The government of P.E.I. has set aside about 800 hectares of Crown land for a sustainable forestry project, with an eye towards harvesting high-value trees instead of knocking down forests for pulp.

'They've been over harvested and haven't been treated that well.'— Gary Schneider

Well-known Island environmentalist Gary Schneider has taken on the project. Schneider, who received a Canadian Environment Award in 2004 for his work managing a 60-hectare woodlot surrounding the MacPhail Homestead in Orwell, will attempt to apply lessons learned there to the piece of Crown land in Valley, in the southeast corner of the province.

New snow can't hide the damage Gary Schneider sees in Crown-owned forests, including the number of typically weedy, less valuable species such as these balsam fir.
(Randy McAndrew/CBC)

"They're pretty beat-up woodlands," Schneider told CBC News during a tour of the forest earlier this week.

"They've been over-harvested and haven't been treated that well."

Despite that, Schneider sees signs of hope. Typically weedy, less valuable species such as balsam fir can overwhelm more valuable trees as it regenerates. The regeneration of the forest is at an early stage, but Schneider said the forest is moving more toward the natural Acadian forest — the kind that existed before the Europeans arrived — than he would have expected.

"I look around here, and even though there's a lot of balsam fir, there's more hemlock and white pine and red spruce than I'll actually need growing up in these areas, so it saves us a lot of work," said Schneider.

Schneider, who managed a 60-hectare woodlot surrounding the MacPhail Homestead in Orwell, said he is looking forward to the challenges of managing a larger piece of forest.
(Randy McAndrew/CBC)

Schneider encouraged woodlot owners to resist the urge to take the quick money from clear-cutting. Instead, he urged they cut selectively to encourage the growth of  traditional and very valuable species like yellow birch, sugar maple, hemlock and white pine.

His goal both at MacPhail and the Crown lands at Valley is to show woodlot owners that carefully managed forests can provide ongoing income and stay standing.

Schneider's challenges on the project go beyond recovering from unsustainable forestry practices. The Crown land has been mistreated in other ways. He found a log cabin that someone had built over a stream, and several dump sites.

Illegal dumps are one of many problems that need to be dealt with on Crown lands.
(Randy McAndrew/CBC)

"It's sort of out of sight out of mind. People often would drag their old cars and stoves to the back of their woods. That's less and less acceptable now, so people have been for quite a while now using the public forest land because again a lot of the properties are out of sight," said Schneider.

Schneider said he understands that people need wood products, and it is not his goal to set aside the land as a preserve. But at the same time, income generation is not his only consideration either. For Schneider it's about finding a balance between making money and preserving the ecology.

Schneider says forest streams are some of the most valuable wildlife habitat in the province.
(Randy McAndrew/CBC)

"In an area like this, where we've got a stream, this is some of the most important wildlife habitat in the province, so we want to make that the streams don't get cut," said Schneider.

"Some of the areas we've sectioned off and said, 'OK, there's not going to be any cutting here.' Some the areas, where there's larger trees, we'll look at selectively harvesting and say can we take some wood out."

Schneider said he believes P.E.I. could be a national leader in sustainable forestry practices, and given the Island's small size, thinks it's not only desirable but necessary.

With only so many acres to work with, the Island has little hope of competing in the production of pulp, he said. But the small scale may make it easier to convince woodlot owners to focus more on high-value species.

Woodlot owners should cut selectively to encourage the growth of very valuable species like these white pine, Schneider says.
(Randy McAndrew/CBC)

It will take years or even decades to reap the benefits of careful woodlot management. He acknowledged that it's hard to resist the big payday from a clearcut, but that might happen only once in a lifetime.

Properly managed woodlots can provide income each and every year, and leave something of value for future generations, Schneider said.