_IN_TEGRATED FOREST MANAGEMENT 
     
    
   
   
    
     by Sid watts, Kilmuir 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     If you are fbrtunate enough to be a woodlot owner on P.E.I., then you have 
     
     a unique opportunity to manage one of this province's most important and most 
     
     beautiful natural resources. Management of your woodlot need not be primarily 
     
     fbr economic reasons, but may be or other less tangible reasons. It is 
     
     difficult, if not impossible, to put a price tag on a walk in the woods in the 
     
     Spring of the year when the warblers and thrushes are filling the air with 
     
     their beautiful songs. 
     
    

    
     Decisions that you, the woodlot owner, make can have a great effect on 
     
     varieties and numbers of species that will visit or stay in y0ur woodlot. It 
     
     is for this reason that you should gather as much infbrmation as you can on the 
     
     type of management that best suits you and your woodlot. You should then base 
     
     your decisions on this infbrmation. 
     
    

    
     Integrated forest management is simply the management of a tract of wood- 
     
     land fbr wildlife, recreation and timber. You must decide if one is more 
     
     important than another, or if all three should be treated somewhat equally. 
     
    

    
     Something that many of us overlook is the changes that take place in a 
     
     stand of trees. very often we see a stand of trees that we feel will not change, 
     
     but this just isn't so. Trees and woodlots are always changing. One doesn't 
     
     have to look too far on P.E.I. to see stands of trees that are dead or dying. 
     
     They are losing not only their timber value but also their maximum potential 
     
     for wildlife habitat, to say nothing of their aesthetic and recreational values. 
     
    

    
     It would be impossible to list all the decision factors that a woodlot 
     
     owner might have to consider; however I would like to point Out a few of the 
     
     more important factors that will affect wildlife populations. 
     
    

    
     Food, cover, water and space are the feur main factors that will make up 
     
     the habitat. Since there is very little most of us can do about water and 
     
     space we hould, as managers, concentrate on the food and cover. This does not 
     
     mean that water and space are any less important than feod and cover. 
     
    

    
     The first step to take toward better management of your woodlot is to take 
     
     an inventory of it. Find out what species of trees you have; what age and 
     
     condition they are in; how large an area each stand covers; where roads, 
     
     trails, ponds and streams are located. To better help you understand how all 
     
     these relate to one another you should make a map showing all of the things 
     
     listed above. 
     
    

    
     Once you have your inventory and map complete, you must then 
     
     decide on which species of wildlife you would like to attract to 
     
     your woodlot. Once you know which species you most prefer, then 
     
     you will have to get as much information about their requirements 
     
     as possible. (Department of Forestry personnel will be happy 
     
     to help you with this.) When you have acquired the knowledge of 
     
     your woodlot and the requirements of the species you would like 
     
     to manage szg you are truly ready to make decisions that will 
     
     improve the habitat of your woodlot. 
     
    

    
     Deciding on what to do is only part of the job; getting the 
     
     necessary work done is the other. It is a very rewarding feeling 
     
     to see more and more varied species of wildlife moving into your 
     
     woodlot because you took the time to create the best habitat you 
     
     could for them. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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