Silviculture

Under the authority of the Crown Lands and Forests Act, the Department of Natural Resources manages provincial silviculture programs on Crown lands and supports silviculture on private woodlots.  This is essential to developing forest resources to sustain long term wood supply and provide future forest habitat across the province. The department also supports tree improvement at the provincial tree nursery which produces seedlings for reforestation to meet sustainable forest management and climate change objectives.

Crown timber licensees have the responsibility of implementing silviculture at levels as specified in each License Forest Management Plan, necessary to maintain sustainable harvest levels of softwood and hardwood on each Crown Timber Licence. The principal components of the program include:

• promoting natural regeneration
• site preparation and tree planting
• implementation of vegetation management and stand tending in naturally regenerating forests and plantations

The Kingsclear tree nursery currently grows and ships about 20 million tree seedlings annually, for reforestation planting programs on both Crown land and private woodlots. The operational area of the nursery covers about 90 hectares.

The nursery includes seven growing complexes with a total of 74 greenhouses, along with 19 outdoor crop holding areas. Current annual tree species production includes White Spruce (>50%), Black Spruce (35%), Red Spruce (10%) and Pine species (<5%).

The Tree Improvement Unit provides well-adapted, genetically improved seed to the Kingsclear tree nursery to grow seedlings for reforestation on Crown and private lands. Using data from genetic trials, several traits are assessed including growth rate, straightness and resistance to insect and disease. The top performing trees from these trials are then selected for next generation seed orchards, providing genetically superior trees for future generations.

Today, second-generation and third-generation seed orchards, with trees that have been selected and tested from the previous generation, are producing improved trees. This process is even more important as the department can identify trees that are better adapted to changing environmental conditions.

Canadian Forest Genetics Association
Atlantic Trees Improvement Council (AtlanTIC)

Atlantic Forest Seed Centre

The centre, which is managed by the Tree Improvement Unit, provides clean, high-quality seed for seedling production at the Kingsclear Forest Nursery. It also offers seed extraction, cleaning and storage services for other government and forest industry clients across the Atlantic provinces.

 The Atlantic Forest Seed Centre can process seed from many conifer species including spruces, pines, balsam fir, larch, hemlock, and cedar.

Each year the department also invests millions of dollars in silviculture funding on private land through the New Brunswick Private Woodlot Silviculture Program and the Private Woodlot Sustainability Fund. 

Participation by private land woodlot owners is voluntary and the program is available to woodlot owners through one of the seven regional Forest Products Marketing Boards. Coordination is performed by the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners, performance monitoring is done by regional staff and financial oversight is administered by the New Brunswick Forest Products Commission.

Silviculture funding is also available to existing or new sugar bushes on Crown lands or private woodlots through the New Brunswick Sugar Bush Silviculture Program. The program promotes silvicultural treatments in sugar bush stands that will enhance the growth, health and vigor of maple trees for syrup production..

2024 Results (PDF 186 KB)
2023 Results (PDF 187 KB)
2022 Results (PDF 186 KB)
2021 Results (PDF 47 KB)
2020 Results (PDF 47 KB)
New Brunswick Private Woodlot Silviculture Manual (PDF 1 MB)
New Brunswick Sugar Bush Silviculture Program Manual (PDF 946 KB)
https://www.erablenbmaple.ca/en

Forest vegetation management and the application of herbicides is an important tool used as part of a strategic approach to sustainable forest management. The responsible use of registered herbicides is designed to free young conifer trees from immediate competition from surrounding vegetation and is applied during the critical early years of establishing a new tree plantation or naturally regenerating forest area. The provincial government invests each year in establishing plantations on Crown lands. To protect this investment, vegetation management tools including herbicides are critical. Less than 0.5% of New Brunswick’s forests are treated with herbicides annually.   

The Department of Environment and Local Government enforces several pesticide regulations. These include:

• the use of detailed GIS technology to plot the treatment site, and to minimize the likelihood of off-target drift 
• buffer zones around private land and water courses (including wetlands, rivers, lakes, ponds)
• certification and training for applicators
• mandatory public notifications
• proposed treatment areas approval in New Brunswick
• notices in major New Brunswick newspapers
• signs outlining treatment details and timelines posted at access points to all treatment areas

The use of herbicides, such as glyphosate, is overseen in New Brunswick by a number of regulatory organizations. The regulations governing the use of all herbicides, including glyphosate, are set by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). The New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government, through the Provincial Pesticides Control Act, requires individual applicator certification and training as well as permits to apply the product.