As part of the Forest Practices Board’s 2014 compliance audit program, the Board randomly selected the Thompson Rivers Resource District as the location for a full scope compliance audit. Within the district, the Board selected four woodlot licences for audit: W0303, W1434, W1591 and W2070. Two of the woodlots are located near the community of Clearwater and two are located just north of Adams Lake.
The individual woodlot licences were selected based on the level of harvest activity between October 2012 and October 2014, and all woodlot licences had harvested greater than 13,000 cubic metres during this period. The audit assessed all timber harvesting, roads, silviculture, protection activities, and associated planning.
The audit found that planning and field activities undertaken by all woodlot licensees complied in all significant respects with the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The audit identified one area for improvement related to fire hazard abatement on one of the woodlots.
This is the Board’s closing letter for a complaint filed by a group of residents of the Silver Star Road area, northeast of Vernon.
In March 2014, the Board received a complaint from the residents in the BX Creek watershed regarding the visual impact of BC Timber Sales harvesting across the valley from their homes. The residents were also concerned that they had not been directly consulted prior to the logging and want to ensure they are consulted about future harvesting in the area.
On November 5, 2013, the Forest Practices Board received a complaint about proposed harvesting and road construction, planned by Canoe Forest Products’ Ltd., a subsidiary of Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd., in an area upslope of seasonal cabins on the east side of Shuswap Lake.
This complaint investigation highlights the responsibility licensees have to ensure stakeholder involvement and communications are consistent, timely, responsive, transparent and collaborative. It also demonstrates the responsibility of the public to get involved, share in building a working relationship with the licensee, and become an active part of the forest management process.
This audit examined the activities of Ka-Bar Resources Limited (Ka-Bar) on 10 cutblocks located northeast of Princeton, near the community of Bankeir in the Cascades District, from September 1, 2012, to September 16, 2013.
In 2006, government created a new category of forest licence to enable harvesting of trees to protect communities from wildfire. Five of Ka-Bar’s forestry licences to cut were issued for that purpose—to protect local residents from wildfire. This is the first time the Board has audited this type of tenure.
