A compliance audit of Tree Farm Licence 56, held by Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC). The licence is area-based and is located approximately 50 kilometres north of the City of Revelstoke in the Columbia Forest District.The audit examined RCFC’s operational planning; timber harvesting; road construction,maintenance and deactivation; silviculture; and fire protection practices for the period from July 1, 2002, to July 18, 2003.

This complaint is about the Schroeder Creek forest access road built by Kalesnikoff Lumber Company Limited (the licensee) in the Kootenay Lakes Forest District. Valhalla Wilderness Society (the complainant) asked the Board to investigate six landslides, or failures, that occurred along the road, including planning, general road building practices, and the Ministry of Forests' enforcement of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code) for the road.

The Board decided to investigate whether the licensee met the Code's requirements for planning, road building and enforcement for only the sections of the road that include two landslides. The ministry's determinations for the four other failures are being reviewed through the administrative review and appeal process under the Forest Practices Code.

The Board randomly chosen 2002 audit of TFL 23, held by Pope & Talbot Ltd. (P&T), enabled the Board to develop and test its auditing procedures for a certified company. P&T’s operations under TFL 23 are certified under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI).

This is the Board’s report on the full scope compliance audit of TFL 23 held by Pope & Talbot Ltd. The primary operating area of TFL 23 is located between Castlegar in the south, and Revelstoke in the north.