Working directly with university and research agency partners, we have supported research to advance knowledge of the forest and improve forest management strategies, on projects such as:
- Forest Watershed and Riparian Disturbance (FORWARD) – an award-winning initiative to build a better understanding of the effects of natural disturbance and different forest management and harvesting methods on forest values such as water quality and quantity
- Biodiversity Assessment Project (BAP) – aimed at identifying management techniques conducive to the optimization of wildlife habitat
- Study of Forest Amphibians (SOFA) – work to assess the abundance and distribution of amphibian species, which can serve as an important bio-indicator of forest health
- Aspen regeneration – a study of stand health and site factors affecting natural regeneration of healthy mature and over-mature aspen
- Avian habitat projects – studies on ranges and populations of boreal songbirds and the Northern Goshawk
In addition, we have combined resources with other companies and organizations to fund the work of research agencies like the Foothills Research Institute (fRI), National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) and FPInnovations, on projects including:
- fRI Grizzly Bear Program: research to support recovery and long-term conservation of grizzly bears in Alberta
- fRI Caribou Program: analysis and improvement of linear features to increase caribou functional habitat in west-central and north-western Alberta
- fRI Healthy Landscapes Program: historical landscape condition benchmarks for Western Boreal Canada
- NCASI Caribou Nutrition Research Project: part of NCASI’s large ungulate research program that studies nutritional influences on performance and productivity of populations
- Silvacom Forest Inventory Projects: Evaluation of Enhanced Forest Inventories with Ground Validation
- Silvacom Land-Use Rationalization Project in the Upper Peace, Upper Athabasca and North Saskatchewan Regional Planning Areas
- University of Alberta Mountain Pine Beetle Project: pine regeneration following mountain pine beetle attack – facilitation by mycorrhizal fungi
- fRI Mountain Pine Beetle Ecology Program: development of operational strategies and policy decisions to control the rate of spread of MPB in Alberta’s pine forests and to rehabilitate damaged landscapes.
