A tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Mosaic Forest Management’s Mount Newton Seed Orchard drew a crowd to Saanichton on Wednesday.
The 100-acre orchard established in 1979 has made a significant contribution to sustainable forestry on B.C.’s coast.
Developed by B.C. Forest Products and Crown Zellerbach, and owned today by TimberWest and managed by Mosaic Forest Management, the orchard has produced enough seed to grow more than 250 million trees in its four decades of operation.
“This is a proud milestone for our company and a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the many people in our organization and within the province’s Tree Improvement Program,” said Mosaic president and CEO Jeff Zweig.
The orchard contains more than 6,000 established trees, including Douglas fir, western red cedar, western hemlock and a newly-established western white pine grove. The orchard produces enough seed to grow eight million Douglas fir seedlings annually, with a goal of increasing that figure to 12 million over the next 10 years.
