Timmins Local Citizens Committee

 

Minutes of January 13, 2010

 

January 13, 2010

LCC hours:  54 hours

Year to Date: 285

Total: 5809.4

 

Date:   January 13, 2010

 

Location: Ontario Government Complex, Fire Boardroom                                                             

Present: Kees Stryland, Jenny Millson, Scott Tam, Rusty Fink, Ron Johnson, Mark Joron, Barry Edwards, Lino Morandin, Bill Russell, Andre Chartrand, Robert Calhoun

 

Regrets: Kees Pols, Allan Moyle, Bob Bielek, Gail Krawchuk, Dave Stringer, Melanie Johnson, Gilbert Fortin

 

Absent:  George Sackenay, Rodney Wincikaby, James Naveau

 

MNR: Glen McFarlane, Nikki Wood, Randy Pickering, Justin Standeven, Katie Toye

 

Guests: Don Bazeley, Tembec Inc., Aspen Zeppa, MNR Forest Health

 

Call to Order:

Bill Russell called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m.

 

Summary of Action Items for This Meeting:

Action Item 01-10-01: The Timmins LCC will draft a letter to send out to the successful applicant indicating the sum of money that the LCC has provided for their proposal as well as a request of a final report from the proponent on how and when the funds have been spent.

Action Item 01-10-02: That more information be tabled regarding the Abitibi River Forest Management Group.

Action Item 01-10-03: That the Timmins LCC have a presentation on Source Water Protection

Review and Approval of November 12, 2009 Minutes:

  • Motion to accept- Lino Morandin
  • Seconded by- Mark Joron
  • Carried

Review and Approval of tonight’s agenda:

  • Motion to accept- Kees Stryland
  • Seconded by- Robert Calhoun
  • Carried

Letters/Correspondence

  • A letter was received from The Cochrane District Manager indicating that the final day for public and First Nation’s comments on the Cochrane Area Forest Contingency Plan was November 23, 2010. A list of comments and concerns were received and a final list of alterations is enclosed as information piece for the LCC records. The letter also indicates that any person may request for a formal review of a specific decision made in the forest management plan, by the Regional Director.
  • A list of proposals was received by organizations interested in obtaining funding from the LCC pot of funds as described in the action item outlined in the November LCC minutes
  • There has been a request from the MNR to move the LCC meetings from the second Wednesday of each month to the last Wednesday of each month to accommodate the District Managers’ schedule.

§         All in favour to re-schedule LCC meetings to the last Wednesday of each month

·         Move to accept-Lino Morandin

·         Seconded by-Jenny Millson

·         All in favour-carried

 

District Manager Update- Randy Pickering

Randy provided the Timmins LCC members with the following update:

  • The District Manager agreed to allow for the harvest Block 60 on the Nighthawk Forest (harvest area previously argued by Gibson Lake cottagers as cougar habitat). The harvest and haul have been completed. There has been no further discussion on the issue to date.
  • The District has just completed the filling of the Area Biologist position. Derrick Romain was the successful candidate in the job competition.
  • The District is currently advertising for a Senior Forest Technical Specialist in Timmins and the Watershed Area Supervisor position in Gogama.
  • The MNR is currently going through a re-alignment process. The focus is policy development and implementation to the field; modernizing business processes. The re-alignment will provide for 5 divisions, namely:

§         Regional Ops Division formerly Field Service Division

§         Provincial Service Division which includes Fire, Enforcement, Parks

§         Policy Division includes Natural heritage, SAR, biodiversity, renewable energy, forest, aboriginal

§         Science and Information which includes applied research, science, GIS

§         Corporate Management Division which includes finances, infra structure, human resources

  • The changes will take place effectively January 26, 2010 with a scheduled full implementation date of April 1, 2010.
  • Job impacts relate only to reporting arrangements.

 

Cochrane Area Forest Final Contingency Plan- Don Bazeley

Don provided the Timmins LCC with a presentation on the final Contingency Plan. (see attachment)

A summary of his discussion includes:

  • The 2010-2020 Plan was put on hold in order to complete the caribou habitat regulation that needs to be put in place.
  • The 2010 LTMD has set the Available harvest Area for the 2 year Contingency Plan
  • The CAF is an amalgamation of 5 forests
  • The new forest has been divided into 5 sub units
  • Since the November presentation to the Timmins LCC there were 6 major changes:
    • Fine tune the NDPEG with the Timmins Area Biologist
    • Change allocations based on public comments
    • Re-balance the harvest by forest units
    • Adjustments on area of concerns
    • Add text to caribou planning
    • Correct many mapping errors on maps
  • Total 2 year harvest volume will be 4,466,255m3
  • Total 2 year area to be harvested is 37,937 ha.
  • Harvest commitments will be upheld on the new forest. They include:
    • Timmins Forest Products and Nighthawk Timber on the old Timmins Crown
    • Volume commitment for birch and aspen to Grants Englehart
    • Volume commitment for veneer to True North Cochrane
    • Conifer to Abitibi and Tembec with chip exchange to Domtar mills
    • Little John Enterprises Timber Supply Agreement for 9,000m3 conifer
  • The planned levels of silviculture are based on 2008-09 areas requiring treatments and forecast harvest areas from 2009-10
  • Silviculture projections based on planning levels in contingency plan for next 2 years. Forecast expenditures for planting, seeding, mechanical and chemical site preparation, slash piling and tending is $5.2 million.
  • 6 new roads are planned for construction, a road re-alignment project is planned for the Matachewan Road and a road upgrade is planned for the Connaught-Evelyn Road.
  • There are 34 new branch roads proposed and several caribou branch roads will be decommissioned using a variety of techniques such as removing crossings, digging up road beds to allow for return to natural state.
  • There are some access restrictions in place due to the Cochrane Remote Tourism Strategy
  • Stakeholder discussions since November included:
    • Air Ivanhoe concerns with Pierre Lake Road
    • Meeting with individual trappers
    • Several meetings with First Nations
    • New values identified by Matachewan
    • Black River Matheson comments
    • Grindstone Road harvest are changes in schedule of harvest to December from September
  • Next steps for the Contingency Plan include MNR final 15 day review, submission and approval of the final plan and a 15 day inspection period of the approved plan.

The following round table discussion took place with questions and answers:

·         Q: Who will manage the new forest?

·         A: First Resources Management Group will manage the new forest

·         Q: Will First Resources Management Group write the 10 year plan?

·         A: Yes

·         Q: How long is the contract?

·         A: Don’t know

·         Q: Will they report to a Board of Directors?

·         A: yes

·         Q: Who sits on the Board of Directors?

·         A: representatives from Tembec, Grant, Abitibi, Independent rep and First Nations

·         Q: How are the shares divided?

·         A: Anyone with a volume commitment has shares

 

Forest Health Unit Update- Aspen Zeppa

Aspen started with the Health unit in July 2009. Her area includes Timmins, Hearst and Cochrane Districts. There are 12 technicians situated throughout the province. They are responsible for monitoring insect diseases, abiotic damage throughout the forest. They conduct aerial mapping followed by ground checks. They are partnered with CFS in research and methods development and insect identification. The following is what she has noted for 2009 across her mandated areas. Search out web site www.glfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca for further detail:

  • Jack pine budworm is still present in the Gogama area
  • This summer’s cool wet weather may have a negative effect on the budworm’s future growth
  • BT was sprayed this past summer to control the out break
  • Pj budworm is monitored by collecting branches, soaking them in sodium hydroxide and counting the extracted larvae
  • Future predictions on spread of Pj budworm are based on the counts
  • The last noted outbreak of forest tent caterpillar was 2004 in Timmins
  • Spruce budworm outbreaks have not happened in the area for several years. Their host is the balsam fir, but also found in black and white spruce.
  • Monitored population and spread by using pheromone traps and count the male adults
  • Insect and disease damage are assessed through general surveys; samples are sent in for analysis and confirmation; results are written in an annual report.
  •  Balsam poplar decline is being caused by linospora leaf blight and foliage being eaten by poplar leaf blotch miner; cool wet weather this summer provided great conditions for the blight to thrive.
  • Poplar shoot blight was noticed in both Cochrane and Timmins Districts; the blight causes the leader of the tree to droop over and turn black on young aspen stems.
  • Spruce needle rust was wide spread across all three districts but doesn’t affect the vigour of the tree; caused from cool wet weather.
  • Yellow headed spruce saw fly was detected in all three district; found on white, black and blue spruce; eat current year foliage; were found in open areas.
  • Fall web worm was evident on pin and choke cherry trees
  • Armillaria root rot was evident in Kettle lakes park and Dana Jowsey lake park. Affected trees die from the crown down; secondary pests such as monocamus (saw fly) and western gall move in when the tree is weakened.

Following the presentation there was a period of questions/answers as follows:

·         Q: Is there any evidence of white pine blister rust in the area?

·         A: Haven’t seen a lot of white pine blister rust in the area; need vibernum for alternate host

·         Q: There is evidence of birch trees in the area dying from the top down; would this be the result of a borer?

·         A: Please e-mail me with more information and I will investigate it for you.

·         Q: Is there any chance of the beetles from British Columbia making their way into eastern Canada?

·         A: Trying to avoid any spread by ensuring that firewood not allowed to be transported east

·         Q: Will poplar shoot blight eventually kill the tree?

·         A: No

 

Abitibi River Forest AWS- Don Bazeley

Don provided the Timmins LCC members with a presentation on the ARF AWS. The following represents the main points of his discussion:

  • The AWS represents a full two years of planned harvest, silviculture and roads to allow for flexibility
  • Tembec and Abitibi submitted the AWS draft; the new management company, First Resources Management Inc will submit the final
  • The AWS harvest area includes two years of planned harvest, 1302 ha. of second pass harvest area for aspen and birch and bridging area prior to June 30, 2010
  • Volume to be harvested in the Abitibi south unit is total of 846,351 m3 comprised of conifer/hardwood; total planned harvest area is 6660 ha.
  • Road construction consists of some new build, re-alignments, upgrades and new branch roads (see attached presentation for particulars)
  • Some road decommissioning and access controls all located in Cochrane District portion of the ARF.
  • The old Nighthawk portion of the ARF is scheduled for 268 ha. of chemical site preparation, 278 ha. of mechanical site preparation, 270 ha. of aerial tending and no slash pile burning planned.
  • 810,000 tree seedlings are planned for planting
  • 3000 ha. of regeneration assessments are planned for summer/fall 2010.

Following the presentation there was a period of questions/answers as follows:

  • Q: What is chemical site preparation?
  • A: An area is sprayed with chemicals to kill off/control competing vegetation prior to planting activities. The spray project is conducted earlier in the season than tending and some times higher rates of chemicals are used.

 

Romeo Malette Forest AWS- Lino Morandin

Lino provided the Timmins LCC members with a summary of operations for the upcoming AWS for the Romeo Malette forest. The following is a summary of points made in his presentation:

  • The annual allowable harvest on the forest is 4600 ha.
  • A total of 7915 ha. has been submitted to provide for planning flexibility
  • Domtar(3rd party licence) will cut on Crothers road
  • Tembec-Chapleau will harvest in Hwy 101 west areas.
  • Tembec-Timmins will harvest on Pine Street south areas.
  • Total volume scheduled for harvest includes 400,000m3 SPF of which Domtar scheduled for 200,000m3, Tembec Chapleau scheduled for 100,000m3, Tembec Timmins scheduled for 100,000 m3.
  • Total of 100,000m3 poplar and 99,000 m3 birch will be harvested
  • Marketability issues still exist with small SPF; where possible the small diameter trees will be left standing or cut and forwarded to road side for grinding.
  • Silviculture includes planting of 2,000,000 trees (50,000 Pw and 20,000 Pr), 462 ha. of aerial seeding, 1,000 ha. of mechanical site preparation, 500 ha. of chemical site preparation, 2350 ha. of aerial tending
  • Road construction possibly on Musgrove main road (2-4 kms); main focus will be maintenance and some brushing
  • Major bridge replacement taking place on Abitibi road- Kamiscotia bridge
  • MNR is looking at possibly replacing Nat River culverts
  • 4262 ha. of Free to Grow surveys are planned.

The presentation was followed by question/answer period:

  • Q: When is the Nat river crossing work planned for?
  • A: The crossing work/bridge replacement is planned for this summer. The work has to take place as per work in-water guidelines for cold water.

 

Review of Proposals for LCC Investment-Nikki Wood

Nikki led the Timmins LCC members through a review, prioritization and selection exercise of project proposals for funding received from several groups as per the following:

  1. Sturgeon Study between Sandy Falls and Lower Sturgeon submitted by Timmins Fur Council; asking LCC for $500.00.
  2. Re-establish a “Forest Management Trail” at Hershey Lake Conservation Area submitted by MRCA and the Wintergreen foundation; asking the LCC for $600.00.
  3. “Pack it in-Pack it Out” signs submitted as part of a previous LCC initiative to erect signs in the forest reminding people to manage their trash; Asking the LCC for approximately $600.00.
  4. Nikki’s Trail submitted by Star Lake Cottagers to replace faded pictures on signs erected along the nature trail situated at Star Lake; Asking the Timmins LCC for any available funds.
  5. Bannerman Park Committee asking for any available funds to assist them with their Bannerman Park beautification project.
  6. The Timmins Naturalists, Wintergreen Fund and the Porcupine Photo Club area asking for funding to create a poster to be used as a fund raiser for Wintergreen. The money would be used to cover printing costs for the first set of posters (seed funds)

After listening to each project proposal, the LCC members chose to fund projects 1, 2 and 3 for a total of $600.00 each. A letter will be sent to each successful applicant. In that letter the LCC will ask for a report on the details of the project and a final report on how and when the funds were spent.

Action Item 01-10-01: The Timmins LCC will draft a letter to send out to the successful applicant indicating the sum of money that the LCC has [provided for their proposal as well as a request of a final report from the proponent on how and when the funds have been spent.

    • Propose to select Projects 1, 2 and 3 for funding
    • Moved by- Mark Joron
    • Seconded by- Kees Stryland
    • All in favour-carried

 

Round Table-All

·         Good meeting

·         Would like to know more about the ARF management group

·         Full night

·         Would like to see a presentation on Source Water Protection

 

Action Item 01-10-02: That more information be tabled regarding the Abitibi River Forest Management Group.

Action Item 01-10-03: That the Timmins LCC have a presentation on Source Water Protection

 

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm

           

Next Meeting

 

Next meeting scheduled for February 24, 2010 at the Fire Boardroom of the Ontario Government Complex. Please contact Gail Krawchuk at gga@ntl.sympatico.ca if you cannot attend.

 

 

Minutes taken by:                                                       Minutes approved by:

 

 

 

……………………                                                      …………………………

Gail Krawchuk                                                            Bill Russell

LCC Secretary                                                            Chair