Logging and Lakeshore Management near Vanderhoof
In May 2009, the Upper Nechako Wilderness Council (the complainant) submitted a complaint that Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (the licensee) had harvested timber within a lakeshore management reserve used by the complainant’s member businesses for guided-wilderness moose hunts and hike-in fishing. The complainant said the proximity of the cutblock to the lake has caused its member businesses to abandon the lake as part of their wilderness-business operations.
The complainant is concerned that, under the Forest and Range Practices Act, a forest licensee has the authority to make land use decisions that can negatively impact the values of its member businesses. As a result, the complainant is worried about what may happen in future to other lakes its members use for similar business purposes.
Biodiversity Conservation during Salvage Logging in the Central Interior of BC
Biodiversity Conservation during Salvage Logging in the Central Interior of BC
British Columbia is engulfed in a province-wide mountain pine beetle outbreak. Salvaging value from the dead pine trees is a government priority. To facilitate the salvage effort, government increased the allowable annual cut (AAC) by 80 percent in the three most severely affected timber supply areas; the Lakes, Prince George and Quesnel TSAs, which are also the study areas for this project.
The increased AAC led to concerns about the stewardship of non-timber values such as wildlife and biodiversity. To accommodate these concerns, the “timber uplift” (AAC increase) was to be accompanied by a “conservation uplift” (an increase in retention of mature forest structure in harvested areas).
First Nations Consultation on the Maiyoo Keyoh
In February 2007, Canadian Forest Products Ltd. informed the Nak’azdli Indian Band that it planned to salvage forest stands killed by the mountain pine beetle in part of the Fort St. James Forest District. The Ministry of Forests and Range asked to consult with the Band about the potential effects of harvesting, road construction and other forest practices so as to resolve potential impacts to aboriginal interests and, if necessary, accommodate potential infringement.
The Band and members of a First Nations extended family in the area explained that the Band, as a whole, has almost no authority to consult about resources on the family-used area, because it was recognized that the family had traditional authority there, even though family members are also registered band members.
The head of the family in question asked MFR to fully assess, explain and justify what she perceived as potential infringement of the proposed forest practices on the family’s aboriginal interests in the area, and to compensate the family for any infringement.
Multi-Value Pilot Audit: Kazchek Operating Area – Fort St. James Forest District
Apollo Forest Products’ operations on forest licence A18156 and Brave Holdings Ltd. operations on non-replaceable forest licence A75670 complied with forest practices legislation. Apollo has also obtained third-party certification and taken significant additional measures to track performance and ensure accountability to the public.
Species Composition and Regeneration in Cutblocks in Mountain Pine Beetle Areas
The special investigation compared reforestation efforts in the Quesnel, Nadina and Vanderhoof forest districts with the other forest districts in the Interior of B.C. The reforestation of areas most heavily affected by B.C.’s mountain pine beetle infestation is as prompt, or quicker, than in areas not affected, or affected to a lesser degree. An increase in mixed species planting, as opposed to pure pine plantations were reported along with good reforestation efforts in the three mountain pine beetle districts in these areas.
Species Composition and Regeneration in Cutblocks in Mountain Pine Beetle Areas
Audit of Enforcement of Forest Legislation in the Fort St. James Forest District
The Forest Practices Board has audited the appropriateness of government’s enforcement of the provisions of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act (the Code), and the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA), in the Fort St. James Forest District in northern British Columbia.
