General Procedures for Policy 8.16 - Cruise Based Sales

Effective Date: 01-Jan-95
Responsible Branch: Resource Tenures and Engineering Branch

Resource Management Volume Table of Contents | Amendment Log

1.0 Application

1.1 Major licensees or Woodlot licensees may request a cruise based sale by applying to the District Manager.  The request must:

• specify the reasons for a cruise based cutting permit
• provide a cruise plan as outlined in the Cruising Manual.  The plan will outline the process to achieve the design criteria in the Cruising Manual.  The plan will also specify the cruiser, their experience, and the compiling agency.  Any subsequent departure from this plan must be approved by the District Manager; and,
• provide evidence that the sale area is limited to stands with low loss factors.   The average loss factors for the sale are not to exceed 12%.  Stands which may meet this criteria are: older immature stands less than 121 years, southern interior Douglas Fir, spruce and lodgepole pine with low proportions of risk group 3 (dead or conk trees).
• provide evidence that the loss factors are accurate for the locality

The request may propose:

• in stands with higher loss factors, a loss factor study, conducted at the licensees expense using Inventory Branch methodology, to derive new local tables for use in the locality
• alternate cruising methods for cruising problem areas such as decadent timber, small blocks, and partial cutting.  The method will be fully developed, tested, and auditable to the satisfaction of the Regional Manager and the Director, Valuation Branch.

1.2 If the District Manager is satisfied with the request, the application may be approved.

1.3 For the SBFEP, the District Manager may proceed with a cruise based sale, if the conditions in 1.1 are met.

2.0 Field Work

2.1 The District Manager will:

• determine whether the loss factors and taper equations are suitable for sale on the basis of the cruise
• check cruise the sale area. Checking will include the cruise plan, some of the plots, the traverse notes, some traverse sections, and the final timber typing as specified in the Cruising Manual and the Regional Cruising Guidelines.
• check the traverse for accuracy and ensure that it is clearly marked on the ground. Some of the courses shall be retraversed to ensure that the traverse meets the tolerances in the Cruising Manual. Five percent of the sales shall be retraversed.
• check the compilation. Ensure that the cruise is compiled to the standards in the Cruising Manual, the Cruise Compilation Design Manual and the appropriate Appraisal Manual. Every compilation shall be checked and 5% of the compilations shall be recompiled. Selection shall be based on risk assessment.

3.0 Cruise Based Sale Document

3.1 Under a cruise-based sale, all loads will be conspicuously marked with CB preceding the timber mark.

3.2 The cutting permit, timber sale licence, or other cutting authority will include clauses which:

• restrict the harvest of boundary trees; and,

• state that areas felled shall be considered as volume cut for billing purposes. Billed volume is based on the area and the cruise net volume per hectare for the cutting permit. Monthly billing reports will be submitted, not later than the 7th of each month, by the licensee.

3.3 At the discretion of the District Manager, the cutting permit, timber sale licence, or other cutting authority may contain clauses which require scaling, a residue survey, or a security deposit equal to half of the estimated stumpage.

4.0 Sales Under the SBFEP

4.1 For these sales:

• the advertisement shall include the statement that the timber sale licence is a cruise based sale and stumpage is payable monthly and will be determined on the basis of all of the timber in the timber cruise, not the scale of logs; and,
• the District Manager shall cruise and compile the sale to the standards specified in the Cruising and Appraisal manuals; and,
• the District Manager may include clauses which require scaling, a residue survey, and a security deposit equal to half of the estimated stumpage; and,
• the Timber Sale particulars shall include a special notice explaining cruise based sales

5.0 Logging Plan

5.1 The District Manager will ensure that:

• partial cutting is not utilized unless the leave trees or cut trees are clearly marked before cruising
• amendments are not authorized unless the area is traversed, cruised, and compiled
• timber from a cruise based sale is not mixed with adjacent scale based timber
• timber marking control procedures are specified where cruise and scale based timber is hauled on the same road

6.0 Inspections

6.1 For competitive sales under the SBFEP, at the pre-work meeting, all procedures and reporting requirements for the cruise based sale will be explained to the licensee.

6.2 At each field inspection, the Forest Service will check and compare the area harvested with the cruise based monthly billing report. The Forest Service will measure the area if discrepancies are suspected and the billing will be adjusted on the basis of the measurement.

6.3 Each cruise based sale will be inspected at the completion of harvesting; and:

• boundaries checked and trespass billings issued if reserved boundary trees or trees outside of the boundary have been harvested; and,
• a final billing sent to the licensee for trees which should have been harvested, and/or for any cruise volume not previously billed, even if the harvesting operations have been completed and the cruise underestimated the actual volume

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