The Growing Impact of Wind

There’s no doubt that a changing climate impacts the forestry sector.  From heavy snow and ice to droughts and wildfires, it can feel like we’re always trying to recover.  

The growing frequency of wind events is the latest to impact our forests.

David McMillan of McMillan Forestry says, “Because we're in a province that gets way more wind events, we've had significant blow down occur in the last two big winds that we had this winter.  Those were not hurricane-rated winds.  When you listen to the experts, they'll talk about how Nova Scotia, PEI, we get 150 more wind events than New Brunswick or Maine.”  

(We speak with David’s wife and business partner, forester Julia McMillan in Episode 2 of our podcast, Forestry Uncut.)  

While not always classified as hurricanes, high wind storms can cause severe damage, particularly in the form of blowdowns where entire sections of forests are felled by strong winds.

Because Nova Scotia is, essentially, stuck in the Atlantic Ocean, McMillan says, “We've got to modify what we're doing and come up with a model to manage our forests sustainably and ecologically in such a way that it's hurricane-proof.”  

The challenge has broad implications.  Wind damage not only devastates standing forests—disrupting ecosystems and reducing the economic value of timber—but it also undermines progress made in ecological forest management, such as the recommendations in 2018’s Lahey Report.

New forest management models must take into account the frequency and intensity of wind events, with a focus on enhancing forest resilience. 

This could involve diversifying tree species, changing planting densities, or altering harvest practices to reduce the risk of blowdowns. Sometimes these alternate forest management practices may not look as nice or as clean as we would like.  

These changing weather patterns are not normal, so it is important to note that a woodlot owner’s response to management may not look normal either. 

 Therefore, it may be important for people to realize when they drive by a woodlot in their area, that there is more at play when it comes to making forest management decisions.