Following a public review and comment period and discussions with local First Nations and stakeholders earlier this year, the boundaries of about 400 existing old growth management areas (OGMAs) in the Quesnel Natural Resource District have been adjusted.

Old growth management areas help protect the biological diversity of old-growth forests by ensuring that stands of different ecosystem types are protected. These areas are excluded from commercial timber harvesting, which helps preserve plant ecosystems, wildlife habitat and cultural values.

The amendments to the old growth management areas in the Quesnel Natural Resource District came into effect on Oct. 26, 2015. They were required under the Land Act, due in part to the salvage harvesting of trees killed by mountain pine beetle infestations within those areas. Legally, the portions that were harvested had to be replaced with an equivalent amount of old growth management areas.

The amount and distribution of old growth management areas are determined by ecosystem mapping, but the boundaries of the relevant ecosystem units had been updated since the old growth management areas were originally mapped in 2006. This affected their distribution and percent target requirements, so the boundary adjustments also corrected those discrepancies.

Maps showing the approved boundary amendments may be viewed online at: ftp://ftp.geobc.gov.bc.ca/publish/Regional/WilliamsLake/Cariboo-Chilcotin_LUOR_Order/maps/Map03_Cariboo_Chilcotin_Old_Growth_Management_Areas/Map_03_Cariboo-ChilcotinOldGrowthManagementAreas.pdf

Quick Facts:

• Currently, there are over 49,000 old growth management areas in B.C., covering almost 3.1 million hectares.
• A total of about 4.5 million hectares of old-growth forest are protected within old growth management areas, provincial parks, national parks, ecological reserves, land conservancies and recreational areas in British Columbia.
• The Quesnel Natural Resource District covers about 1.8 million hectares of land in the southern Interior. It extends from Macalister in the south to the Cottonwood River in the north and from the Itcha Ilgachuz Mountains in the west to the Fraser River Divide in the east.