Effect of Powerline Clearing on Trappers near Upper Lay Creek
On May 11, 1999, the Board received a complaint from the BC Trappers Association on behalf of trappers on three registered traplines. During 1997 and 1998, Royal Oak Mines Inc. (the licensee) constructed a powerline for the Kemess South Mine that intersected the complainants’ trapping areas. The complainants claim that traps, trails, a trapping cabin, furbearer habitat, and their businesses were harmed by construction of the powerline. The complainants requested that the Board assist them in getting compensation for their losses. However, the Board has no authority to require either the licensee or government to pay compensation.
Effect of Powerline Clearing on Trappers near Upper Lay Creek
Audit of Timber Harvesting and Road Activities: TFL 42 – Tanizul Timber Ltd.
This is a report on a compliance audit of Tree Farm Licence 42, held by Tanizul Timber Ltd. (Tanizul). TFL 42 is located north and east of Stuart Lake, south of Trembleur Lake and west of the Tachie River, in the Fort St. James Forest District.
The audit examined Tanizul’s timber harvesting, road practices, and related operational plans, for the period of June 1, 1999, to June 18, 2000. The audit assessed compliance with the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and related regulations (the Code)
Tanizul Timber Ltd. – TFL 42
Opportunity for Public Review and Comment on Proposed Forest Operations along Takla Lake in the Fort St. James Forest District
On August 30, 1999, the Board received a complaint from the owner of a tourist lodge (Takla Rainbow Lodge) on Takla Lake in the Fort St. James Forest District. The complainant said that he had been denied an adequate opportunity to participate in operational planning for Forest Licence A40873, which is held by Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (the licensee) and located across the lake from the lodge.
The complainant said that one of his main objectives in making the complaint was to create a freer flow of information about operational plans so that he could provide informed comments in future. He emphasized that improved communications were essential in addressing his substantive concerns about forest practices in the licence area and the impacts of logging on fish habitat and scenic views.
Opportunity for Public Review and Comment on Proposed Forest Operations along Takla Lake
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices: Canadian Forest Products Ltd., Fort St. James Division – FL A40873
This is a report on a compliance audit of Forest Licence A40873 held by CanadianForest Products Ltd. (Canfor).
Before completing this report, the Board considered extensive written representations from Canfor as required under section 182 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. The Board also considered the Report from the Auditor along with supporting audit evidence
Canadian Forest Products Ltd., Fort St. James Division – FL A40873
Salvage of Hemlock Looper-Killed Timber in the Robson Valley in the Robson Valley Forest District
Between 1992 and 1994, there was an epidemic of western hemlock looper (the looper) in the Prince George and Robson Valley Forest Districts. The looper is an insect that damages and sometimes kills trees by feeding on and stripping the trees of foliage. Periodically, looper populations increase sharply for several years and then decline. Such an increase happened between 1991 and 1994, when the looper damaged 14, 000 hectares of forest in the Robson Valley. The damage occurred as patches of partly, or completely defoliated, forest within a much larger forest area.
In 1995, the Robson Valley Forest District (the district) and local forest companies proposed salvage harvesting of large areas of severely damaged old growth forest. Salvage harvesting would remove trees that were dead, dying or deteriorating before the wood degraded and was no longer merchantable. Cutblocks of up to 800 hectares were originally proposed in forest development plans for the valley. By early 1996, when the silviculture prescriptions for those cutblocks were approved, the cutblocks had been reduced to less than 120 hectares to allow management of other forest values.
