Spring Newsletter 2024
Spring is here, the buds are breaking and there are lots of exciting updates from the Medway Community Forest Cooperative as our staff team continues to grow for the summer season!
Staffing Update
The Medway Community Forest Cooperative welcomed multiple staff members to the team this spring!
Ellen Riopelle has joined the team as our Outreach and Communications Coordinator, so you'll be hearing from her more regularly through this newsletter, social media and so much more! Ellen's background in teaching English and investigative journalism has resulted in a career in communications, focused on environmental organizations and the wider non-profit community.
Jessie Pearson has joined our team for the summer as a Recreation and Forestry Intern and will be taking care of our new campground this summer, as well as leading MCFC’s annual bird surveys! Jessie has a Bachelor of Science with a background in ecology and conservation.
Kyle McCarthy has joined the team as our Forest Stewardship Intern and will be assisting with harvest operations, silviculture block layout, campground site work, tree marking and lots more! Kyle will be with us for two summers as a part of his Masters of Science in Forestry at UNB. He will be leading research on the effectiveness of tree marking in NS in partnership with the Ecological Forestry Research Initiative.
The MCFC Hemlock project is also welcoming some new members to the Strike Team! We are extending a warm welcome to Bryce McBride, our new Strike team leader and Talitha Budden and Jude Martin, who are joining the team as interns from NSCC. The team is motivated to treat trees and looking forward to a safe and productive field season!
Our Staff Team & Contact Information
Forestry Operations Update
Working alongside Brown Bear Forestry from Chester, we completed 40.7 hectares of pre-commercial thinning (PCT) along East Branch and Victory Rd and a small portion of crop tree release work in Victory.
We completed a “Restoration Thinning” in a hardwood stand near Stave Lake, using a novel operation involving a small excavator with a tree shear head. We engaged Atlantic Tree Solutions and used a prescription that was developed by the Family Forest Network to address stands that were too tall for traditional PCT treatment specifications and too large to be thinned using a brush saw.
On the harvesting side, we worked alongside Freeman Lumber and RC Weare Logging to complete a commercial thinning harvest in the Northfield area just before the road closure in March.
MCFC is now entering our “Singing Season”, an annual pause in forest operations from May 15th to July 15th that will allow us to avoid impacting migratory bird breeding season. During this time, we’ll be busy planning for future harvests and silviculture work. Stay tuned to our website to learn more about future operations in our license area.
Women in Forestry Mentorship Day
This spring, we hosted the 13th Women in Forestry mentorship session! We partnered with our friends at The Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute to lead a group of more than 20 women through an ecological forest tour at the MCFC license area.
Together, we learned about identifying bird habitats and stick nests, tree marking in hardwood selection harvests and how the MCFC conducts ecological forestry. Big thanks to everyone who came out, and all the organizers who make these mentorship sessions possible!
Hemlock Strike Team Update
Our Hemlock Strike team is in full swing treating against HWA (Hemlock Wooly Adelgid) across the province, with more than 175 hectares of old-growth hemlock treated so far. They have also been offering regular training sessions and volunteer field days 1-2 times per week for anyone who completes the Hemlock Heroes training.
If you are interested in volunteering, the next training session is on June 15th, and there will be lots of volunteer opportunities throughout the summer! You can learn more and register through the link below.
For more information about Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, check out the Nova Scotia Hemlock Initiative.
MCFC Campsite Update
We are thrilled to announce that we will be opening 4 campsites this summer! Our recreation and forestry intern, Jessie, is hard at work preparing for the opening. Stay tuned for more updates, volunteer opportunities and an official opening date through our summer newsletter and on social media!
Interested in volunteering with this project? Send Jessie an email at jessie@medwaycommunityforest.com.
Save the Date: Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be happening virtually on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. All members are encouraged to attend and the public is welcome! There will be lots of staff updates as well as a special guest speaker! Stay tuned to our website, social media and next newsletter for details on registration!
If you want to become a member, you can do so below!