Effective immediately, the new allowable annual cut for Tree Farm Licence 49 will be decreased from 580,000 cubic metres to 330,000 cubic metres, chief forester Jim Snetsinger announced today.

In December 2005, the allowable annual cut was increased from 380,000 cubic metres to 580,000 cubic metres to recover economic value from damaged timber. The decrease reflects that logging of mountain pine beetle-attacked timber is almost complete.

The lower cut reflects the transition to a lower mid-term timber supply expected to occur before beetle-attacked stands recover and second-growth stands reach merchantable size. The lower cut also provides for other values, like wildlife habitat, riparian areas and old growth.

The new cut includes a partition to ensure that the areas outside of the Brown's Creek watershed are not overharvested. Tolko Industries Ltd., which owns the logging rights for Tree Farm Licence 49, has no immediate plans to harvest in Brown's Creek.

Tree Farm Licence 49 covers 141 975 hectares of Crown land west of Okanagan Lake near Kelowna, Vernon and Armstrong. About 116,165 hectares are considered suitable for timber harvesting.

Quote:

Jim Snetsinger, chief forester -

"Since logging of mountain pine beetle-attacked stands is nearing completion in this area, I'm decreasing the cut level to ensure a long-term sustainable harvest level."

Quick Facts:

• The chief forester's determination is an independent professional judgment based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations and public input to the government's social and economic goals.

• Under the timber supply review, the chief forester or deputy chief forester must determine how much wood can be harvested in each of the province's 38 timber supply areas and 34 tree farm licences at least once every 10 years.

• A new allowable annual cut may be determined earlier in response to abnormal situations, or postponed for up to five years if an allowable annual cut level is not expected to change significantly.

Learn More:

The chief forester's allowable annual cut determination is available from the Okanagan Shuswap Resource District office in Vernon or online at: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/

Contact:

Vivian Thomas
Communications Manager
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 356-2475