Forestry

With a variety of natural resource professionals on staff, including Registered Professional Foresters (Ontario), NorthWinds has the capacity and expertise to meet all forest policy and management needs. NorthWinds is committed to finding creative solutions to complex issues, while ensuring resource decisions are environmentally, socially, and economically balanced.

NorthWinds has demonstrated the ability to help to build natural resource management capacity. We allocate capacity building funds under every joint project we have and follow through on these commitments. We work with communities to engage the youth in post-secondary natural resource education, while providing professional development and mentoring opportunities.

Services

Projects

Our Services

Discover Our Expertise

Capacity Building

Youth Engagement and Mentoring
Community Workshops and Information Sessions
Joint Ventures
Community-led land use planning
Traditional knowledge collection and mapping

Forest Management Planning

Professional Forester services
Development of Forest Management Plans
Forest Management Plan maintenance services
Long-term strategic modelling and planning
Data preparation/analysis
Stakeholder Consultation & Information Centers

Forest Management Services

Annual Work Schedules
Annual Reporting
Independent Forest Audit support
Development and implementation of Silvicultural programs
Project management
Regeneration monitoring & Silvicultural Effectiveness surveys
Tree improvement & seed orchard maintenance
General forestry consulting services

Regulatory Review and Analysis

Forest Certification services
Jurisdictional policy scans
Review of policy barriers and strategic opportunities
Identification of applicable case studies and research

Current Projects

Continue scrolling to learn more about a few of our current projects.

Wabadowgang Noopming Forest Management Plan

In Joint Venture with Whitesand First Nation, NorthWinds Environmental Services has been contracted by Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to develop a 2-year Contingency Plan and 10-year Forest Management Plan for Wabadowgang Noopming Management Unit in northwestern Ontario (formerly known as the Armstrong Portion of the Lake Nipigon Forest).

Whitesand First Nation Nature Legacy

In early 2019, Whitesand First Nation secured four-year federal Nature Legacy funding to explore alternative forest and land management strategies that meet the community’s needs for wildlife, social and economic benefits, access management and value protection. This project prioritizes community input in order to establish locally determined and culturally appropriate forest management plans.

As a part of this project, a Traditional Knowledge collection project was undertaken. Maps, stories, and histories were collected from more than 25 community Elders, with the assistance of community youth. The final report, containing traditional land use maps, will be used to guide forest management in the Whitesand Traditional Territory.

The community has also partnered up with NRCan scientists to explore alternative ways to manage caribou habitat connectivity while balancing wood costs – an important community objective for economic development. Development of a community-driven, cost-effective silviculture program framework using herbicide alternatives and economic opportunities in forestry operations is also underway.

Wabauskang First Nation Forest Management Engagement Strategy

Wabauskang First Nation’s interests are tied to several forest management units in Northwestern Ontario. It requires a significant time commitment for the community to stay meaningfully engaged in decision making in all forest management units of interest. As such, Wabauskang First Nation engaged NWES to design a forestry engagement strategy that: (a) secures an effective protection of community values and land uses, (b) increases the understanding of potential opportunities from forest management process, and (c) maximizes the benefit from the consultation process while minimizing the time spent at meetings, on correspondence etc.

Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation Forest Management Plan

Lac des Mille Lacs (LDML) First Nation is working to develop a forest management planning approach for their two land parcels. The LDML lands total nearly 5000 ha, and consist of the original community location as well as a land parcel on the banks of the Firesteel and Seine Rivers. The plan assesses the current forest condition, and lays out a strategic direction for the LDML forests based on community goals that will protect and enhance community values while providing economic benefits to the community.

Collaborative Development of a Regional Landscape Approach to Conservation of Caribou and Other Values for the Trout Lake Forest

Domtar is the Sustainable Forest License holder for the Trout Lake Forest and is currently pursuing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for the Forest. One aspect of the process is to establish a woodland caribou conservation approach that is consistent with the Range Plan Guidance for Woodland Caribou, Boreal Population (ECCC 2016). NorthWinds Environmental Services assembled a team of highly qualified professionals to deliver the project using Structured Decision Making or SDM – an organized approach to identifying and evaluating creative options and making choices in complex decision situations. The project features a series of workshops with stakeholders and Indigenous peoples with the objective of collaboratively developing an effective caribou conservation approach in the Trout Lake Forest.