A future
for Colby
AFR: Voluntary planning is a fair and reasonable method for the
public to voice their opinion concerning the use of Crown forest,
parks, and protected wilderness areas.
But in my opinion people who do not own forested land have absolutely
no authority influencing government-sponsored regulations on
privately-owned woodlands.
In a previous incarnation, voluntary planning panelists representing
the snowmobiling community collapsed like a house of cards under
pressure from hard line environmentalists and snowmobilers were
sucked into a black hole of outrageous fees and regulations designed
for ATVs.
To win the next provincial election our Premier has decided
that Nova Scotia, one of the poorest provinces, will become the
greenest.
After DNR finishes designing the "final strategy,"
Rodney MacDonald and company will belch out a whole new slew
of rules and regulations for us woodlot owners to wear like a
mill stone around our necks.
Two and a half years have passed since my nephew Colby Corkum
was welcomed into this world.
After a firewood dump, his toys quickly forgotten, Colby is
eager to help stack the winter's wood supply. One stick at a
time in his small but capable hands, Colby passes the wood to
his father Craig for piling. Watching this I can't help but wonder,
will there be a future in the woodlot for this little boy? Will
he even own the land? Or will the environmental restrictions
be so great he will be merely a tax-paying tenant?
My family will continue to work our private woodlot as we always
have. We embrace the laws and regulations passed down through
six generations; stretching back well beyond 1875 to the time
of my great-great-grandfather. We cherish these ancient common
sense concepts and values. We reject any and all arbitrary, invasive,
and disrespectful laws passed at the provincial legislature concerning
private woodlots.
And finally, if nothing else, this is a lone cry from the wilderness
of Lunenburg County to all my brother and sister woodlot owners
who value their independent nature and the satisfaction of being
your own boss on your own land.
The time is now to voice your opinion, your indignation, and
your frustration to those who connive to restrict and limit your
way of life and also that of your sons and daughters.
Dale Corkum
Windsor Road
Lunenburg Co., N.S.
(Ed. Note: While
the round of Voluntary Planning public consultations on natural
resources wrapped up June 12, written submissions are being accepted
through July 31. The address for Voluntary Planning isJoseph
Howe Building6th Floor, Suite 600,1690 Hollis Street,Halifax,
NS B3J 3J9.)
Which is right?
AFR:
On page 19, AFR March, David Palmer told us that "one tonne
of wood has the equivalent energy value of one barrel of oil",
[$135 in June], while on page 45 AFR May, George Fullerton told
us that "one tonne of oven-dry biomass [has] the energy
equivalent of $560 worth of oil."
If Palmer's "tonne of wood" is delivered at 50 percent
moisture, when it is oven dried it still represents about $135
that it costs for a barrel of oil (June), while Fullerton's "tonne
of oven-dry biomass" would represent about two tonnes of
Palmer's 50 percent moisture wood, so that Fullerton's "oven-dry
tonne" would only be worth $135 multiplied by 2 = $270 by
Palmer's calculation, however Palmer's (50 percent moisture wood)
would be worth $560 divided by 2 = $280 using Fullerton's value.
Neither Palmer's $135 (June) value for a barrel of oil or Fullerton's
$560 value for a tonne of oven-dry matches the $270 - $280 value
derived from using each of their estimates against the other's
assertions.
Can we have an expert calculation here?
Peter Salonius
Durham Bridge, N.B.
(Peter: My reference
to the oil-equivalent value of biomass in "The Gussing experience"
(Vol. 14 #5) came from George Jenkins who spoke at the Atlantic
Bioenergy Conference in Saint John April 9.
To clarify, Jenkins, a research scientist at UNB's Wood Science
and Technology Centre, has provided the following explanation.
No. 2 fuel oil contains 138,800 BTU (British Thermal Units)/
U.S. gallon. One U.S. gallon equals 3.785 liters, therefore,
one liter of oil has 36,671 BTU.
One ton of oven-dried wood fiber represents 17,200,000 BTU.
Since there is 1.102 ton in a tonne, one tonne of oven-dried
wood has 18,954,400 BTU.
When 36,671 BTU/L is divided into 18,954,400 BTU/tonne we get
517 L of No. 2 fuel oil/tonne of oven-dried wood fiber.
Delivered price for No. 2 fuel in Fredericton in June, 2008,
was $1.22/L. That $1.22 multiplied by 517 liters yields $630.59;
the fuel oil equivalency of one tonne of oven-dried wood fiber.
If we assume green wood fiber is 50 percent moisture, we can
assume one tonne of green wood fiber has the fuel oil equivalency
value of $315.29, as of June, 2008.
Hope this helps. GF)
(Jenkins's values
were drawn from the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory
which has a fuel-value calculator available on its website which
can be accessed by following the Fuel Values link at www.AtlanticFarmer.com.)
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