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Silviculture involves two distinct stages, pre-harvest silviculture planning and prescriptions and post-harvest treatments. St. Marys Paper in partnership with SFL partners works cooperatively to manage the silviculture program and provide the necessary financial funding. Silviculture activities are undertaken by Registered Professional Foresters (RPFs), Forest Technicians and trained forest workers.

All forest stands are inventoried to determine forest types and conditions, this includes; flora, fauna, soils, terrain, topography, slope, and aspect. Forest stands are managed under one of three silviculture systems; clearcut, selection and shelterwood. All silviculture systems attempt to mimic or emulate natural disturbance patterns on the landscape.

Clearcut Silvicultural System: All trees in a stand are harvested at one time, excluding retained trees for biodiversity, seeding and wildlife habitat. Seeds from surrounding trees, root sprouts, or artificial seeding or planting are used to regenerate the stand. This system is used on stands composed of species that require full sunlight to regenerate and succeed large scale disturbance activities (ie. forest fires).

Selection Silvicultural System: Individual trees or small groups of trees are harvested as outlined in a silviculture prescription. All trees are marked for removal by certified tree markers to ensure better quality trees are retained as part of improving the stand. Regeneration takes place naturally from stump or root sprouts or from seed from the remaining forest. This system results in a stand of trees with different ages.

Shelterwood Silvicultural System: Mature trees are harvested in a series of two or more harvest operations, as outlined in a silviculture prescription. The first harvest removes part of the original stand to promote natural seeding and residual tree crown development. Regeneration usually takes place naturally from seeds provided by the residual trees. When regeneration is well established, the remaining mature trees are removed to create a new healthy forest.

Following harvesting, planned silviculture activities are undertaken. Depending on the site conditions and prescribed silviculture system a number of activities can occur. These may include; cone collection, site preparation, seeding, tree planting, ground and aerial tending, and prescribed burning. Silviculture activities are performed by RPFs working in conjunction with trained forestry technicians. Most silvicultural work on the Algoma and Northshore forest is contracted to companies specializing in silviculture activities. Silviculture activities performed on both forests employ approximately 200 people on a seasonal basis.