Forest Engineering
B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. provide forest engineering services with a professional emphasis on stewardship and sustainable forest practices.
Long range plans
B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. specializes in liaison work with various resource agencies, First Nations, and the public to collect and compile all information required to facilitate total resource and landscape unit planning. Key parts of this process include 1:20,000 scale road, bridge, and cut block location projections, timber evaluations, and allowable annual cut projections for various management objectives.
Forest stewardship plans
Our work developing forest stewardship plans includes preparation and submission, advertising to the public, consultation with First Nations, resource agency referrals, and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Forests and Ranges.
Forest road and cut block design
We can design and lay out roads and cut blocks to meet the challenges of difficult terrain and sensitive forest types, while protecting non-timber values. Our work includes block and road projections, road and cut block layouts for clearcuts and partial-cut silviculture systems using cable, aerial, and ground-based logging systems. We specialize in stream and gully identification and assessments, road and cut block traversing, and road plan and profile design.
Permit and lease applications
We prepare applications for cutting permits, burning permits, special use permits, road permits, and foreshore and aquatic leases.
Visual quality analysis
We conduct visual impact assessments using site lines. In addition, the firm maintains associations with companies with computerized Visual Impact Assessment capabilities.
Roads and bridges
We supervise road and bridge construction to maintain compliance with client Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Forest Practices Board compliance audit standards, forest stewardship plans approved under the Forest Range and Practices Act (FRPA), environmental regulations, plans and profiles, and site plans. Our expertise includes detailed budgeting, cost, and production tracking with an emphasis on cost reduction.
Logging and falling supervision
We supervise logging and falling operations to ensure compliance with client SOPs, logging plans, and silviculture prescriptions.
Timber Valuations
We offer timber inventory and appraisal services on public and private forestlands. This includes Crown stumpage estimation and standing timber valuations.
Road rehabilitation and deactivation
We plan (Levels 1 & 2) and supervise road rehabilitation and deactivation to meet access management objectives, stability concerns, and Standard Practice requirements.
Audits
We conduct operational planning, harvesting, and road compliance audits, as well as comprehensive evaluations of client SOPs and forest stewardship plans approved under FRPA. The firm specializes in recommending cost-effective solutions to identified problems and opportunities.
