Effective immediately, the allowable annual cut for the portion of the Pacific Timber Supply Area (TSA) outside of the Great Bear Rainforest is 803,300 cubic metres, chief forester Diane Nicholls announced today.

It is the first allowable annual cut determination by the chief forester for this portion of the Pacific TSA, which consists of 30 timber supply blocks covering 698,000 hectares across Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Mainland Coast and the Douglas Channel.

The Pacific TSA and allowable annual cut were established in July 2009 by amalgamating areas removed from nine tree farm licences. They were taken back by the Province to support BC Timber Sales and the market-based timber-pricing system.

While the new cut level is 37% lower than the current allowable annual cut of 1.3 million cubic metres, it is higher than the average annual harvest of 600,000 cubic metres between 2010 and 2015.

In her determination, Nicholls specified two partitions to promote harvest activity in areas of the timber supply area that are marginally economic and currently underused. The volume attributed to these partitions cannot be harvested outside of the partition areas.

The allowable annual cut for the portion of the Pacific TSA inside the Great Bear Rainforest remains unchanged at 62,400 cubic metres—as specified by regulation on Jan. 1, 2017, in the Great Bear Rainforest (Forest Management) Act.

Quote:

Diane Nicholls, chief forester –

“I based the new allowable annual cut on a careful review of all the available information on timber and non-timber resources in the portion of the Pacific Timber Supply Area outside of the Great Bear Rainforest, and consultation with First Nations. I am satisfied it reflects government’s objectives for forest resources in the Pacific TSA over the next 10 years, and will continue to meet the current best management practices.”

Quick Facts:

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 to the government’s social and economic objectives.

Under the Forest Act, the chief forester must determine the allowable annual cut in each of the province’s 37 timber supply areas and 34 tree farm licences at least once every 10 years.

Learn More:

A copy of this allowable annual cut decision is available online:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/timber-supply-review-and-allowable-annual-cut/timber-supply-areas/pacific-tsa

Information on how allowable annual cuts are determined in the Great Bear Rainforest: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016FLNR0302-002869