Water Quality in the East Blackpool Watersheds
Residents in the East Blackpool area near Clearwater were concerned that forestry activities above their properties would affect their domestic water supply. The properties are on a bench of land above the North Thompson River. The East Blackpool area contains several small separate drainages, including Lone Creek, Modrall Creek, Rennie Creek, Bester Creek, McCarthy Creek, and Axel Creek. The area falls under the Kamloops Land Resource Management Plan (LRMP) that was approved by cabinet in 1995 and declared a higher level plan in 1996.
Effect of Powerline Clearing on Trappers near Upper Lay Creek
On May 11, 1999, the Board received a complaint from the BC Trappers Association on behalf of trappers on three registered traplines. During 1997 and 1998, Royal Oak Mines Inc. (the licensee) constructed a powerline for the Kemess South Mine that intersected the complainants’ trapping areas. The complainants claim that traps, trails, a trapping cabin, furbearer habitat, and their businesses were harmed by construction of the powerline. The complainants requested that the Board assist them in getting compensation for their losses. However, the Board has no authority to require either the licensee or government to pay compensation.
Water Quality in the East Blackpool Watersheds
Effect of Powerline Clearing on Trappers near Upper Lay Creek
Skaiakos Point Road construction and logging of old-growth trees near a proposed hiking trail by Sechelt Inlet
On June 22, 1999, the Board received a complaint about the construction of a logging road and cutblock on the northeast side of the Sechelt Peninsula near Oyster Bay. The road accesses a cutblock beside Halfway Beach Provincial Park. The road location was originally approved under Terminal Forest Products Ltd.’s 1998-2002 Forest Development Plan. The road location and cutblock were subsequently approved in the 1999-2003 Forest Development Plan. The complainant asserted that the road construction and cutblock would remove valuable oldgrowth stands and affect a proposed hiking trail.
Range Use Near Midway, BC
The complainant has operated a woodlot on his land near Midway, 60 kilometres east of Osoyoos, for 30 years. For the last 15 years, the woodlot has included 600 hectares of Crown land. The complainant is a professional forester and professional agrologist and is proud of managing the private and Crown land of the woodlot in what he considers to be an environmentally sensitive way. On and around the Crown land portion of his woodlot, neighbouring ranchers hold grazing licences, with livestock use regulated under range use plans.
In 1998 and 1999, the Ministry of Forests staff took short-term enforcement actions against the complainant for administrative matters related to his woodlot. In response, the complainant filed a complaint with the Board asserting poor government management of range resources. In this report, the Board considers the adequacy of range use plans near the woodlot to manage and conserve forest and range resources.
Skaiakos Point Road construction and logging of old-growth trees near a proposed hiking trail by Sechelt Inlet
Range Use Near Midway, BC
Appropriateness of a Stop Work Order for a Woodlot near Midway, BC in the Boundary Forest District
The complainant is a professional forester in good standing, a former woodlot extension forester and former president of the local woodlot association. The complainant manages the forest on his own private land and 600 hectares of Crown land under a woodlot licence near Midway, BC. He has managed the woodlot for about 15 years. The complainant is proud of the woodlot and his forest practices, and he routinely conducts tours for students and interested individuals.
The complainant operated in the woodlot without incident for about 8 months in 1999 and 2000. In February 2000, the Ministry of Forests (the ministry) discovered that the complainant had built a short section of road in the woodlot without an approved road layout and design. On February 16, 2000, a ministry official called the complainant and told him that an approved road layout and design was required before the road could be built. Both parties agree that the conversation became heated and the complainant became upset. The official then issued a verbal stop work order that prohibited harvesting and hauling operations.
