As part of the Forest Practices Board’s 2010 compliance audit program, the British Columbia Timber Sales’ (BCTS) program and timber sale licence (TSL) holders in the Kamloops Business Area’s Merritt Field Unit, located in the Cascades Forest District, were selected for audit. Forestry activities were administered by the BCTS Kamloops Business Area office located in Merritt.
BCTS has been allocated an annual timber harvest volume of 595,236 cubic metres in the Merritt and Lillooet Timber Supply Areas (TSAs). During the one-year period of this audit, TSL holders harvested 380 075 cubic metres under the BCTS program.
The Board’s audit fieldwork took place from September 27 to 30, 2010.
In British Columbia, use of Crown range is regulated by the Range Act and the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). The Range Act provides the authority to grant range agreements, including permits and licences. These agreements include things like the tenure area and the amount of forage that can be consumed by livestock on Crown land. Similar to the former Forest Practices Code, FRPA provides the necessary authority for government to manage the Crown land resource. This includes authority to require the agreement holder to prepare a range plan and follow practice requirements.
The investigation found that the current framework for range planning under FRPA is not working well for agreement holders, MFR range staff or for management of the range resource. First, there is widespread uncertainty about what the objectives for range mean and what is required to achieve them. Second, agreement holders are expected to write measurable and enforceable plans, yet may not have the necessary qualifications and experience to do so. Finally, the preparation and approval of RUPs is a time consuming and challenging task for agreement holders and the MFR, and it is not clear if range planning is achieving any measurable benefit in managing the range resource.
This investigation assesses the effect of recent range practices in maintaining the ability of upland grasslands to provide forage for livestock and habitat for threatened and endangered grassland species. The investigation is limited to open grasslands in the Interior Douglas Fir (IDF) Biogeoclimatic Zone in the south central portion of BC, because half the grasslands in BC occur in that zone.
Forest operations undertaken by Stuwix Resources Ltd. on forest licence A65006, in the Cascades Forest District are in full compliance with forest practices legislation, with the exception of six instances where water management during road construction should be improved. Stuwix is making the effort to improve its overall road construction practices.
Northern Nlaka’pamux Forestry Resources Ltd., based in Lytton, compiled with forest practices legislation and worked efficiently to salvage fire-damaged timber. NNFR also followed the direction set by the Kamloops Land and Resource Management Plan, in areas such as retaining undamaged trees in old-growth management areas and respecting the needs of recreational users.
This is the Board’s report on the area-based audit of licensee compliance with, and government’s enforcement of, the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and related regulations (the Code), relevant to forest and range planning and practices in the Allison-Mussezula draft landscape unit area within the Merritt Forest District.
