Innovation-March_April 2013

slopes in muddy sluices into fish-bearing streams, and bridges were washed out. Wilford began working with the Department of Fisheries to find a solution, looking at forest harvesting, planting and hydrology. It was determined that for planning purposes only one third of the watershed should be logged in 25 years, providing a learning curve for silviculture, and allowing the monitoring of impact on streams and any floods that might occur. “But, one third was not a hard line drawn in the sand,” says Wilford, who realized that for planning purposes there wasn’t a good assessment tool. “On one of my trips coming back from the Queen Charlottes (Haida Gwaii), I was driving and scribbling notes about logging in a watershed, answering the question: can more timber be harvested without impacting watershed hydrology?” recounts Wilford. He realized the notes could serve as a guide, and out of need and notes evolved the Watershed Work Book , published by the Ministry of Forests and Lands in 1987 and serving as an assessment tool to determine harvesting and road- building impact on streams and water flows in coastal watersheds. The workbook brought together concerns regarding forest engineering, the environment ministry, and but also ultimately the impact on fish-bearing streams. Wilford set up a series of workshops that utilized the concepts within the workbook, showing professionals how to gauge the impact of an action. “You start off with a flow chart and ask questions. The answers lead to decision making,” he relates. The book morphed into the Coastal Watershed Assessment Procedures Guidebook , which is still used today by professionals undertaking watershed management. Contributing to Hydrological Knowledge With an integrated view of forest management gradually gaining momentum, Wilford became research leader in Smithers for the BC Forest Service in 1990. His staff ranged from forest ecologists to silviculturists. “It was

Andrea Sunderland

Receiving the C.J. Westerman award at the 2012 APEGBC annual conference from past APEGBC president, Jeff Holm, P.Eng., FEC.

access and were near water. For example, Kersley, a quiet farming community 24 kilometres south of Quesnel, was situated in a watershed area containing 24 alluvial fans. Wilford decided to research it, earning a doctoral degree from UBC. He looked at best practices to mitigate the problem, which occurred when increased flows from upstream would scour the banks holding the bridges or supporting trees, causing them to be swept into the river, forming debris flows. Starting in 2003, he put on training sessions throughout the province on how to plan forest harvesting and road building on alluvial soils, whether public roads or logging roads. The difficulty was that few realized they were on alluvial lands. Wilford recalled speaking to forest company representatives and consultants about problems of alluvial fans. “They said—problems? They had no problems with alluvial fans,” he says, but after providing information of the characteristics and their problems, they were able to identify 20 sites where alluvial fans were located and held the lurking potential for washouts impacting their infrastructure and forest plantations.

the broader spectrum of forestry that I remember my grandfather talking of,” he tells. He also now had a broader scope for his inquiries. A growing concern was bridges and road washouts on flatter lands. These were often located near populated areas. Wilford recognized these were alluvial lands, built up by layers of sand or silt carried down over years, and in some cases causing new channels to form. Intrigued, he began a literature search but found only two articles—neither Canadian—about road and bridge building on alluvial fans. Yet, these areas have been historically prized for human settlement beginning with First Nations camps. They were flat, offered easy

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