Mountain Pine Beetle Salvage and Road Access Through a Proposed Protected Area
On August 11, 1999, the Omineca Community Forest Association complained to the Forest Practices Board with concerns about plans to log timber near Germansen Landing in the Mackenzie Forest District.
There are two parts to this complaint. The first part concerns an amendment to Slocan Forest Products’ 1998-2002 forest development plan (FDP) for forest licence A15384. The amendment proposed three cutblocks in the Discovery Creek area to harvest timber damaged by mountain pine beetle infestation. The amendment was approved in August 1998. The complainant asserts that each of the three cutblocks is larger than the maximum allowed by the Code and is too large relative to the size of the pine beetle infestation.
The second part of the complaint concerns Slocan Forest Products’ 1999-2003 FDP, which included 19 cutblocks in the Twenty Mile Creek area. The complainant asserts that the cutblocks were approved without specifying which existing road, or newly proposed road, would access the area.
Mountain Pine Beetle Salvage and Road Access Through a Proposed Protected Area
Approval of development over the Goat River trail and near the Goat River
This investigation examines a complaint by the Fraser Headwaters Alliance (the complainant) about whether operational plans prepared by Zeidler Forest Industries Limited (the licensee) met the requirements of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code). McBride Forest Industries Ltd. now holds the licence. The complaint involves two issues:
Was approval of a road next to the Goat River, a fish-bearing stream, appropriate and consistent with the Forest Practices Code?
Was approval of a cutblock over and near a trail used for recreation appropriate and consistent with the Forest Practices Code?
Approval of development over the Goat River trail and near the Goat River
Road Relocation through High-Value Caribou Habitat near Tsus Creek, East of Prince George
Road Relocation through High-Value Caribou Habitat near Tsus Creek, East of Prince George
On November 20, 1998, the district manager of the Prince George Forest District approved the 1998-2002 forest development plan (FDP) for Carrier Lumber Ltd. (the licensee). The approval letter also indicated that a changed road location, proposed as a minor amendment to the 1997 FDP, was approved. Consequently the plan approved in 1998 reflected this change. The minor amendment proposed changing the location of a road to an approved cutblock. Originally, the road was to reach the cutblock from the north. The previously approved northern road location was adjacent to a tributary of Tsus Creek. The northern road location would have gone through an area with relatively low value caribou habitat but with potential terrain stability problems. The amendment would create a road from the south, through an area that has stable terrain, but is important caribou habitat.
In February 1999 the Board decided to investigate the circumstances associated with the approval of the amendment under section 43 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act (the Act). The Board considered that the district manager’s approval of the amendment had public significance because it involved balancing and managing risks to several resources – soil, fish, recreation and wildlife.
Adequacy of a Forest Development Plan for a Woodlot Licence
The Board received a complaint about whether a forest development plan for a neighbouring woodlot licence met the requirements of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code). Although the woodlot consists of three non-contiguous parcels of land in the Prince George Forest District, the complaint concerns only the parcel beside the complainant’s property, eight kilometres west of Prince George.
The Board does not have the authority to investigate many of the issues of concern to the complainant. In 1994, the Ministry of Forests (MOF) increased the maximum woodlot size from 400 to 600 hectares under the Forest Act. The complainant considered such expansion to be inappropriate, but the Board does not have the authority to investigate decisions made under the Forest Act.
Adequacy of a Forest Development Plan for a Woodlot Licence
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices: Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) – Robson Valley Forest District
This is the Board’s report on a compliance audit of the Robson Valley Forest District Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (Robson Valley SBFEP). The Robson Valley SBFEP is operated within the Robson Valley Forest District, which is located in east-central British Columbia and lies primarily within the Rocky Mountain trench. The audit examined the Robson Valley SBFEP’s planning, field activities and obligations related to operational planning, timber harvesting, silviculture, fire protection and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads for the period of Sept. 27, 1999 to Sept. 29, 2000.
