Staff from the Department of Agriculture and Forestry would like to extend an invitation to co-workers and the public to attend a special 15th anniversary open house at the Dover Tree Seed Orchard, near Murray River, on July 25, 2002. This special event will run from 3-8:00 p.m. and offers a unique opportunity to see where the forests of tomorrow are being created today.
The Dover Tree Seed Orchard was established in 1987 to help reverse the impacts of centuries of poor forest harvest practices. Since the late 1970's, tree improvement specialists with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry have been working to locate individual trees with superior growing characteristics. Cuttings are taken from these trees to produce exact genetic duplicates which are then used in controlled breeding programs. Today, trees grown from improved sed sources are showing gains of up to 15% in height and volume when compared to wild stock.
The open house will include guided tours of the orchards, displays by various forestry and environmental groups, refreshments, and prizes. As well, there will be displays of the fire fighting equipment used to protect the Dover/Murray River area during the dangerous forest fires of May, 2002. This is our chance to learn more about the fire suppression services provided to communities and land owners across the Island.
We encourage you to visit the July 25 open house and learn more about our tree improvement and forest fire suppression programs.