NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2010FOR0007-000118 Feb. 2, 2010

Ministry of Forests and Range Office of the Chief Forester

 

NEW KINGCOME CUT LEVEL REFLECTS EBM OBJECTIVES

 

VICTORIA – Effective immediately, the allowable annual cut in the Kingcome timber supply area will decrease to 1.1 million cubic metres due to the implementation of the Central Coast Land Use Decision, chief forester Jim Snetsinger announced today.

 

“The Kingcome TSA encompasses most of the south central coast area covered under the Central Coast Land and Resource Management Plan,” said Snetsinger. “My determination had to accommodate the creation of new conservancies and the adoption of ecosystem-based management objectives. Although slightly lower, I believe the new allowable annual cut is environmentally and economically sustainable.”

 

The new allowable annual cut of 1.1 million cubic metres is about 10.7 per cent lower than the previous level of 1.284 million cubic metres set in 2002.

 

Of the new allowable annual cut, 14,000 cubic metres per year is to be directed to harvesting in deciduous stands.

 

The Kingcome timber supply area covers about 1.17 million hectares, mostly on the mainland coast along Queen Charlotte Strait, from Knight Inlet in the south, northwest to Cape Caution and northeast to Tweedsmuir Park, with the remainder on northernmost Vancouver Island and the islands between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. 

 

The chief forester’s determination is an independent professional judgment based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations input, and public input to the government’s social and economic goals. The timber supply review accounts for environmental factors such as biodiversity (which includes old-growth forests), water quality and scenic values, in addition to social and economic issues.

 

Under the timber supply review, the chief forester or deputy chief forester determines 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 10 years.

 

A new allowable annual cut can be determined earlier in response to abnormal situations.

 

 

Copies of the chief forester’s rationale for the allowable annual cut determination are available on the Ministry of Forests and Range website at www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/, or from the North Island-Central Coast Forest District Office in Port McNeill or the Coast Forest Region Office in Nanaimo.

 

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Media Contact:

Cheekwan Ho Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-8482

 

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