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Partnership Celebrates National Forest Week 
Louisiana Pacific evaluates watershed sensitivity in forests
Oak Hammock Marsh, Manitoba, May 3, 2005 — Louisiana Pacific (LP) Swan Valley is celebrating National Forest Week, May 1– 7, with a quarter-million dollar investment to Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) as part of a new five-year agreement. The science-based partnership ensures a promising future for a key section of Manitoba’s boreal forest.
“There isn’t a lot of information about how boreal wetlands function in Manitoba”, says Barry Waito, area forest manager of LP. “So what we’re trying to accomplish in the next five years is to incorporate the best information possible into a strategy that will assist in evaluating watershed sensitivity to forest management activities. Understanding how boreal wetland systems function is a critical component to implementing a watershed-based approach to forest management.”
Waito says that the agreement will also guide LP’s forest management activities and the amount of timber harvesting that can take place within a watershed in order to minimize the effect on water yield and water quality.
Gary Stewart, DUC’s manager of conservation programs for the western boreal, is thrilled with LP’s commitment to the wetland-rich areas that the agreement will comprise, including the Duck Mountains.
“Louisiana Pacific is a true leader in sustainable forest management that recognizes the importance of wetland and water conservation,” Stewart says. “And from a perspective of waterfowl conservation, the timing of this announcement is perfect when you consider that tens of millions of waterfowl and waterbirds are winging their way north to settle into our wetland rich forests that are so vital to their annual life cycle. This partnership truly celebrates the importance of these areas to all birds of the forest during this special week.”
This is not the first partnership between the two organizations. LP was a key partner in DUC’s Pasquia Inventory Project, which had gathered critical information on water, wetlands and waterbirds in Manitoba’s boreal forest from the Duck Mountains to The Pas. The new agreement brings the partnership to the next stage.
“This partnership,” says Chris Smith, DUC’s manager of industry and government relations for the western boreal, “utilizes the information from the Pasquia Project and combines it with LP and DUC research to develop a sustainable forest management plan that integrates watershed and wetland conservation objectives into forest planning and operations.”
DUC has been active in Canada’s western boreal forest since 1997. Since 1938, DUC has conserved, restored and managed wetlands and their associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people.
For more information:
Chris Smith, c_smith@ducks.ca
Manager, Industry & Government Relations – Western Boreal
Ducks Unlimited Canada
The Pas, Manitoba
(204) 627-7814
