CLOSING LETTER: Cattle Grazing near Noke Creek
On October 25, 2001, the Board received a complaint from a resident of the Moyie River valley, south of Cranbrook. The complainant’s 25-acre property is completely surrounded by Crown rangeland. The complainant holds a domestic water license that permits her to take up to 1500 gallons of water per day from Noke Creek.
According to the complainant, cattle defecate in and around Noke Creek and her water intake, polluting the water. The complainant is concerned about the health risks associated with drinking the water.
Closing Letter – Cattle Grazing near Noke Creek
Timber Harvesting and Fishing Lodge Interests near Morrison Arm
On December 13, 2000, the owner of a lodge on Babine Lake (the complainant) requested an investigation of the approval of forest development plan (FDP) amendment #17 for Canadian Forest Products’ Forest Licence A16828. The complainant also requested an administrative review of the FDP approval. The complainant maintained that the plan did not ensure adequate management and conservation of all forest resources.
On February 2, 2001, the Chair of the Forest Practices Board decided to refuse the request for an administrative review but identified several issues that required further investigation:
- Did the FDP amendment properly consider forest ecosystem networks?
- Did the FDP amendment comply with Code requirements for forest health?
- Did the FDP amendment comply with the requirements for discretionary approval of cutblocks greater than 60 hectares?
- Did the FDP amendment comply with Code requirements for consideration of the plan’s effect on the complainant’s business?
Timber Harvesting and Fishing Lodge Interests near Morrison Arm
Approval of development over the Goat River trail and near the Goat River
This investigation examines a complaint by the Fraser Headwaters Alliance (the complainant) about whether operational plans prepared by Zeidler Forest Industries Limited (the licensee) met the requirements of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code). McBride Forest Industries Ltd. now holds the licence. The complaint involves two issues:
Was approval of a road next to the Goat River, a fish-bearing stream, appropriate and consistent with the Forest Practices Code?
Was approval of a cutblock over and near a trail used for recreation appropriate and consistent with the Forest Practices Code?
Approval of development over the Goat River trail and near the Goat River
Was marbled murrelet habitat adequately protected in the Brand Valley?
On July 26, 1999, the Board received a request for an administrative review of the determination to approve the South Island Forest District’s 1999-2001 Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) forest development plan (FDP) for the Brand operating area, near Barkley Sound on southwestern Vancouver Island. The Sierra Legal Defense Fund made the request on behalf of the Sierra Club of British Columbia. The Board decided it could not request a review. Instead, the Board decided, at the request of the complainant, to investigate the matter as a complaint in July 2000.
The complainant believes it was unreasonable for the district manager to be satisfied that the FDP adequately manages and conserves marbled murrelet. The complainant asserted that the district manager’s failure to ensure that the plan adequately manages and conserves marbled murrelet has placed the species in jeopardy.
Adequacy of a Plan to Harvest Damaged Timber
Adequacy of a Plan to Harvest Damaged Timber
A complaint was filed with the Forest Practices Board in June 1999, asserting that an amendment to a forest development plan to allow harvesting of snow-damaged timber in the Elk Valley did not provide adequate information and did not adequately address forest resources.
Was the harvesting of 81-year-old trees near Hall Creek appropriate?
This investigation examines a complaint that Atco Lumber Ltd. (the licensee) is routinely cutting immature timber around Nelson, BC without regard to the future value of the timber. The complainant believes that the province should allow young stands to grow older before they are harvested, to ensure a better financial return from public forest lands.
As an example of his concern, the complainant referred specifically to cutblocks harvested near Hall Creek, about 15 kilometres south of Nelson, BC. He said those stands are only 70 years old, and further, that the licensee paid harvesting royalties to the province of only 25 cents per cubic metre. The Board does not have jurisdiction to investigate whether the province received adequate royalties for timber harvesting on Crown land. However, the investigation considers whether harvesting of those stands, given their age, complied with the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations (the Code), and whether the approval of harvesting was appropriate.
