On September 9, 2019, the Forest Practices Board received a complaint from a resident of Kitwanga. The complainant is concerned that planned harvesting of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) timber sale license A52734 Block 001 will damage valuable mushroom habitat. The complaint considered BCTS’s legal obligations under the Forest and Range Practices Act and investigated whether public consultation was appropriate.

The Forest Practices Board determined that the approach taken by BCTS to manage pine mushroom habitat met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act. BCTS’s consultation efforts were also appropriate.

As part of its 2019 compliance audit program, the Board randomly selected the Nadina Natural Resource District as the location for a full scope compliance audit. Within the district, the Board selected non-replaceable forest licence (NRFL) A85566, held by Northern Engineered Wood Products (NEWP) for audit. All of NEWP’s operations are in the Morice timber supply area portion of the District and are located south and northeast of Houston and north of Francois Lake.

NEWP practices complied in all significant respects with the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, the Wildfire Act and related regulations.

As part of its 2018 compliance audit program, the Board randomly selected the Coast Mountains Natural Resource District as the location for a full scope compliance audit. Within the district, the Board selected tree farm licence (TFL) 41, forest licence (FL) A16882 and FL A16885, held by Skeena Sawmills Ltd. (Skeena), for audit. Skeena operates in two general locations; Operations for TFL 41 and FL A16885 are within 40 kilometres of Kitimat BC and operations for FL A16882 are just south of Meziadin Lake. During the two-year audit period Skeena harvested about 414,000 cubic metres using ground, cable and helicopter harvesting systems, constructed 51 kilometres of road and installed 4 major structures.

Skeena’s operational planning, timber harvesting, road construction, maintenance and deactivation, silviculture, and fire protection activities generally complied in all significant respects with the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, the Wildfire Act and related regulations. However, the audit noted a significant non-compliance related to seed transfer guidelines and an area requiring improvement related to free-growing obligations.