Water Pipeline right-of-way construction
The complaint related to the construction of a water pipeline right‐of‐way on Crown land near Mt. Currie in 1996. The right‐of‐way accessed two water licences on a stream. During periods of high water in the spring of 1996 and 1997 the complainant noticed that water was being diverted from the stream down the right‐of‐way onto a public road. The complainant asserted that this water flow was causing erosion damage to the road and introducing sediment into a nearby lake. The complaint also asserted that the damage to the road resulted in a situation potentially dangerous to vehicle traffic.
The complainant had contacted the Ministry of Forests (MoF) in September 1996 regarding the concerns about safety. The Ministry of Forests visited the site to investigate in May 1997. The MoF investigation found no substantive safety issues and no apparent issues of non‐compliance with any legislation. The complainant then filed a complaint with the Board in August 1997.
Water Pipeline right-of-way construction
Approval of a forest development plan near a provincial park
On November 2, 1995, the Board received a complaint from an organization about the submission and approval of a forest development plan (FDP) near a provincial park in the Lower Mainland. The complaint involved three cutblocks. Concerns were raised about the clearcutting of areas adjacent to a stream, inaccurate engineering and ecological information, and removal of large trees near a wetland. The complainant also asserted that the Ministry of Forests relied on an inadequate recreational inventory and that neither the Ministry of Forests nor the licensee referred the FDP to BC Parks for review.
Approval of a forest development plan near a provincial park
Approval of logging within rare mushroom habitat in the Sunshine Coast Forest District
On November 28, 1995, the Board received a complaint from a member of the public asserting that “logging has been approved within the habitat of an extremely rare, probably endangered, species of mushroom in the genus Tricholoma”. The blocks where logging had been approved are within the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program administered by the Ministry of Forests in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.
The Board decided the complaint was about preparation and approval of silviculture prescriptions for these blocks by the Ministry of Forests. The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks has the opportunity to participate in the preparation of silviculture prescriptions, making it necessary for the Board to examine their role in this complaint.
