This week I got to help Lys and Fred collect data for a prospective purchase. This mostly consisted of taking heights while Lys took the diameters at each plot in a very large stand.
Back at the office, I got a brief run through on how to use ArcMap and GIS to make the basic maps I’ve been using for all of my field work. Luckily, I took a few classes back at UBC on using ArcMap, which made using the program much less intimidating, but I’m very much looking forward to getting more practice with map making and using my own maps in the field.
On Tuesday, Fred took me to a progeny site that is about 40 years old. There, he taught me how to tag trees for thinning.
It seems the last few ice storms have hit this site pretty hard, so my job is to go in and mark all of the trees too damaged to keep growing correctly, or the ones interfering with growth patterns of the other trees.
He also explained to me the goals of this progeny site and how it has done over the years, as well as what will hopefully happen to it in the future. The idea of tracking tree growth from planting to harvest, which takes decades depending on the rotation, is one of the reasons I became so interested in forestry in the first place.
I’m excited to learn more!