Is there enough uneven-aged management being executed in Nova Scotia?
This is a question that has been around for a considerable period of time with no one answer being applicable across the province. Forest stand conditions vary considerably from one end of Nova Scotia to the other. The popular belief seems to be that all even aged forests are the result of high grading by the forest industry. In fact, while past harvesting practices have played a part, most of the forests we deal with today are even-aged, because of wildfires (i.e. the Liscomb Game Sanctuary), insect infestation (i.e. Cape Breton Highlands) major windstorms (i.e. Hurricane Edna and most recently Hurricane Juan) and wide spread clearing of land by previous generations for farm operations. These events that may have happened 80 to 100 years ago dictate the stand conditions that exist today. Subsequently, these events also dictate the harvest method, which is normally to clearcut the area or face massive blow-down of trees left standing. Our industry continues to progress from environment
