In July 2002, a Christina Lake resident submitted a complaint about the control of cattle within a range adjacent to the Kettle River, east of Grand Forks. A Grand Forks resident (the licensee) grazes cattle on the range, which is known locally as the Oxbow-Boothman range. The complainaint claimed there have been multiple contraventions of the range use plan (RUP) for the area. The complainant maintained that the licensee did not follow the grazing schedule, allowed too many cattle on the range, did not maintain the irrigation system, and allowed cattle within the riparian area adjacent to the Kettle River. The complainant also asserted that the Ministry of Forests failed to enforce the requirements of the RUP.
Cattle Grazing near the Kettle River in the Boundary Forest District
Closing Letter – Tangier River Road Deactivation
CLOSING LETTER: Tangier River Road Deactivation
On October 17, 2002, a complaint was submitted to the Board about planned road deactivation in the Tangier River and Woolsey Creek watersheds. Deactivation plans included imminent removal of a bridge over the Tangier River. The complainant is a trapper, and he said the deactivation would prevent him from safely accessing his registered trap line. The complainant believed that the Ministry of Forests had not given him enough time to move his trap line cabin across the bridge so that it would be accessible after the bridge was removed.
Water Quality in the July Creek Watershed
The July Creek Ratepayers Association (the complainant) expressed its concerns about arsenic to the Ministry of Forests (MOF) Boundary Forest District at a meeting in 1998. The district manager ordered a watershed assessment for July Creek. A representative of the association participated on a watershed advisory committee that oversaw the watershed assessment. The assessment was completed in November 1999, and did not identify any significant hydrological concerns for the proposed cutblocks or road-building within the assessment area.
Pope and Talbot Ltd.’s (the licensee) 1999 forest development plan (FDP) was approved shortly after, in December 1999. However, cutblocks planned within the July Creek watershed were changed from category A (for approval) status to category I (for information only) status prior to the plan approval because the watershed assessment was not available during the review and comment period.
Water Quality in the July Creek Watershed
Concern About a Logging Road Extension and Wildlife Habitat near Kinbasket Reservoir
In September 2000, the Golden branch of the East Kootenay Environmental Society complained to the Forest Practices Board about a proposed logging road across the Cummins River on the east side of Kinbasket Reservoir in the Columbia Forest District. The complainant asserted that the road will allow a timber transfer to Revelstoke, benefiting that community over Golden, and that the road will have a destructive effect on mountain caribou and grizzly bear populations of the area. Further, the complainant was concerned that the forest development plan (FDP) review and comment process was unfair. The complainant suggested that moving the wood by barge on Kinbasket Reservoir might be in the Crown’s best economic and ecological interests.
Concern About a Logging Road Extension and Wildlife Habitat near Kinbasket Reservoir
Tembec Industries Inc. – FL A20212
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices: Tembec Industries Inc. (Forest Licence formerly held by Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd.) – FL A20212
This is the Board’s report on a compliance audit of Forest Licence A20212, held by Tembec Industries Inc. (Tembec). Forest Licence A20212 was formerly held by Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd. During the audit period Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd. was amalgamated with Tembec. The operating area for this licence is located in mountainous terrain in the Kootenay Lake Forest District, primarily north of the city of Creston to the headwaters of the Goat River.
