Board to audit BCTS operations near Revelstoke

REVELSTOKE – During the week of June 21, 2021, the Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber-sale licence holders in the Selkirk and Okanagan Shuswap natural resource district portions of the Okanagan-Columbia business area.

This BCTS program is one of two chosen randomly each year for audit from all the BCTS programs in the province. Auditors will examine whether timber harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture, fire-protection activities and associated planning carried out between June 1, 2019, and June 25, 2021, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.

This audit will focus on BCTS’s activities managed by the Columbia field team. The majority of the operations are in the Revelstoke and Golden timber supply areas (TSA), as well as the Cascadia TSA south of Revelstoke and a small portion in the Okanagan TSA.

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:

Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899