In this special investigation, the Board examined 111 cutblocks to determine, in part, whether or not licensees assessed and abated fire hazard as required by the Wildfire Act. The Act requires that both the fuel hazard and the risk of a fire starting or spreading on a site be assessed. Fuel hazard was assessed on 41 percent of the cutblocks, but the risk of a fire starting or spreading on a site was not assessed on any cutblock sampled. The result is that none of the licensees complied with the fire hazard assessment requirements of the Act.
Despite complete non-compliance with assessment requirements, fire hazard was often abated satisfactorily through routine practices such as piling and burning roadside debris. However, in some cases, licensees did not recognize higher risk situations such as the fuel hazard created by processing trees at the stump.
A resident of Salmon Arm wrote to the Board with concerns about current and planned timber harvesting by Federated Co-Operatives Limited. The complainant was unsure of the licensee’s plans for the area and wondered if the licensee had adequately considered the potential for landslides and impacts to a formally un-named creek known as Chester Creek.
In early 2007 the Forest Practices Board began a special investigation of fire hazard assessment and abatement. As a first step, we surveyed all forest licensees in the province harvesting more than 100,000 cubic metres per year and all 12 British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) business areas.
Although BCTS is not responsible for hazard assessment and abatement activities, with over 1,100 registrants in the BCTS program we decided it would be most efficient to survey only the 12 business areas.
The purpose of the survey was to understand how licensees are meeting their fire hazard assessment and abatement obligations under the Wildfire Act, specifically assessment methods and abatement practices.
The Okanagan Indian Band’s planning and forest practices on non-replaceable forest licence A73213 complied with legislative requirements. With fire salvage guidance from the government agencies, the band was able to harvest fire-damaged timber burned in the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire near Kelowna and the Cedar Hill Fire near Falkland.
In March 2003, four forest companies (the complainants) located in the Okanagan/Shuswap area asked the Board to investigate the fairness of legislation concerning road maintenance costs. The companies either log timber sold by government through BC Timber Sales (BCTS) or purchase logs from other companies who log through BCTS. These logs are usually hauled on roads where larger forest companies control the maintenance. The complainants are concerned that the successful bidder on a timber sale must negotiate with and pay these private interests to use the government's road. The complainants believe that this requirement is unfair because the forest company that controls the road is frequently both a competitor and customer for the timber. The complainants would like the legislation changed so that a private company with a competing financial interest cannot impose unfair costs or conditions for using a publicly-owned road.
On March 14, 2003, a Grindrod resident (the complainant) asked the Board to investigate the effect of road building and logging on the Mara Meadows ecological reserve. The complainant believes road building and logging in the basin of the meadows are adversely affecting water flowing to the ecological reserve. The complainant is particularly concerned about recent road building, logging and work around a stream by Larch Hill Development Corporation (the licensee) on a woodlot adjacent to the ecological reserve.
