Windthrow of Trees in the Walbran Valley

In September 2002, a conservation group on Vancouver Island complained to the Board about windthrow of trees that had been retained on cutblock 7834 in the Walbran Valley. The complainant asserted that substantial windthrow of timber on the cutblock was the result of poor forest management. The complainant suspected the windthrow indicated that planning or enforcement of forest practices had been inadequate.

The Walbran Valley is southeast of Port Alberni in the Franklin operating area of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited’s (the licensee) West Island Timberlands unit, which encompasses Tree Farm Licence 44. Old growth preservation and logging in the Walbran Valley have been a source of public controversy for years.