In August 1999, two residents of the Sunshine Coast complained that forest practices in operational plans approved by the district manager of the Sunshine Coast Forest District (the district) did not adequately protect the habitat of mushrooms in mature forests. They believed that an approved road and cutblock in the Mount Elphinstone area, between Sechelt and Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast, would eliminate mature forest habitat that supports many species of mushrooms.
The complainants were also concerned about the effects of the road construction and timber harvesting on dead trees and stumps scattered throughout the area, which are used by wildlife such as birds and small mammals. Snags are important for wildlife, particularly for birds that nest in cavities or feed on wood-boring insects. The complainants were concerned that snags would be removed by road clearing and clearcutting. The complainants also believed that cavity-nesting species would be more visible to predators near new forest openings.
On July 2, 1999, the Board received a complaint from a Powell River resident about a trail leading to Hurtado Point, near Lund, in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.
Section 102 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act (the Act) requires a person to obtain the consent of the district manager before constructing, rehabilitating or maintaining a trail on Crown land. The complainant was aware that a group of people had recently improved the trail to Hurtado Point without approval from the district manager, and that the district was investigating this possible contravention of the Code. Based on a newspaper article and discussions with those who cleared the trail, the complainant felt that the work done on the trail was minor, and did not require the consent of the district manager. Ministry of Forests district staff disagreed. The complaint stated that the Ministry of Forests appeared to be misinterpreting section 102
This report concludes the Board’s investigation of a complaint about the content of an approved logging plan in the Sunshine Coast Forest District. The complainant also reported environmental damage from forest practices carried out under that plan, and asserted inadequate enforcement by district staff.
In 1994, the Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) in the Sunshine Coast Forest District started planning to sell the right to harvest timber in a 26.8 hectare cutblock in a rural residential area near Homesite Creek. The site is on a peninsula between the communities of Secret Cove and Halfmoon Bay, approximately 20 km from Sechelt. Timber sale licence A48267 is located immediately adjacent to a rural-residential area, and forest practices there have met with opposition from local residents.
In 1994, the Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) in the Sunshine Coast Forest District started planning to sell the right to harvest timber in a 26.8 hectare cutblock in a rural residential area near Homesite Creek. The site is on a peninsula between the communities of Secret Cove and Halfmoon Bay, approximately 20 km from Sechelt.
Timber sale licence A48267 is located immediately adjacent to a rural-residential area, and forest practices there have met with opposition from local residents.
On the morning of August 11, 1998, the complainant discovered two fallers cutting a road right-of-way within the licence area. The complainant believed that operations were not permitted in the cutblock at that time, and that the fallers did not have the required fire fighting equipment with them on site and close at hand. The fire danger class was rated as “high” for August 11th.
A compliance audit report of TFL 10, a licence held by International Forest Products Limited (Interfor). The audit examined Interfor’s timber harvesting, road practices, and related operational plans, for the period from May 1, 1997, to June 8, 1998. The audit assessed compliance with FRPA and related regulations.
