Promoting Ecological Forestry, One Woodlot at a Time.

The FFN pilot program provides an opportunity for interested woodland owners to take part in progressive forest management that will benefit generations to come. The project aims to document the costs and benefits of harvesting and silviculture treatments that take into consideration biodiversity objectives, restoration opportunities, climate change adaptation, and carbon management. With this pilot, we will gain a greater understanding of the economic costs, management challenges, and forest health benefits associated with ecological forestry practices. The data and knowledge acquired will be shared with woodland owners, researchers, and provincial government departments to help inform the ongoing development of management practices and forest policy.

What You Should Know Before You Apply:

To be part of the research project a landowner must:

  • have one or more stand types that meet our current eligibility criteria (we will survey for this),

  • agree to have us perform harvest or silviculture treatments sometime over the next 3 years,

  • agree to a minimum treatment area of 2-4 ha (5-10 acres) per eligible stand type,

  • agree to leave an untreated 1 ha (2.5 acre) control area for comparison purposes, and

  • agree to let us on site to periodically collect data before and after treatment for up to 10 years.

In return we will provide a comprehensive harvest prescription for the chosen stand, which includes a list of ecologically focused management objectives, a summary of data collected, and a treatment area map. We will also arrange for contractors to do the prescribed treatment.

Potential landowner revenues from harvest treatments will depend on stand conditions, but there may be some proposed treatments that are currently not economical - this is part of our research. In these cases, no revenue may be generated, but landowners will benefit from having improved stand conditions at no cost to them.

For our restoration thinning (RT) silviculture treatment, landowners pay 25% of the treatment cost ($300/ha), with FFN covering 75% ($900/ha).

Please note, the FFN pilot project is an ecological harvest and silviculture research project and we do not provide overall woodlot management plans. For woodlot management advice, please reach out to your nearest Woodlot Management Co-op (see partners list).

Click here to download application or fill out the form below and hit send.