Skeena Cellulose Gets Clean Audit

VICTORIA -The forestry operations of Skeena Cellulose Inc. complied with the Forest Practices Code in all significant respects, says a report released by the Forest Practices Board today.

The report concludes the board’s audit of Forest Licence A16829, undertaken this past summer. The operating area for this licence is the Bulkley timber supply area, north of Smithers.

The audit examined road construction, maintenance and deactivation as well as timber harvesting activities carried out between Aug. 1, 1999, and Aug. 15, 2000.

Activities subject to audit included harvesting of 12 cutblocks; construction of 11.5 kilometres of road and one bridge; maintenance and seasonal deactivation of approximately 109 kilometres of road; maintenance of 15 bridges; and permanent deactivation of 10.4 kilometres of road.

Skeena’s forest licence was selected randomly for audit, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The Skeena audit is the 35th compliance audit completed by the board. Fifteen were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects.

Twenty were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that publishes reports about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:

• Investigating public complaints.
• Auditing government enforcement of the code.
• Auditing forest practices of government and licence holders on public lands.
• Undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative reviews and appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Forest Practices Board
Phone: (250) 387-7964
1-800-994-5899
fpboard@gems9.gov.bc.ca