Strategic Planning Process and The Environment
Working with the Land
Strategic Planning Process
The "business" of forestry and log / lumber marketing requires knowledge, dedication, determination, and focus to succeed in an era of ongoing change, consolidations, tight financial margins, and land use uncertainties and risks. For any new venture into the business, these key ingredients are essential to succeed. Husby Forest Product's established strengths include:
- Insight regarding social, environmental, financial issues
- Financing and expertise to determine plan viability
- In-depth experience of forest issues from multiple viewpoints
- Extensive knowledge of log and lumber markets
- Strong alliances with First Nations
- Solid foundation upon which the Company can rely upon with confidence
- Firmly established business practices and relationships embracing all facets of forestry
- Durable, resilient, adaptable to forest industry changes
Operational Planning Process
The right day-to-day decisions determine the success of anyone in the forest business. From finding the right contractor to do the job, ensuring costs are kept under control, creating the right log for the market, ensuring full value is received for the wood - all of these determine success. Husby Forest Product's experience and contacts within the industry minimize the risks for our partners and ensure long-term success.
- Clear vision regarding trends in market, policy and opportunity industries
- In-depth harvesting expertise
- Strong environmental skills
- Certified under SFI
- In-house GIS mapping expertise
- Extensive experience in completion of forest operations plans
Environmental Planning Evolution
Husby Forest Products is acknowledged as being at the forefront of innovative forestry practices on the coast of BC. From pioneering helicopter logging in the early 90's to selective logging following the principles of modern Ecosystem-based Management, Husby Forest Products continues to develop environmental practices to meet all changing safety, public, and market demands. As a reflection of our goal of constant improvement, Husby Forest Products is certified under the SFI Standard.
Environmental Policy
Husby Forest Products Ltd. (Husby) recognizes environmental management as the highest corporate priority and as a key determinant to sustainable development.
It is our corporate goal to establish policies, programs, and practices for conducting operations in an environmentally sound manner.
Husby is committed to:
- Conducting business in a manner that ensures long-term productivity and the conservation of forest resources.
- Promoting sustainable forest management practices that are economically and environmentally responsible.
- Protecting the health of forests, their productivity and those lands of special significance.
- Preventing pollution and striving for continual improvement of our corporate policies, programs and environmental performance, while taking into account technical developments, scientific understanding, consumer needs and social expectations.
- Regularly reviewing our practices and procedures to monitor, report and communicate our environmental performance both internally and to the public.
- Allocating sufficient funds to ensure all applicable environmental regulations are met or surpassed.
- Educating, training and motivating employees to conduct their activities in an environmentally responsible manner.
Click here to download a pdf copy of
Husby Forest Products Environmental Policy
Environmental Stewardship
Husby Forest Products Ltd. embraces stewardship of the forest resource. Husby Forest Products operates on the Queen Charlotte Islands / Haida Gwaii and from the perspective of balancing values and resources, operates successfully in one of the most environmentally challenging areas of British Columbia.
As part of their legacy of progress and experimentation, Husby Forest Products conducts a substantial portion of their annual harvest using a heli-select operation where individual trees are removed from the stand. Approximately 30% is removed from the stand, which maintains stand structure and the spectrum of larger and smaller diameter stems. Many who have observed this type of harvesting could not distinguish harvested from non-harvested areas.
Husby Forest Products actively works towards finding harvesting solutions that balance off respective resource values. For example, the following outlines the various assessments undertaken by the company to ensure other resources are actively considered.
- Terrain modeling in visually sensitive areas
- Terrain assessments to avoid landslides
- Ecological assessments on all harvest areas
- Ecologically suitable reforestation prescriptions on every harvest area
- Cultural and archaeological surveys on all known sensitive areas
- Windthrow assessments to reduce blowdown
- Classification of all streams and wetlands with detailed prescriptions
- Sensitive gullies assessed for potential erosion
- Wildlife and bird surveys on identified areas
- Extensive public consultation is undertaken prior to any approvals for harvest being granted by government.
Although the areas harvested by Husby Forest Products regenerate naturally with ease, the company has a strong commitment to planting with approximately 80% of the harvested areas planted. The company is responsible to monitor, assess, and treat a stand until it reaches the “Free-to-Grow” stage where no further treatment is required until the stand again reaches maturity.
As in the past with FRBC, Husby Forest Products works actively with the Forest Investment Account on watershed restoration for habitat, and water quality with in-stream and streamside treatments. Involvement also includes road deactivation, landslide rehabilitation, forest inventory data collection, wildlife habitat studies, and ecosystem mapping.