Harvesting Productivity and Cost of Clearcut and Partial Cut in Interior British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT: Clearcutting has been the dominant harvesting method i n British Columbia (representing 95% of the total areaharvested annually). However forest managers are increasingly recommending the use of alternative silvicultural systems andharvest methods, including various types of partial cutting, to m eet ecological and social objectives. In this study we comparedharvesting productivity and harvesting costs between treatments th rough detailed and shift level time studies in 300-350 year-oldInterior Cedar-Hemlock stands in British Columbia, Canada. Recommendations for improving operational planning/layout and theimplementation of clearcut and partial cutting silvicultural systems were made. Harvesting costs varied in the ground-based clearcuttreatments from $10.95/m 3 - $15.96/m 3 and $16.09/m 3 - $16.93/m 3 in the group selection treatments. The ground-based groupretention treatment had a cost of $13.39/m 3 , while the cable clearcut had a cost of $15.70/m 3 . An understanding of the traditionaland alternative wood products that could be derived from the ha rvested timber was imperative to increasing the amount ofmerchantable volume and reducing the corresponding harvesting cos ts. Stand damage was greatest in t he group selection treatments;however, mechanized felling showed an increase in stand damage over manual felling while grapple skidding showed a decreasein skidding damage compared to line skidding.Keywords: Alternative harvesting, Clearcutting, Partial cutting, Western red cedar, Stand damageJournal of Forest ScienceVol. 24, No. 1, pp. 1~14, April 2008