As an avid angler and having a strong interest in fish and the health of fish populations, the idea of adequate watershed management in the face of various challenges is something of great importance to me. This is especially true for the often-over-looked small streams John focused on in his presentation. As John mentioned in his presentation, the numerous small streams B.C. has to offer are very important for various reasons including their influence of downstream conditions, high productivity leading to high biodiversity, and their importance to juvenile fish. It is important that these small stream values are protected through proper management, especially because they are highly sensitive to change and often encountered during development. At the end of his presentation, John mentioned one of the “Big Dreams” is for there to be more recognition by people of the value of water. In my potentially biased opinion, I couldn’t agree more as I feel in British Columbia especially, forest economic values often overshadow aquatic environment values.

Many of the basic principles John talked about I had learned in previous courses, however it was good to get a refresher. I did however learn lots of new information from the studies he talked about, particularly the impact of beetle kill harvest on small streams. It might be easy for some to think that beetle killed forest has little ecological value remaining and should therefore be harvested, but as John presented in the results of a study he was a part of, removal of riparian wood supply leads to decreased shade cover and increased stream temperatures, which are both negative impacts to resident fish (and other aquatic organisms). In addition, the study looking at the impact of harvesting beetle kill on the watershed showed that harvesting of beetle kill led to an increased hydrograph. This results from a decreased canopy cover due to harvesting, which leads to an increased run-off. High run-off can be negative for both aquatic environments and even the safety of the public.

I’ve had John as an instructor before so knew of his presenting style, and wasn’t disappointed with his presenting. He has a unique sense of humour which I really appreciate, and he also clearly conveys his message in an easy to understand way, which I think is only possible to do if you truly understand what you’re talking about. I appreciate how John avoided being biased, and instead of blaming current forest harvest practices for any issues, basically said how it is the responsibility of all groups to use active adaptive management and communication to ensure all values are being treated equally.

To further emphasize how well John knew what he was presenting, he was able to answer questions with ease and had good answers to all questions presented to him. John said there were two main management concerns when it came to forest practices around small streams, large wood supply (LWS) and shade cover. I would have also liked to have asked him about sedimentation of these small streams as a result of harvesting, and its impact on the fish in these streams.