The objective of this study was to compile information on the value of second-growth timber and to establish the location, extent, and economic operability of the second-growth resource for consideration by the Haida Gwaii /QCI Land Use Planning forum. Cortex conducted this study in collaboration with John Cookman of HiMark Forest Consultants Ltd.

Services: In the first part of this study, we interviewed licensees, log traders, and researchers to obtain their advice regarding the marketability, value, productivity, operability, and other economic characteristics of the second-growth resource.

The second part of this study used the information gathered to modify the forest type classifications, and volume and revenue yield tables of an existing timber supply model—the CIT EGSA Timber model. We used the dataset and model to generate maps and tables of the second-growth resource and determine the volume of logs available at the earliest feasible harvesting age of the second-growth stands. However, this study is not a timber supply analysis—the second growth was not scheduled for harvest in the context of the remaining old growth, and constraints on forest practices (e.g., block adjacency, biodiversity) were not considered.

Outcomes: The report considers the opportunities and impediments for each of the three main components of second growth on the islands—fire-origin stands and harvest-origin hemlock stands and spruce stands (see Figure below)—in terms of their current market acceptance, technical qualities, and the sensitivity of their economic value to future price and cost assumptions. The report concludes that much of the second-growth resource is not currently economically operable and that the future economic benefits from timber harvesting will be determined by both the rate at which it becomes operable, and the rate at which the remaining old growth is harvested or preserved for other societal values.