A Lack of Direction: Improving Marbled Murrelet Habitat Conservation Under the Forest and Range Practices Act
In 2002, the federal Canadian Wildlife Service published a document that compiled the best and most current information available on MAMU in BC. In 2003, the Canadian Wildlife Service published a second document in which a broad-based Canadian Marbled Murrelet Recovery Team applied information from the 2002 report to develop a MAMU recovery strategy for purposes of the federal Species at Risk Act. That was followed by a risk assessment. This report will not differentiate among those reports, referring to all three collectively as the “Conservation Assessment”.
The Conservation Assessment noted that, unlike most threatened species, MAMU are still relatively abundant; perhaps 65,000 live along the coast of BC and some 500,000 along coastal Alaska . Nevertheless, MAMU have been listed as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) since 1990.
Windthrow on West Island Timberlands
This special investigation examined windthrow management activities in the Franklin operating area of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited’s West Island Timberlands Unit (West Island). The Franklin operating area is part of Tree Farm Licence 44, on Vancouver Island.
The investigation stems from a complaint investigation about windthrow (trees blown down by wind) on one of the licensee’s cutblocks. The Board found the licensee had not complied with the Forest Practices Code (the Code) on that block, but that windthrow in the cutblock had caused no detectable damage to forest resources. That prompted the Board to examine the licensee’s windthrow management activities over a larger area.
Windthrow on West Island Timberlands
Windthrow of Trees in the Walbran Valley
In September 2002, a conservation group on Vancouver Island complained to the Board about windthrow of trees that had been retained on cutblock 7834 in the Walbran Valley. The complainant asserted that substantial windthrow of timber on the cutblock was the result of poor forest management. The complainant suspected the windthrow indicated that planning or enforcement of forest practices had been inadequate.
The Walbran Valley is southeast of Port Alberni in the Franklin operating area of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited’s (the licensee) West Island Timberlands unit, which encompasses Tree Farm Licence 44. Old growth preservation and logging in the Walbran Valley have been a source of public controversy for years.
Windthrow of Trees in the Walbran Valley
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices: Western Forest Products Ltd. – TFL 25
This is the Board’s report on a compliance audit of Tree Farm Licence (TFL) 25, held by Western Forest Products Ltd. (WFP). The operating area for TFL 25 consists of five distinct geographic areas within the Coast Forest Region.
Western Forest Products Ltd. – TFL 25
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices: Richmond Plywood Corporation Ltd. – FL A19243
This is the Board’s report on a compliance audit of Forest Licence A19243, held by Richmond Plywood Corporation Ltd. (Richply). The operating area for forest licence A19243 is within the Kingcome Timber Supply Area, in the North Island–Central Coast Forest District. The audit examined Richply’s operational planning; timber harvesting; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; silviculture; and fire protection practices for the period from May 1, 2002, to June 3, 2003. Richply’s forest planning and practices complied with Code requirements in all significant respects.
