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Public input sought on allowable annual cut for Kootenay Lake timber supply area

Submit your comments by June 4
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Public consultations have begun on the Kootenay Lake timber supply area. File photo

by Timothy Schafer

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Nelson Daily

People can have their say on the timber supply review for the area and give input on how and where the trees are cut in the Kootenay Lake Timber Supply Area.

By submitting before July 4 people and First Nations can comment on the timber supply analysis contained in the Kootenay Lake Timber Supply Area (TSA) discussion document, information that will be taken into consideration before the new allowable annual cut is set.

The discussion document provides the depth and breadth of what could happen in the forest in the region, noted a press release from the Ministry of Forests.

“The document describes the geography, natural resources and current forest-management practices in the Kootenay Lake TSA, to be considered by the chief forester in his allowable annual cut determination,” the release read.

To download a copy of the discussion paper, visit the Ministry of Forests’ Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch webpage: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/timber-supply-review-and-allowable-annual-cut/allowable-annual-cut-timber-supply-areas/kootenay-lake-tsa

Comments can be submitted to Ian Wiles, stewardship officer, Selkirk Natural Resources District, by email: Ian.Wiles@gov.bc.ca or by phone: 250-825-1100.

This is the fourth review for the Kootenay Lake TSA since the last 30 years, examining the impacts of current legal requirements and “demonstrated forest management practices on the timber supply, economy, environment and social conditions of the local area and province.”

The ministry noted that the review would be used “to continue government support for putting First Nations knowledge at the forefront of modernized forest policy and furthering the province’s stated goal of getting more value for its forests.”

The Kootenay Lake TSA covers about 1.2-million hectares in the Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges, bound by Glacier National Park to the north and the border to the south.

The current allowable annual cut for the Kootenay Lake TSA — set on Aug. 12, 2010 — is 640,000 cubic metres per year.

“The TSA includes the territories of a number of First Nations, all of which have been invited to provide input on the timber supply review for consideration in setting the allowable annual cut for the area,” noted a press release from the Ministry of Forests.

Administered by the Selkirk Natural Resource District, the TSA is one of seven within the Kootenay-Boundary Natural Resource Region, with Creston, Kaslo and Nelson, as well as three community forests and several parks within the TSA.

Under the Forest Act, the chief forester must determine the allowable annual cut in each of the province’s 37 TSAs and 33 tree-farm licences at least once every 10 years.

The chief forester’s allowable annual cut determination is an independent, professional judgment, based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations and public input, and government’s social and economic goals.