Coastal Forest Technology at NIC

A few more photos from our field trip with Mosaic back in November

Hybrid cars and trucks seem to be everywhere these days—but a hybrid piece of logging equipment recently started working in the forests on the British Columbia coast, and it’s getting some attention.

And it all started with a mini unintentional demo in the yard of T-MAR Industries Ltd. of Campbell River, on B.C.’s Vancouver Island, a couple of years ago.

Family-owned T-Mar Industries is a long-time supplier to the forest industry, meeting the needs of B.C. loggers—and loggers as far afield as New Zealand—with heavy duty logging equipment that the company manufactures, and rebuilds, in Campbell River, such as grapple yarders, grapples, and related logging equipment.

In other words, they deal big time in the heavy duty equipment required for steep slope yarding.

For those unfamiliar with the equipment, Tyson Lambert, Vice-President of T-Mar, described grapple yarding as a “zip line for logs”. Cables are laid out over a steep slope area from the grapple yarder, logs are attached to a grapple that rides the cables, and reeled back in. Grapple yarders are used in areas that are inaccessible to conventional machinery, such as skidders.

“We’ve been around for 40 years, producing equipment,” explains Lambert. “And we’re always looking for ways to improve on our designs.

“And the idea of doing something hybrid came up in our engineering department a few years ago, what with all the electric powertrain parts that were becoming available.”

The thinking was that perhaps the traditional powertrain components that T-Mar had been using for many years—decades, really—could be replaced with new electrical drive technologies.

Read more in the new issue of Logging & Sawmilling Journal 👉https://forestnet.com/hybrid-harvesting/

🚧🌲 Wrapping Up Fall 2025 Field Trips – Coastal Forest Technology** 🌲🚁

Our 1st-year Coastal Forest Technology Diploma students were out on their final field trips of the Fall 2025 semester, finishing strong with two excellent industry experiences.

Wednesday, students toured T-MAR Industries in Campbell River, where they saw firsthand the engineering and innovation behind modern forest equipment. Highlights included:

A 3D model of T-MAR’s **diesel-electric hybrid yarder**
An older Madill yarder being rebuilt after a rollover
Grapple assembly and cylinder manufacturing, including learning how T-MAR custom-builds all of their own hydraulic cylinders

Thursday, students visited West Coast Helicopters in Campbell River for a safety briefing and discussion about working with and around helicopters in forestry—an essential topic for anyone heading into coastal operations.

Today also marked our last day with our Certificate students, who are finishing after the first semester of the program. We’re proud of the work they’ve put in and wish them all the best moving forward.

A big thank you to T-MAR Industries and West Coast Helicopters for taking the time to host our students and share their expertise. These experiences are a critical part of building safe, knowledgeable and job-ready forest professionals.

👏🌲

🌲 **Field Learning in Action!** 🌲

Last week our 1st year Coastal Forest Resource Technology students had the opportunity to get out into the field with representatives from Mosaic Forest Management and their contractors to observe real-world harvesting operations in action.

We visited two active harvesting sites, where students were able to see:
• Falling with a feller buncher
• Processing
• Hoe chucking
• Loading operations

In the afternoon, we wrapped up the day with a visit to the Mosaic North Island Log Sort, giving students valuable exposure to log sorting, scaling, and sorting decisions that link forest operations to the forest products sector.

Understanding modern harvesting operations is a core component of becoming a forest technologist, and experiences like this help bridge classroom learning with real-world practice.

A big thank you to Mosaic and their contractors for welcoming our students and taking the time to share their knowledge and expertise!

🌲 Field Day at Our Forestry Research Site — Exploring Seaweed Solutions for Forest Resilience! 🌊

Last Thursday, October 9th, students from the Coastal Forest Resource Technology Diploma Program visited our research site on Woodlot 1678 as part of an ongoing research partnership with Cascadia Seaweed and Lukwa Enterprises.

This exciting collaboration is testing the effects of Cascadia’s seaweed biostimulant on young Douglas-fir seedlings — exploring how this natural product might improve seedling health and drought resilience, an increasingly vital focus in today’s changing climate.

During the field day, first-year students gained hands-on experience in applied research by:
🌱 Tagging and identifying seedlings in the study plots
📏 Measuring seedling height and stem width using calipers
🌤 Assessing overall health and survival rates across treatment and control areas

This real-world research connects students directly with industry and innovation — giving them the opportunity to contribute to climate adaptation and sustainable forestry practices while learning essential field techniques.

A big thank you to Cascadia Seaweed, Lukwa Enterprises, and our NIC faculty and students for making this partnership a success. Your collaboration supports both learning and innovation in coastal forestry.

Stay tuned for updates as we continue to monitor the results of this exciting trial over the coming months!

Set-up at the Trades Expo at Timberline today

https://www.nic.bc.ca/about/news/stories/costa-rica-forestry-field-school.html

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