BURNS LAKE – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber-sale licence holders in the Nadina Natural Resource District portion of the Babine Business Area during the week of Aug. 17, 2020.

Auditors will examine whether timber harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture, fire protection activities and associated planning carried out between Aug. 1, 2018, and Aug. 21, 2020, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.

This BCTS program is one of two chosen randomly each year for audit from all the BCTS programs in the province. This audit will focus on the Burns Lake field unit, which has an allowable annual cut allocation of 284,506 cubic metres.

The Burns Lake field unit is located in the Lakes Timber Supply Area (TSA). It is bound by Tweedsmuir Provincial Park to the south and includes Babine, Francois and Ootsa Lakes – some of B.C.'s largest natural bodies of freshwater.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, audits will be carried out in compliance with the provincial health officer's recommended precautions to keep employees, the auditees and local communities safe.

Once the audit work is complete, a report will be prepared. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board?s final report and recommendations will then be released to the public and government.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.

Contact:

Kairry Nguyen
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4703 / 1 800 994-5899