Some        and a statement of their goals and       of the planning process is often
        derive income from the sale of          values.                                  not a trip to the forest — it is a
        stumpage rights for high volume                                                  general discussion with the
        products such as pulpwood,              How Can I Prepare a Forest               consultant on what you want to
        studwood, and saw logs. Others          Management Plan?                         achieve with your forest. Once
        hunt, trap, hike and bike ride, take        An effective forest management       you have a general sense of where
        photographs, or simply enjoy the        plan does not have to be hard to         you want to go, you can begin to
        natural wonders of our Island.          create or difficult to understand.       explore how your forest can be
                                                Some woodlot owners develop their        managed to meet those goals.
                                                own plans but most hire a                    The consultant should conduct
                                                consulting forester or forest            an inventory of your forest and
                                                technician to develop it with them.      map the various stands.
                                                For the purposes of this Woodland
                                                Note we will assume that you are
                                                working with a consultant to                A stand is an area of forest
                                                develop a plan and an approach              containing trees of the same
                                                which is right for you and your             species or mixture of species
                                                forest.                                     and which share similarities
            Whatever their reasons, most                                                    such as height, age, diameter,
        landowners want to do the right                                                     health, density, etc. 
        thing for their forest and for
        themselves. But often many have                                                      Each stand will have its own
        never really thought about their                                                 economic and environmental
        forest lands in terms of how the                                                 potential and limitations, so the
        lands can work for the owner’s                                                   plan should identify appropriate
        benefit. And even if they have, they                                             management options and a
        often don’t know where to start or                                               treatment schedule for each one
        how to reach their forestry goals —                                              over the next five to ten years.
        in other words they need a plan.
                                                                  1
        These recommendations may                4)  Tax Planning:                        forest professionals are available to
        include information on when to               Management plans are an              help you develop a plan which
        harvest and harvest options and              essential component of estate        meets your objectives and the
        alternatives, as well as how to              planning and property transfers.     potential of your forest.
        enhance wildlife habitat, protect or     5)  Financial Planning: 
        encourage young trees and shrubs,            Scheduling of investments and
        develop non-timber forest products           revenues to suit the owner’s
        or maintain the aesthetic qualities of       needs. Treatment costs may also
        the forest.                                  be eligible for tax deductions. 
                                                 Getting the Work Done!
                                                     Ultimately, as the owner,
                                                 getting the work done is your
                                                 responsibility. However, some
                                                 forest consultants offer clients a
                                                 range of additional forest
                                                 management services and
                                                 assistance. They may work with
                                                 landowner clients to help them find
            The plan should also address         qualified silviculture workers,
        issues at a property level, by           negotiate price and harvest
        offering information on how and          schedules with forest contractors            It is important to realize that a
        where to establish proper roads and      and wood buyers, obtain permits          forest management plan should be
        trails and the types and volumes of      and paperwork or identify tax            seen as a living document. Over
        forest products which could be           breaks related to the forest             time, the forest will change as older
        generated from the various               management work.                         trees die or are harvested and as
        treatments.                                  Many woodland owners have            new trees grow to take their place.
        In summary, your plan should offer:      found that professional assistance       Insects, disease and fire will have
        1)  Level of Detail and                  can quickly pay for itself, so check     an effect, new product opportunities
            Flexibility Suited to Your           with your consultant on the range of     will arise, or your personal
            Needs:                               services they can offer!                 circumstances can change;
            Ranging from a general                                                        therefore, you may wish to update
            description to a detailed                                                     or revise the plan to reflect these
            operating plan and a variety of                                               new realities — usually once every
            appropriate options for you to                                                five to ten years.
            consider.                                                                         For more information contact:
        2) Costs:                                                                         Forest Enhancement Program
            Treatment cost will depend on                                                   J. Frank Gaudet Tree Nursery
            the size, complexity and level                                                  Upton Rd.
            of detail required.                                                             Box 2000
        3)  Components:                          Are There Other Services                   Charlottetown, PEI C1A 7N8
            Map with stands identified,          Available to Me?                           Tel:(902) 620 3179
            current aerial for site                  The Forest Enhancement                 Fax: (902) 368 4713
            photographs, site history, stand     Program offers many programs and           email: samacdonald@gov.pe.ca
            descriptions, list of                services for land-owners who want          www.gov.pe.ca/go/fep
            treatments/prescriptions, road       to manage their forests. However,
            and trail locations, and a           before you can access these funds
            suggested implementation             and services, you must have an
            schedule.                            approved and up-to-date forest
                                                 management plan registered with
                                                 the department. Incentives and
                                                                   2