Keifer Ecological Services

• Kinbasket Reservoir Revegetation Program
• Arrow Lakes Reservoir Revegetation Program
• Silviculture, Wildfire and Forest Stand Effects on Huckleberries
• Spalding’s Campion Inventory and Habitat Assessment
• MOE Elder Creek Prescribed Burn
• Spatial and Quality Attributes of Culturally Important Plants
• Rare Plant Propagation and Restoration, Waneta Expansion Project
• Whitebark and Limber Pine Restoration in BC
• Impact of Accelerated Timber Harvesting on NTFPs
• Aberfeldie Channel and Revegetation Program
• Effects of Mountain Pine Beetle on NTFRs
• Revegetation of Disturbed Wetlands in Westpath Expansion Area
• Managing Saskatoon and other Traditionally Important Plants
• Invasive Plant Inventories at Provincial Parks
• Profile of NTFRs in the Cascade Forest District
• Invasive Species Mitigation Practices after Forest Management Activities
• Ethnobotanical Inventory, Invermere
• Reconnaissance Level Wetland Testing on TaTa/Skookumchuck Range
• Revegetation Monitoring - Kootenay 230 kV System Transmission Line
• Cultural Plants of the Creston Wetlands
• Morels in the East Kootenay, BC

Effects of Mountain Pine Beetle on NTFRs

Forest ecosystems produce a wide variety of valuable resources beyond conventional timber and wood products.  Non-timber values include wild foods such as: berries, mushrooms, fiddleheads, greens, and honey, as well as essential oils, floral greenery, and specialty wood products.  In 2009, a research team from the University of Northern British Columbia’s Quesnel River Research Centre, Keefer Ecological Ltd., the Royal Roads University’s Centre for Non-timber Resources, the Likely/Xat’sull community forest (LXCF), and the Xat’sull Nation collaborated with members of the communities of Likely and Xat’sull to examine the use of non-timber forest resources (NTFR) in the context of economic diversification and ecosystem based management. 

The objective of this research project was to work with community members to determine which plants within the LXCF have the potential for commercialisation.  Once the species were identified, the team developed an inventory to determine the distribution, abundance, and quality of the NTFR in the area as well as which resources have management priority.  The research team has collaborated with the LXCF board of directors and manager to decide how compatibility management can be advanced to optimise production of both timber and non-timber resources.  Although the research team has developed and tested NTFR inventory methodology specific to the LXCF, the lessons can be applied to other areas of British Columbia. 

There were two main components to this project: the first being qualitative research including community interviews and workshops, and the second was the quantitative natural resource management ecosystem-mapping project.  Interviews were used to ascertain community members’ ideas about how to diversify the local economy beyond timber and also to assess people’s perceptions of the effects of the mountain pine beetle on the NTFR in their community forest.  A preliminary workshop preceded the sampling session to identify the 12 species of interest.  The final workshop in Likely and the final meeting with the Xat’sull Chief and Council were used to disseminate research findings and give the community members a chance to talk about the project, voice any concerns, and decide the future directions for their community forest planning. 

This research has expanded the tools required for compatible forest management and economic diversification, as well as increased our immediate understanding of forest management effects on NTFR.

Community participation in community forest planning is significant because the LXCF is creating a multi-use forest that is used and valued for resources beyond standing timber (Robinson 2005).  The cultural value of the forest includes timber production, but it also encompasses other uses for the forest such as spiritual and aesthetic qualities, a healthy ecosystem for living and recreating on and the diversity of NTFR that the forest has to offer (Anderson and Horter, 2002).  Diversification into different areas of revenue besides logging is an important aspect for community forestry operators to explore. 

It is believed that in the Likely area MPB caused nearly 100 percent mortality of lodgepole pine over 15 cm dbh.  In the LXCF, all accessible beetle-wood was harvested (Robin Hood Pers. Comm. 2010).  As communities look with anticipation for other ways to create employment, the NTFR sector can provide economic opportunities.  However, as the economic importance of the industry increases, so does the significance of monitoring and regulation (Ehlers and Keefer, 2007).