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Nine site preparation techniques for reestablishing productive lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.) forest in the Stuart Dry Warm Sub-Zone of the Sub-Boreal Spruce Zone (SBSdw3) of interior British Columbia on `NSR backlog' (i.e., by provincial criteria, not-sufficiently-regenerated) sites are compared in a randomizedblock experiment, with one 48-tree, 750m2 plot of each treatment in each of five blocks. Low fertility, compact subsoil, and low water-holding capacity in a rooting zone as thin as 10cm in lower slope and level positions are the main limiting factors. After 10 growing seasons, pine survival was 90-97%; mean stem volumes in 7 treatments were 41-235% higher than the control, and one treatment gave 29%less volume. Results from mounding and patch scarification were virtually identical. While site preparation can increase early growth of lodgepole pine, especially on the more poorly drained parts of sites such as Bednesti, planting directly into sheared, windrowed ground will give satisfactory survival and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a silt-loam soil in the boreal white and black spruce (BWBS) zonein northern interior B.C., 50 root systems of 12-year-old planted white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) seedlings were excavated; 25 from mounds (14cm of mineral soil over inverted organic matter) and 25 from untreated ground. Diameter, depth, and substrate of main structural roots were assessed at 10cm intervals from the stem. The total number of roots and the aggregate cross-sectional root area (CSA) exiting the mound or a 50-cm control radius in untreated ground were also determined. Seedlings on mounds had well-developed root systems that were equally as symmetric as those in untreated ground. Roots extended well beyond the mound, excepting those few that were surrounded by saturated soil conditions. Mound seedlings had more, and thicker, main lateral roots than seedlings in untreated ground. CSA of mound seedlings was approximately five times greater than for seedlings in untreated ground, and the total number of roots was 2.5 times greater. Beyond the mound, depth and substrate of main lateral roots was similar to that of seedlings in untreated ground. It was concluded that the potential for long-term mechanical stability of white spruce on such mounds would be no less than that of seedlings planted without sitepreparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lewis and Kouri have provided an overview of the various aspects of regionalization, its implementation and resulting impact across Canada. The authors note that although it has had some success in Canada, it remains unclear as to what the single compelling vision or focus is or should be. This commentary suggests that the inability to include all components of the continuum of care within most models accounts for the lack of "transformational change" that regionalization has as yet been unable to achieve. To expect that any significant gains will be made in the regionalization process until all aspects of the continuum are under a region's control is unrealistic. The commentary proposes that it is time to review the underlying premises for regionalization and its current emphasis on acute care.