Outdoor Woodlot Conference 2005, also Useful Silvicultural Guide.

Attended the event, which this year took place just north of Eganville. Where we had rain last year, this time we had beautiful summer weather. It was an unbeleivable 28 deg. c. (82 deg f.) and sunny with a few clouds. I found the few sessions I attended again quite interesting, although the focus was on sugar maple woodlots of which I have very few. I think I finaly grasped the concept of basal area at one of these sessions. Basal area is a measure of the density of cumulative cross sectional wood in the trees in any one spot. It is readily calculated using a foresters prism. The method is quite approximate and is most effective if the density and size of trees are uniform.
I offered to volunteer to man the booth for the Renfrew Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association, so did not partake in all the events, but did take in one session plus one short woodlot visit.

The gem I picked up at this event was on how to manage cedar of which I have quite a lot. There is very little on cedar management in the literature of more conventional texts. One of the attendees who is a forester for the Renfrew County gave some excellent tips as well as refered me to a text entitled “A Silviculture Guide to Managing Southern Ontario Forests” which devotes 30 odd pages to just cedar management.

I have since bought the book through the website at: for a mere $27.50 cnd, or approx. $24.00 usd. It is a wealth of information, rightfully refered to by some as the bible. It is a total of 648 pages plus a 19 page preface, jamb packed with information. Can’t go wrong for the price.

It can be ordered by mail at:
Natural Resources Information Centre
300 Water Street
PO Box 7000
Peterborough, ON
K9J 8M5

Or by email to mnr.nric@mnr.gov.on.ca

Or by phone inquiries can be made at: 1-800-667-1940.

I ordered it directly by visiting http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/ then on the left near the bottom I selected “Shop Online”; then select “English” , then “products”; then “forests” and you will see the book listed. This is a great website for lots of othe stuff too as you will see.


The publication should be cited as:
OMNR. 2000. A silvicultural guide to managing southern Ontario forests, Version 1.1 Ont. Min. Nat. Resour. Queen’s Printer for Ontario. Toronto. 648 P. The ISBN is 0-7778-9229-4.