Environmental monitoring is a key component of each project carried out by CWFS. The Society has developed detailed and standardized methodologies for both terrestrial and aquatic monitoring.
As a multidisciplinary firm, CWFS offers comprehensive professional services to a diversity of partners to conduct environmental monitoring programs. Our team of biologists and technicians possesses extensive experience in both the design and implementation of monitoring programs. For each new project, we assemble a team of local professionals to meet the project requirements and fulfill project deliverables in an efficient and effective manner.
Current Projects
- Project Name: Clayoquot Sound Monitoring Program
- Project Partners: Clayoquot Bisphere Trust, Iisaak Forest Resources Ltd., Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, Tla-o-qui-a
ht Tribal Park Guardians, Uu-a-thluk, and West Coast Aquatic Management Board
In 1995, the government of British Columbia adopted the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel’s Recommendations. The recommendations were an innovative approach to forest management that prioritized local First Nations perspectives and introduced concepts such as ecosystem-management, variable-retention silviculture systems, watershed level planning, and adaptive management. The Clayoquot Sound became a leader in sustainable forestry operations that is guided by sound ecosystem science that incorporates traditional knowledge and present-day values.
Measuring coarse woody debris
Although monitoring was at the foundation of the Science Panel Recommendations, no monitoring program was established or is currently in place. Central Westcoast Forest Society, with the support of local First Nations, the community, the forest licensees, and other non-profit organizations in the region, has developed a Clayoquot Sound Monitoring Program. The monitoring initiative will focus on watershed health and biodiversity. It is based on the principals of the Science Panel Recommendations and is designed facilitate an adaptive management system that allows feedback between monitoring and decisions. Monitoring is the tool needed to ensure forestry practices in Clayoquot Sound remain innovative and sustainable.
The monitoring program began in the fall of 2011. CWFS biologists, field technicians, and Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks guardians set up 16 permanent sample plots in the Kennedy Flats Watershed. At ea
ch plot, stand structure, coarse woody debris, snag abundance, canopy closure, and understory light conditions were measured. The information was collected using a province wide standard and methodology that is used by the Forest and Range Evaluation Program (FREP). Using a provincial standard will allow us to compare and learn from different management practices outside of Clayoquot.
Monitoring crew hard at work
Working collaboratively with the Ahousaht Fisheries Guardians, an additional 16 permanent sample plots will be established in the Flores Island Watershed in 2012. Water quality, riparian habitat plots, and fish presence surveys will also be conducted in both watersheds in 2012. It is our hope that the scale of the monitoring initiative can increase as future commitments are made.
Monitoring Manual Current_Field_Manual_for_Monitoring_Program_1326917436.pdf
FREP Report #30 FREP_Extension_Note_21_1326919238.pdf
- Project Name: Environmental Monitoring for the Long Beach Substation to Tofino Second Distri
bution Feeder - Project Partners: B.C. Hydro, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Park Guardians, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, and Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ First Nation
CWFS is assisting in the environmental monitoring of construction work for telephone pole removal and installation along the Pacific Rim Highway.
CWFS EM monitoring pole hole digging
- Project Name: Tofino Salmon Habitat Project
- Project Partners: Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Tofino Stream Keepers
Streams and rivers provide spawning and rearing habitat for five species of salmon in coastal British Columbia. Healthy streams provide cool water, clean gravel, and stream side vegetation. Unfortunately, these fragile ecosystems can be easily and seriously damaged by careless logging and mining practices, or by poorly-planned city and community growt
h.
The town of Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island is located in a watershed with many important salmon bearing streams. Unfortunately most of these streams remain unidentified and community planners are unaware of their location, extent, and health.
Lisa Fletcher from Stream Keepers looking for fry
Central Westcoast Forest Society and Tofino Stream Keepers have teamed up to identify and evaluate salmon habitat within the community. The information collected will be shared with the community and town planners to help mitigate future habitat loss through sustainable urban development.
What Lessons were learned so far through our monitoring efforts?
The project identified locations where riparian and in-stream conditions could support viable fish populations in both Centennial and Tonquin Creek. Several areas within Centennial Creek were also identified where large accumulations of garbage was degrading water quality, causing stream bank erosion, and impeding fish access upstream. These areas are recommended for future restoration initiatives. Natural barriers to fish passage were also identified in the downstream reach of Centennial Creek. A 2.5 m waterfall with only a 0.2m jump pool at the mouth of the stream is likely restricting fish passage upstream (except at very high tides or during storm surges). Resident fish populations have been found in Centennial Creek. In 1995, Warren Warttig R.P.Bio caught cutthroat trout in reach 2 (at the stump dump and garbage area). Six cutthroats that were roughly 80-100 mm and one was about 200 mm. Although fish sampling was carried out on 3 separate occasions no fish presence was detected in 2010 and 2011. Further monitoring is recommended to determine if water quality or habitat conditions are impacting fish populations. It is likely that if the garbage, debris and fish barriers were removed fish production will increase. According to one long time resident, Keith Gibson, the stump dump on Centennial Creek was historically the water source for Tofino and after the current road was built the creek was used by many residents as an illegal dumping site. In-stream and riparian conditions on Tonquin Creek were found to be intact with little anthropogenic influence. Tonquin Creek would likely offer seasonal feeding of adult sea-run trout and possibly chum spawning grounds. Although no fish presence was detected continued monitoring is needed to confirm presence and monitor changes over the long-term.
Tofino Times Article Tofino_Streams_Project_Tofino_Time_Article_1327007582.pdf
- Project Name: Lost Shoe Creek Smolt Trap
- Project Partners: Thornton Creek Hatchery, Tofino Hatchery, and Tofino Stream Keepers
A smolt trap has been in operation on Lost Shoe Creek since 2003. The trap monitors the out migration of coho smolts as they leave the fresh water system and entre the ocean. This important monitoring program needs to continue for a minimum of five years in order to collect sufficient baseline data on coho populations in Clayoquot Sound.
Project Name: Monitoring Allochthonous Input (Leaf 
Litter) on Small Streams in Coastal B.C. Forests Under Different Harvesting Regimes and Chronosequence Age Classes
Monitoring Leaf Litter on Small Streams pdf
Allochthonous input is an important source of food and energy to stream systems and is a primary component of organic material in small streams. In this project in Clayoquot Sound, we annually monitor amount, mass and composition of allochthonous material that is naturally introduced into small streams.
Leaf Litter Collection Trap
Sorting through leaf litter
Past Projects
Project Name: Monitoring Riparian Restoration: Lessons Learned in Clayoquot Sound
Old-growth riparian forests have been extensively logged and are increasingly the focus of restoration. While there are thousands of restoration initiatives annually, very few are conducted as scientific experiments necessary to develop adaptive management in restoration ecology. Systematic evaluation of restoration prescriptions and effective monitoring measures are needed.
In 2010, a riparian restoration project was completed in the Kennedy Flats Watershed in the Clayoquot Sound. The prescribed treatments were designed to accelerate natural seral stage development by accelerating conifer succession, increasing structural complexity, species diversity and composition. Three vegetation types were evaluated, a post-harvest deciduous-dominated site and conifer-dominated site with high stocking densities, and an intact old-growth cedar-hemlock forest control. Although the short-term responses to the restoration treatments were minimal, important ecological differences between the three habitat types were identified. These evaluations have led to a series of recommendations to improve restoration prescriptions and monitoring programs for each habitat type.
Monitoring Riparian Restoration 2011 pdf
Project Name: Remeasurement of Kennedy Flats Permanent Regeneration Plots Established in 2003
Kennedy Flats Regeneration Monitoring pdf
In 1995, to ensure forest practices were ecologically sustainable, the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel recommended replacing clearcuts with variable retention. At the time, there was very limited experience with variable retention systems, including any information on the most effective retention systems, their influence on regeneration, or the extent to which they emulate natural disturbance patterns. Our primary objective is to develop a more accurate portrayal of growth and yield for early stand establishment. Specifically, we wanted to investigate response and comparisons of regeneration between clearcuts and variable retention; such as changes in regeneration species abundance, composition and height class and changes in abundance and height class for planted seedlings.
Further, we wanted to investigate any changes in basal area of the overstorey in the variable retention settings.
Project Name: Learning by Doing – post treatment responses noted at four BC riparian restoration sites
British Columbia began an ambitious program in the 1990’s to restore fish habitat affected by steep-slope logging and removal of timber from stream edges. Early efforts to restore riparian stands focused on the use of vegetation to stabilize bars and the planting of long-lived conifer trees in stands dominated by early-successional tree species. Soon after, International Forest Products Ltd. and Western Forest Products Ltd. embraced the testing and development of riparian restoration techniques. By using old forests as “ecological templates” it was possible to prescribe silvicultural treatments that mimic the passage of time and more quickly return riparian function. Between 1998 and 2002, these companies completed 12 operational riparian restoration field projects, totaling 348 hectares of treated area along 70 kilometers of fish habitat. This paper describes effectiveness monitoring results of the prescribed silvicultural treatments.
Project Name: Establishment of a Native Seed Industry for the West Coast of British Columbia
Project Partners: Forest Renewal British Columbia
Since the 1970’s, the use of native plants has often been suggested as a potential answer to problems associated with revegetation of disturbed areas. However, native seed for large-scale reclamation purposes has neither been available in sufficient quantity, nor at a reasonable price. Thus, from April, 1996 to March, 2001, Forest Renewal British Columbia provided the funding for this long-term applied research program to determine the utility of native Vancouver Island grasses in restoration of disturbed areas, and ultimately provide a source of native grass seed for use on Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland coast.
Project Name: Monitoring hemlock dwarf mistletoe in retention harvested forests
Monitoring Hemlock Dwarf Mistletoe pdf
This project was undertaken to develop a monitoring program for hemlock dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium tsugense, HDM) in West Coast retention-harvested forests. HDM, a common parasite of western hemlock, is an important issue affecting ecosystem management and sustainable development in retention regimes with western hemlock. Retention-harvesting practices create conditions that could exacerbate spread of HDM infestations and severity of growth impacts. Data and models are needed to predict spread and effects of the parasite in retention-harvested areas, but these are lacking or require further development. Monitoring data are needed to initialize conditions for models and to provide a basis for certification programs for sustainability.
Project Name: Road Deactivation Effectiveness Monitoring by M. Leslie, W. Warttig and M. Wise 
The Lost Shoe – Thunderous Creek/Toquart Bay study areas are located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, ~30 km southeast of Tofino and 55 km southwest of Port Alberni, B.C. The study areas were logged primarily between 1975 and 1985. The Lost Shoe – Thunderous roads were deactivated in 1994, and the roads in Toquart Bay were deactivated in 1995. Objectives of road deactivation were to enhance forest site productivity along the road corridor and to decrease slope instability, thereby minimizing landslides from roads, soil erosion, and sedimentation along the road corridor.
For the eleven sites, the road deactivation work was successful in decreasing slope instability and minimizing erosion at all but three sites. Statistical analysis of the plot data revealed most sites had a good cover of grass with abundant alder growth. Conifer regeneration was more sporadic.