Forestry Audit: BC Timber Sales Program Rocky Mountain Forest District

In summer 2005, the Forest Practices Board conducted a compliance audit of forest planning and practices of the British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) program, and timber sale licence holders, in the Rocky Mountain Forest District. BCTS’s operating areas are located in the Invermere and Cranbook Timber Supply Areas.

The Board notes that, with one exception, planning and practices undertaken by BCTS and its timber sale licence holders complied with legislative requirements in all significant respects.

The significant non-compliance noted in the audit relates to sediment from road building and upgrading by the holder of timber sale licence (TSL) A69888—that has, or has the potential to, adversely affect fish streams. Of particular concern is that the TSL holder, independently from BCTS, sought and got approval from the Ministry of Forests and Range for a road use permit to upgrade a long section of forest service road (FSR), adjacent to a fish stream to access a timber sale, but did not follow the permit conditions designed to minimize the amount of sediment entering the stream.