Mixedwood Management Association

The Mixedwood Management Association (MWMA) is a partnership of eight Alberta primary forestry companies and the Alberta Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development. The Association seeks to advance the science and implementation of mixedwood forestry in the western boreal forests of Canada.

What Does the MWMA Do?

The MWMA acts as a forum to collectively address practical and scientific issues around the implementation of managing mixedwoods stands to sustain their mixed species characteristics. The Association seeks to increase knowledge through financial and in-kind support of basic and applied research; to enhance the forest community’s understanding of mixedwood through support for workshops and conferences; and to increase information collection, sharing, dissemination, and its application to day-to-day forest management activities.

What Are Mixedwood Forests and Why the Need for More Research?

Alberta’s boreal mixedwood forests are made up of various mixes of tree species, but the most common species mix is of white spruce (Picea glauca) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). Depending on the history of disturbances in an area, the soils and climate, these two species can grow together in mixes of varying proportions.

Spruce-aspen mixedwood forests in Alberta cover some 3,696,519 ha or about 20% of the actively managed forested area. These forests account for some 4.5 million m3 of annual harvested volume contributing some $ 2.4 billion towards the economic well being of Albertans. Managing these forests to ensure their sustainability to provide for economic, recreational, biodiversity and aesthetic opportunities for all Albertans requires a more complete understanding of their functioning. The MWMA is committed to promoting research to develop new and better ways of ensuring the continued sustainability of the boreal mixedwood spruce-aspen forests.

Trembling aspen and white spruce have different growth characteristics, methods of regeneration, and utilizations. Historically these forests have largely been managed in favour of one or the other of these species. With increased knowledge of how mixedwood forests function and with the development of new forest management approaches, it is now understood that mixedwoods can be managed for the benefit of multiple tree species in ways that are both ecologically and economically sound.

Members Only

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For more information about an Association membership, please contact us.

Gitte Grover
Chair, Mixedwood Management Association
Forest Ecologist
Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc.
P.O. Box 8000
Boyle, AB T0A 0M0
Ph: (780) 525-8349
Fax: (780) 525-8097
Email: gitte.grover@alpac.ca

Stacy Bergheim
Program Administrator, Mixedwood Management Association
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta
751 General Services Building
Edmonton, AB T6G 2H1
Ph: (780) 492-9092
Fax: (780) 492-4323
Email: stacy.bergheim@ualberta.ca