We have a friend in Dala-Järna who is a management consultant with Mellanskog, (Central Forest), one of the three largest member-owned forestry associations in Sweden. Forests here are privately owned, unlike in Alberta, and owners can choose whether to use the services of Mellanskog, Norrskog, or Sörskog, or one of a number of smaller forest management companies, or they can handle all aspects of managing their property themselves. Mellanskog has 32,000 members, and the association writes 100-year management plans for each of them.
Property lots vary in size, and each is divided into management blocks, which our friend can view on the internet at the touch of a screen, c/w details and the work plan for each bit. For example, one of the properties Edwin toured was roughly 100 acres, divided into about 25 plots at all stages of development. Each owner is required to leave 5% as natural forest, and as they thin and work their plots, they work around wildlife -- bears' dens, bird nests, and such -- as much as possible. Monitoring, over the past 6 or 7 decades, has shown good results for the wild life. Indeed, the moose (staple meat here) are thriving to the point where the annual hunt (staple autumn activity here) has quotas which must be met to keep the population under control. But I digress.
The association administers planting, removal of underbrush, thinning, more thinning, harvesting, and marketing, and preparing the plot for the new planting, according to each individual owner's goals. They also handle the legalities of contracting and drawing the management plans, to the best advantage of estate planning and equalization of taxation over time. They contract with harvesting companies (also privately owned), and will build and maintain roads if necessary. They are seriously representing their members, getting every benefit possible for them, and for the obvious long term success of each project, and of the forestry industry, which remains the biggest part of the Swedish economy.
The initial clearing of underbrush leaves the material in the forest for fertilizer. After that, as it grows, every tree is sorted, graded and used to its best commercial and environmental advantage. A fully grown pine tree here requires about 130 years, so I guess you never expect to do the final harvest on what you've seeded. But there are earlier stages: the early thinning (at about 15 years) mainly provides material for pulp and paper. As the world market for newsprint is declining, there has been an upsurge in requirements for organic packaging material, as a result of a reduction in the use of plastic packaging. Some of the bottom logs would be sorted and milled into octagonal posts for export to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for use in the wine industry, and to Great Britain for posts for sheep fences. The second thinning might happen at about 30 years, depending on how the plot is growing. Now we have saw timber, posts, and more pulp material at the tops, all cut into lengths and put into separate piles in one fell swoop (fjäll swoop?) by the harvester. Near the end of the cycle, the plot is thinned to about 40 foot spacing between trees so that there is room for the crowns to spread, for light to reach the forest floor, and for the root systems to be as strong as possible. As it is with any crop, optimal growing and harvesting require close attention and response to climatic and soil conditions. Pine timber is sorted by the man running the harvester into four quality levels of saw timber, as well as posts and pulp. Spruce goes into a separate pile, as does birch and other hardwood. The market varies for each product. When necessary, to differentiate piles, the harvester machine is equipped with paint spray bombs to mark the different qualities. The fellow in the harvester has a huge responsibility and has obviously had a lot of training.
When the final harvest of mature trees is done, some nurse trees are left to provide natural seeding for the next cycle. The plot is prepared for the new crop by furrowing throughout for the new seedlings to take root more easily. Natural seeding is augmented by the addition of planting in areas as needed. Eventually, once they have done their job, the nurse trees are taken down and harvested as well.
Every ten km takes us past many plots at every stage of the management plan, and saw mills of every size and proportion. Last word on Swedish forests: there is allamans rätt in this country. This means that every citizen has the historical and constitutional right to walk on these properties, maybe have a picnic, but permission is required to pick berries or mushrooms. In the north, snow machines are a big thing, but only on trails, which are plentiful. And the last last word -- my god, it's beautiful here!
Property lots vary in size, and each is divided into management blocks, which our friend can view on the internet at the touch of a screen, c/w details and the work plan for each bit. For example, one of the properties Edwin toured was roughly 100 acres, divided into about 25 plots at all stages of development. Each owner is required to leave 5% as natural forest, and as they thin and work their plots, they work around wildlife -- bears' dens, bird nests, and such -- as much as possible. Monitoring, over the past 6 or 7 decades, has shown good results for the wild life. Indeed, the moose (staple meat here) are thriving to the point where the annual hunt (staple autumn activity here) has quotas which must be met to keep the population under control. But I digress.
The association administers planting, removal of underbrush, thinning, more thinning, harvesting, and marketing, and preparing the plot for the new planting, according to each individual owner's goals. They also handle the legalities of contracting and drawing the management plans, to the best advantage of estate planning and equalization of taxation over time. They contract with harvesting companies (also privately owned), and will build and maintain roads if necessary. They are seriously representing their members, getting every benefit possible for them, and for the obvious long term success of each project, and of the forestry industry, which remains the biggest part of the Swedish economy.
The initial clearing of underbrush leaves the material in the forest for fertilizer. After that, as it grows, every tree is sorted, graded and used to its best commercial and environmental advantage. A fully grown pine tree here requires about 130 years, so I guess you never expect to do the final harvest on what you've seeded. But there are earlier stages: the early thinning (at about 15 years) mainly provides material for pulp and paper. As the world market for newsprint is declining, there has been an upsurge in requirements for organic packaging material, as a result of a reduction in the use of plastic packaging. Some of the bottom logs would be sorted and milled into octagonal posts for export to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for use in the wine industry, and to Great Britain for posts for sheep fences. The second thinning might happen at about 30 years, depending on how the plot is growing. Now we have saw timber, posts, and more pulp material at the tops, all cut into lengths and put into separate piles in one fell swoop (fjäll swoop?) by the harvester. Near the end of the cycle, the plot is thinned to about 40 foot spacing between trees so that there is room for the crowns to spread, for light to reach the forest floor, and for the root systems to be as strong as possible. As it is with any crop, optimal growing and harvesting require close attention and response to climatic and soil conditions. Pine timber is sorted by the man running the harvester into four quality levels of saw timber, as well as posts and pulp. Spruce goes into a separate pile, as does birch and other hardwood. The market varies for each product. When necessary, to differentiate piles, the harvester machine is equipped with paint spray bombs to mark the different qualities. The fellow in the harvester has a huge responsibility and has obviously had a lot of training.
When the final harvest of mature trees is done, some nurse trees are left to provide natural seeding for the next cycle. The plot is prepared for the new crop by furrowing throughout for the new seedlings to take root more easily. Natural seeding is augmented by the addition of planting in areas as needed. Eventually, once they have done their job, the nurse trees are taken down and harvested as well.
Every ten km takes us past many plots at every stage of the management plan, and saw mills of every size and proportion. Last word on Swedish forests: there is allamans rätt in this country. This means that every citizen has the historical and constitutional right to walk on these properties, maybe have a picnic, but permission is required to pick berries or mushrooms. In the north, snow machines are a big thing, but only on trails, which are plentiful. And the last last word -- my god, it's beautiful here!
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