Throughout British Columbia (BC), social, legislative, and stewardship issues are driving forest managers to evaluate alternatives to clearcutting for harvesting and managing forests. The BC Ministry of Forests established the Roberts Creek Study Forest (RCSF) to demonstrate and evaluate different harvest treatments in mature, mixed-conifer forests along the lower slopes of the Sunshine Coast, just north of Vancouver, BC . Selected treatments were designed to meet a variety of biological, social, and economic objectives and had management objectives in common, including: regenerate with Douglas-fir (primary species) and western redcedar (secondary species) for sawlog production, and employ cable yarding systems to minimize soil disturbance.
