Williams Lake Harvest increased due to Mountain Pine Beetle

from BC goverment news release, April 18, 2007:

Effective immediately, the allowable annual cut for the Williams Lake timber supply area will increase to 5.77 million cubic metres in response to the mountain pine beetle epidemic, chief forester Jim Snetsinger announced today.

The new allowable annual cut represents an increase of two million cubic metres per year from the previous allowable annual cut of 3,768,400 cubic metres.

“To reduce the impacts of the beetle and speed the recovery of new forests, the allowable annual cut should be increased,” said Snetsinger. “However, the majority of the increased and current harvesting must be directed towards the most heavily infested areas west of the Fraser River to preserve as much of the non-pine for future harvest as possible.”

In his determination, the chief forester emphasizes that harvesting must be focused in areas west of the Fraser River and in stands containing more than 70 per cent pine trees. The new harvest level also provides flexibility to address other forest health issues such as the spruce bark beetle.

The determination incorporates the requirements of existing land-use plans and forest practices legislation. Ministry of Forests and Range staff will continue to monitor the infestation and advise the chief forester if it subsides or expands beyond projected levels, in which case further examination of the timber supply may be required.

Under the timber supply review, the chief forester must determine how much wood can be harvested in each of the province’s 37 timber supply areas and 33 tree farm licences at least once every five years. The chief forester can determine new allowable annual cuts in response to abnormal situations, such as the mountain pine beetle epidemic, or postpone a decision for another five years if a harvest level is not expected to change significantly.

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Comments: This is not a huge surprise, but it results in quite a significant increase in annual allowable cut (just over 50%). I think this will help address pine forests that would have died out and remained unproductive for a long time, or worse, would have been highly susceptible to wildfire. Important to note that this increased cut is supposed to focus on pine forest types, and that non-pine types should remain unharvested in the meantime.