CLOSING LETTER: Vernon Range

On November 26, 2002, a hunter submitted a complaint to the Board that wildlife is not adequately considered when the district manager approves grazing on Crown land, and that the district’s enforcement of cattle trespass is ineffective. As well, the complainant is concerned about how fencing affects wildlife and hunting.

 

Closing Letter – Vernon Range

Cattle Grazing near the Kettle River in the Boundary Forest District

Road Failures on Vedder Mountain in the Chilliwack Forest District

On December 28, 2001, a small landslide originated in the fill slope of the Vedder Mountain Forest Service Road. Chilliwack Forest District staff undertook measures to temporarily maintain the road. On January 9, 2002, another landslide occurred at the same site. Both times, fill-slope material deposited into a regenerating cutblock immediately below the road. The road failed in another spot on January 9, 2002, depositing a small amount of material into a stream. On July 3, 2002, the Valhalla Wilderness Society complained to the Forest Practices Board that the district had failed to adequately maintain that forest service road.

Road Failures on Vedder Mountain in the Chilliwack Forest District

Closing Letter – Tangier River Road Deactivation

Volume of Timber Harvesting in Clayoquot Sound

Volume of Timber Harvesting in Clayoquot Sound

This report deals with a complaint that the amount of harvesting in a forest development plan (FDP) was insufficient to meet the requirements of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code). On February 13, 2002, a resident of Ucluelet (the complainant) submitted a complaint to the Forest Practices Board. The complainant asserted that a company’s 2001-2005 FDP did not meet the requirements of the Code. Specifically:

  1. the FDP did not propose five years’ worth of timber harvesting as required by the Code;
  2. the licensee did not address the comments that the complainant had provided during the public review and comment period; and
  3. the statutory decision-makers did not give adequate consideration to social and economic factors when approving the plan.

CLOSING LETTER: Tangier River Road Deactivation

On October 17, 2002, a complaint was submitted to the Board about planned road deactivation in the Tangier River and Woolsey Creek watersheds. Deactivation plans included imminent removal of a bridge over the Tangier River. The complainant is a trapper, and he said the deactivation would prevent him from safely accessing his registered trap line. The complainant believed that the Ministry of Forests had not given him enough time to move his trap line cabin across the bridge so that it would be accessible after the bridge was removed.

Bridge Design and Construction at Reiseter Creek near Smithers, B.C.

This complaint investigation concerns a bridge built by West Fraser Mills Ltd. (the licensee) across a tributary of Reiseter Creek, 20 kilometres northwest of Smithers. A local resident (the complainant) complained to the Forest Practices Board in December 2001 that:

  1. The licensee designed and constructed the bridge in contravention of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations, causing the bridge to fail and possibly damage the creek; and
  2. The Ministry of Forests did not adequately enforce Code provisions dealing with roads and bridges.