Flooding of Ponds on Neskonlith Indian Reserve in the Salmon Arm Forest District
The report examines if the flooding of ponds on the Neskonlith Indian Reserve was caused by forest practices and whether there were any contraventions of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and related regulations (the Code).
Neskonlith Indian Reserve #2 is situated about eight kilometres west of Chase, British Columbia. Three unnamed ponds are located on the reserve. Water levels in the ponds began rising in the spring of 1998 and the three ponds joined to form one lake. The high water levels flooded grassland and killed trees scattered around the perimeters of the ponds.
Sewell Inlet Timber Sale: Appropriateness of the Silviculture Prescription in the Queen Charlotte Islands Forest District
The complainant was the successful bidder on a Small Business Forest Enterprise Program timber sale near Sewell Inlet, on Moresby Island. The timber sale document and the silviculture prescription specified skyline yarding as the preferred logging method, with helicopter yarding as the alternative method. In November 1996, the complainant began harvesting and concluded that part of the 14.9 hectare cutblock could not be harvested using a skyline system without damaging the soil because of poor deflection. This means that the slope was relatively flat, and skyline yarding would cause logs to be dragged along the ground (ground lead) instead of being suspended in the air.
Hasty/Aylwin Watersheds: A request for community watershed status under the Code in the Nelson Forest Region
The Red Mountain Residents Association (the Association) is a member of the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, and has been active in watershed protection since 1986. The Association represents 40 of the 52 Water Act licensees in the Hasty and Aylwin domestic watersheds, located in the Slocan Valley, near Silverton, BC. The water licensees, and others, depend on the consistency of water quality, quantity, and timing of flow from the watersheds for domestic consumption, power, and irrigation uses.
Flooding of Ponds on Neskonlith Indian Reserve
Sewell Inlet Timber Sale: Appropriateness of the Silviculture Prescription in the Queen Charlotte Islands Forest District
Hasty/Aylwin Watersheds: A request for community watershed status under the Code in the Nelson Forest Region
Flooding of Ponds on Neskonlith Indian Reserve in the Salmon Arm Forest District
Adequacy of the Public Review and Comment Period for Forest Development Plans in the Slocan Valley in the Arrow / Slocan Valley Forest District
In February 1996, four forest development plans were submitted to the Ministry of Forests in the Arrow Forest District and advertised for public review. The forest development plans showed five years of proposed roads and cutblocks for 1996 to 2000. They had been prepared by Slocan Forest Products (two plans), Pope and Talbot, and the Ministry of Forests for operations in the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program. Two organizations based in the Slocan Valley, the Valhalla Wilderness Society and the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance, asked the district manager to extend the period for public review and comment on the plans by approximately eight weeks.
The district manager did not grant the request for an eight week extension. He did agree to accept public comments for an extra 10 days. In early May 1996, both organizations complained to the Board about the district manager’s decision and complained that he did not provide reasons for his decision.
