Shawnigan Lake Watershed Watch, an organization made up of local residents, complained to the Forest Practices Board about the management of the water resource in the watershed. The organization is concerned that forest development on private lands in the Shawnigan Lake watershed, located in the South Island Forest District, is not being adequately considered before harvesting is approved on Crown land.
Adequacy of a Public Review Period near McBride
The district manager of the Robson Valley Forest District authorized a shortened review and comment period for an amendment to McBride Forest Industries’ forest development plan for Forest Licence A15429. The Fraser Headwaters Alliance (the complainant) submitted a complaint to the Forest Practices Board on July 1, 2001, asserting that the review and comment period was too short, and that a forest health assessment should have been made available to them during the review period.
Approval of Large Cutblocks to Control Mountain Pine Beetle in the Robson Valley
Water Quality in the Shawnigan Lake Community Watershed
Adequacy of a Public Review Period near McBride
Water Quality in the July Creek Watershed
The July Creek Ratepayers Association (the complainant) expressed its concerns about arsenic to the Ministry of Forests (MOF) Boundary Forest District at a meeting in 1998. The district manager ordered a watershed assessment for July Creek. A representative of the association participated on a watershed advisory committee that oversaw the watershed assessment. The assessment was completed in November 1999, and did not identify any significant hydrological concerns for the proposed cutblocks or road-building within the assessment area.
Pope and Talbot Ltd.’s (the licensee) 1999 forest development plan (FDP) was approved shortly after, in December 1999. However, cutblocks planned within the July Creek watershed were changed from category A (for approval) status to category I (for information only) status prior to the plan approval because the watershed assessment was not available during the review and comment period.
Effects of the Macdougall Creek Bridge on Access to the East Side of Babine Lake
On December 1, 2000, the Fort St. James district manager approved a forest development plan amendment submitted by Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (the licensee). The licensee proposed to build a bridge across Macdougall Creek to link existing roads in the Fort St. James and Morice Forest Districts.
On January 2, 2001, a person who runs a guiding operation at Smithers Landing on Babine Lake complained to the Forest Practices Board, asserting that the district manager’s decision to approve the bridge did not adequately address the environmental risks associated with improving public access to the east side of Babine Lake. Specifically, the complainant raises questions about how the district manager considered the concerns of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. The complainant would like to see the bridge closed annually from April through November.
Water Quality in the July Creek Watershed
Effects of the Macdougall Creek Bridge on Access to the East Side of Babine Lake
CLOSING LETTER: Impact of Harvesting on Bowlder Creek and the Pine River
A gravel bar formed in the Pine River at the mouth of Bowlder Creek after a significant rainstorm in 1987. The complainant, a trapper, became concerned that the gravel and other debris could block the Pine River, causing flash flooding of the community of Hasler Flats.
In 1997, Chetwynd Forest Industries (the licensee) proposed four cutblocks totalling 230 hectares (gross area) in the Bowlder Creek watershed. The watershed is approximately 1450 hectares in size. The complainant raised a number of concerns about the cutblocks related to wildlife, the harvest of old growth, and hydrological impacts. In response to the complainant’s concerns, a number of meetings and field trips were arranged. The regional forest hydrologist reviewed the licensee’s plans and concluded that the cutblocks would cause negligible downstream impacts.
