Skeena Region September Site Visit to Woodmere Nursery in Telkwa
Oct 13, 2026
The Skeena Restoration CoP recently brought together restoration practitioners for a site visit to Woodmere Nursery in Telkwa. The group learned about the nursery’s work growing conifer trees and expanding into native plant production, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities involved in growing plants for restoration.
The staff shared the challenges of growing native plants, from preparing seed and predicting germination to understanding how different seed lots perform. Work on beach restoration in Kitimat highlighted just how unpredictable this can be, with some sea grass seed showing germination rates as low as 0.4%. These experiences show why restoration is both an art and a science. It requires experimentation, monitoring, and a willingness to learn from what works and what doesn’t.
One of the key takeaways was how much preparing the ground for trees can benefit survival rates, rather than simply planting them in cut blocks and hoping for the best. As the group discussed, choosing the right planting stock means considering what the site can support. Larger root systems can improve survival, but only if the ground can accommodate and support them.
Native plants are being used in a lot of oil and gas reclamation activities as well as local initiatives and projects. Emphasis was put on the importance of a native plant inventory being done on the specific location of restoration before planned disturbance happens.
Woodmere’s work growing whitebark pine offers another example of the long-term thinking restoration requires. The nursery is helping grow trees with greater resistance to white pine blister rust, drawing on seed collected from individual parent trees and monitoring their performance over time. This work takes patience, but it can help support healthier, more resilient forests in the future.
These are young whitebark pine seedlings, one with it’s seed pod still on. Alana Clason, from the BVRC, explained that these large seeds are a cornerstone of the local food web. Animals love the fatty seeds so much that the researchers must intervene in the spring and put metal cages around the cones to protect them, removing them in the fall when they return to harvest. This is especially important when a particularly resistant tree is found as it’s cones are what the project is aiming harvest and reproduce.
Woodmere’s work also highlighted how the benefits of restoration extend beyond the land itself. The skills, work ethic, and healthy habits people develop through their work at the nursery can carry into their everyday lives and communities. Seeing staff succeed in different ways is another important part of the lasting impact of this work.
The visit was a valuable opportunity for our local practitioners to share experiences and consider what successful restoration looks like beyond planting day. There were many exciting projects discussed and connections made during this visit that our regional Community of Practice will benefit from. By continuing to share knowledge and learn from one another, we can strengthen restoration efforts and efficacy across the region.
Woodmere Nursery website:
Whitebark Pine Project links:
https://sernbc.ca/projects/Whitebark-Pine-Ground-Treatments
https://datahub.bvcentre.ca/dataset/?q=whitebark+pine
If your organization would like to be on the CoP organizing team, please get in touch with one of us through our organizations.
The Community of Practice Organizing Team, representing: Society for Ecosystem Restoration in Northern BC (SERNbc), Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund (CHRF) via the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF), Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP), and the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF).
