The Red Mountain Residents Association (the Association) is a member of the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, and has been active in watershed protection since 1986. The Association represents 40 of the 52 Water Act licensees in the Hasty and Aylwin domestic watersheds, located in the Slocan Valley, near Silverton, BC. The water licensees, and others, depend on the consistency of water quality, quantity, and timing of flow from the watersheds for domestic consumption, power, and irrigation uses.
This is a report on a compliance audit of Forest Licence A18979 held by Slocan Group – Radium Division. The audit examined Slocan’s timber harvesting and road practices, and related operational plans for the period of August 1, 1996, to August 31, 1997. The audit assessed compliance with the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and related regulations (the Code).
In February 1996, four forest development plans were submitted to the Ministry of Forests in the Arrow Forest District and advertised for public review. The forest development plans showed five years of proposed roads and cutblocks for 1996 to 2000. They had been prepared by Slocan Forest Products (two plans), Pope and Talbot, and the Ministry of Forests for operations in the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program. Two organizations based in the Slocan Valley, the Valhalla Wilderness Society and the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, asked the district manager to extend the period for public review and comment on the plans by approximately eight weeks.
The district manager did not grant the request for an eight week extension. He did agree to accept public comments for an extra 10 days. In early May 1996, both organizations complained to the Board about the district manager’s decision and complained that he did not provide reasons for his decision.
The Board received a complaint from an environmental society concerning a silvicultural prescription that was inconsistent with a local resource use plan. The complaint asserted that:
