This investigation looked at a landslide into Laird Creek that caused damage to the water supply of about 100 homes. The slide was caused by a combination of factors, including logging by the BC Timber Sales program that occurred in the area prior to 2007.
The Board investigation found that BCTS’s operational and technical practices were sound. Overall the Board finds that BCTS acted in a responsible manner after the slide event, though there was no legislated requirement for it to do so. BCTS conducted appropriate assessments; implemented the recommendations; stabilized the road and slide path; helped water users get their systems running; and, ensured water users had access to potable water.
This case brings to light broader issues regarding public policy and decision making, including potential gaps in regulation that go well beyond this specific instance, and the Board will examine those concerns separately, drawing on the results of this and other recent audits and investigations.
Closing Letter from Laird Creek Investigation in 2005
As part of its 2012 compliance audit program, the Forest Practices Board selected Stella-Jones Canada Incorporated's (Stella-Jones) forest licence (FL) A20196 for audit. Operations are managed from Stella-Jones’ office in Salmon Arm.
FL A20196, with an annual allowable cut of 12 963 cubic metres, lies within the Arrow timber supply area (TSA), and nearby communities include Nakusp and Burton. It consists of four operating areas, located along the eastern side of Upper Arrow Lake. The southernmost operating area lies within the Caribou Community Watershed.
In May 2011, a resident of Meadow Creek, BC filed a complaint with the Forest Practices Board regarding the forestry practices of Meadow Creek Cedar Ltd. (MCC). The Board investigated and found that some of MCC’s roads, harvesting and silviculture activities did not comply with legislation.
In addition, some silviculture, protection and road construction practices were considered unsound. MCC did not implement recommendations provided in professional reports, including silviculture prescriptions and road engineering reports. This created unacceptable environmental and management risks, which, in the Board’s view, undermine public confidence in the industry and the professionals who work in it. MCC ’s allowable annual cut accounts for just 0.1 percent of the total provincial cut, therefore,the findings of this investigation should not be considered indicative of the forest industry.
In its ongoing audits and investigations the Board rarely finds licensees who do not strive to comply with the law and when it does, the licensee nearly always brings its forest practices into compliance.
As part of the Forest Practices Board's 2011 compliance audit program, the Board randomly selected the Selkirk District as the location for a full scope compliance audit. Within the district,the Board selected Forest Licence A20213, which operates in the Kootenay Lake Timber Supply Area. This licence is held by J.H. Huscroft Ltd., a family owned and operated company established in Creston in 1927.
In June 2010, the Board conducted a full-scope compliance audit of forest planning and practices of International Forest Products Limited’s (Interfor) Forest Licence (FL) A18969. FL A18969 is managed by Interfor’s Grand Forks Woods Division in the town of Grand Forks.
The audit assessed operational planning 30 harvest blocks, over 300 kilometres of roads and 14 bridges, more than 100 silviculture blocks, and over 30 blocks for fire protection activities. The audit identified a significant concern with the construction of one bridge, as well as concerns with winter road construction and a lack of formal road and bridge maintenance inspections.
