Growth and Yield Chair and FGrOW Director’s Field Tour

FGrOw director Brian Roth (L) and U of A G&Y chair Robert Froese (R)

Fresh out of quarantine, Dr. Robert Froese joined Dr. Brian Roth on a week long road trip through Alberta’s forests. The first ever Endowed Chair in Forest Growth & Yield at the University of Alberta and the Forest Growth Organization of Western Canada Directo, respectively, visited study areas in the Sundre, Robb, Whitecourt, Grande Prairie, and Slave Lake areas.

The tour puts Froese in touch with the boot level concerns of forest managers as he builds a new research program at the U of A. But after a mandatory 2 week quarantine, it was just good to be back in the woods.

These photos were taken by Gillian Stauffer, Brian Roth, and fRI Research. Click any image to begin the slideshow, and use the arrows to navigate.

The relaxed atmosphere led to wide ranging conversations about silviculture.
At the boundary of a cutblock
The first stop in the area south of Robb was an old Sundance installation, looking at the effects of different site preparations on growth and yield
Sundance, now West Fraser Ltd., tested dragging, mounding, and other treatments
Froese (R) and Roth (L) had a lot of time to talk over the challenges facing FGrOW’s membership and how the new program at the U of A will address the industry’s knowledge gaps
Along with growth rates, foresters are also interested in how site preparations can affect disease risk such as western gall rust, and therefore tree mortality
Dr. Robert Froese visiting a site preparation trial near Robb.
The 2nd stop south of Robb: a realized gains trial, testing improved seed against
A residual in a cutblock
Natural regeneration, near the boundary of the realized gains trial.
The visits were smaller affairs than past FGrOW field tours. Roth and Froese here met with a few West Fraser and Weyerhaeuser employees.