In August 2016, the Board received a complaint asserting that a timber sale licence holder (TSL holder) under the BC Timber Sales program had removed portions of a fence on the complainant’s range agreement area, within the 100 Mile House Natural Resource District, to accommodate road access for timber harvesting. The complainant alleged that the actions of the TSL holder put their livestock at risk and that the TSL holder did not obtain the required authorizations from the district manager to remove portions of the fence.
In December 2016, the district manager issued a policy on implementation of section 51 of the Forest and Range Practices Act. The complainant is satisfied with the new district policy on range developments and with BC Timber Sales’ commitment to ensure the fence repairs meet ministry standards.
An experienced forest worker was concerned that Tolko had not removed all the trees it felled to trap Douglas-fir bark beetle before the insects emerged and that some of its harvest practices increased the infestation level in ungulate winter range in the Upper Salmon River area.
Douglas-fir bark beetle is normally present at low levels in ecosystems containing mature Douglas-fir but can increase to epidemic levels given the right conditions. Good timber harvest practices can control an epidemic but poor practices can create or intensify an outbreak.
This report examines Tolko’s management of the Douglas-fir bark beetle outbreak, its harvest practices, and if it complied with requirements for ungulate winter range.
A resident in the Boundary area was concerned that harvesting a large clearcut would negatively impact water and wildlife. The forest licensee, Interfor Corporation, was harvesting a large area within its tree farm license in part to convert low value pine to a more productive stand. The Forest and Range Practices Act sets a minimum cutblock size but allows forest licensees to harvest larger cutblocks, subject to requirements to conserve biological diversity at the landscape level. The effects of these larger clearcuts can be negative or beneficial, depending on aspects of hydrology or species of wildlife.
This report examines whether the forest licensee complied with legislated requirements and is adequately managing risks to water and wildlife.
A local resident in the Okanagan-Shuswap was concerned about the maintenance of the Cooke Creek Forest Service Road (FSR) near Dale Lake. In May 2014, Dale Lake, near Enderby, overflowed and caused a debris flood down Cooke Creek. The complainant believed that the debris flood could have been prevented if district staff had acted on his warnings about maintenance of the culverts at the outlet of the lake. He felt that more attention should be paid to road maintenance.
This report examines whether BC Timber Sales and the district complied with requirements for proper design and maintenance of the stream crossing structures on the Cooke Creek FSR at Dale Lake and whether they responded adequately to the complainant’s concerns.
In June 2014, a landowner near Echo Lake, east of Lumby BC, complained to the Board that forest harvesting in the Bonneau Creek watershed was altering streamflows through his private land. During the spring, high flows were causing damage to his property and, by mid-summer, the stream was dry. As well, the complainant says that the woodlot licensee did not consider his concerns about harvesting effects on streamflows.
The report examined: 1) whether forest harvesting affected streamflows in Bonneau Creek; 2) whether licensees considered the risk of harvesting on streamflows; and 3) whether the woodlot licensee’s public consultation met FRPAs requirements.
A rancher in the south Cariboo was concerned that West Fraser Mills Ltd. did not mitigate impacts to a natural range barrier when it harvested mountain pine beetle-killed stands on the ranchers’ Crown range tenure.
The Forest and Range Practices Act requires forest licensees to propose and carry-out measures to mitigate loss or impacts to natural range barriers on Crown range tenures. In this case, substantial harvesting occurred across the tenure by multiple licensees. Impacts to some range barriers were mitigated but the parties disagreed on whether one natural range barrier had been impacted by harvesting.
The investigation examined whether West Fraser complied with the measures in its forest stewardship plan and whether any licensees or government considered the cumulative effect of salvage harvesting of mountain pine beetle-killed stands by multiple licensees on natural range barriers across this range tenure.
