The North Island -
Central Coast Forest District office is located in Port McNeill on Northern
Vancouver Island with a field office located in the Bella Coola Valley community
of Hagensborg. About 90 staff work out of the district office and
4 staff are located at the field office.
There are 15
communities in the District with a total population of about
20,000.
In the North Island portion of the District, about 25% of the population is made up of 11 First Nations represented by the Musgamagw Tsawtaineuk Tribal Council, The Kwakiutl District Council, and the
independent band, the Tlowitsis-Mumtagila. More than half of the population
in the Central Coast portion of the District is aboriginal, including members of the Nuxalk,
Heiltsuk, Kitasoo and Oweekeno Nations.
The North Island's spectacular
geography, formed through glacial, fluvial and volcanic action, varies from the
rugged peaks of the coast mountain range on the mainland to the Nahwitti
lowlands on Northern Vancouver Island. The elevation ranges from sea level
to a maximum height of 4,019 metres on Mount Waddington in the northeast corner
of the District.
The land base is approximately 50% mountain, lakes and glacier, 1% urban, and
the remaining 49% is forested.
The North Island - Central Coast Forest District contains
10 different biogeoclimatic
zones.
Wildlife is abundant in the area with black-tailed deer, mule deer, black bear,
grizzly bear, Roosevelt elk, cougar, moose, mountain goat and wolves. Bird
species include red tailed hawks, bald eagles,
cormorants, Canada geese, marbled murrelets and northern goshawk.
In the Central Coast there are a number of rare or protected wildlife species
including Kermode bears, grizzly bears, marbled murrelets, killer whales, sea
otters and the Queen Charlotte goshawk.
The district's numerous river
systems support Dolly Varden, char, steelhead, cutthroat and rainbow trout.
Saltwater commercial and sport species of fish include coho, chinook, chum, pink
and sockeye salmon, herring, eulachon, halibut, ling cod, red snapper, and many
other bottom dwelling species.
About 1,800 jobs within the district
are
directly supported by the forest
industry. Fishing, tourism and
service industries make up the rest
of the area's non-forestry economy.
Thousands more British Columbians
outside of the district depend upon the area's natural resources for
their jobs in primary sawmilling,
the pulp and paper industry, the
value-added sector, tourism as well
as the
services and supply industries.
Please refer to the following documents for a detailed socio-economic analysis:
The NICCFD is divided into the
Mid-Coast Timber Supply Area (TSA)
and the
Kingcome TSA.
The Mid Coast TSA covers 2.2 million hectares, is located on B.C.'s central
coast and includes the community of Bella Coola. About 93% of
the TSA is not available for public forest management,
either because it is comprised mainly of rock, ice
and alpine, or because it is an environmentally
sensitive area, private land, or an inoperable area.
Therefore, the remaining 7% of the TSA is all that
is available for long-term integrated forest
management. However, under the Forest
Practices Code, part of this 7% will be protected as
sensitive areas, riparian management areas and
wildlife tree patches. Effective September 28,
2006, an AAC reduction is in effect under Section 173 of the Forest Act;
therefore, the current allowable annual cut for the Mid Coast TSA is 768,000
cubic metres.
The Kingcome TSA encompasses 1.14 million hectares on northern Vancouver
Island, the adjacent mainland, and several small islands. The TSA includes
the towns of Port McNeill and Port Hardy, as well as a number of smaller
communities. Effective September 28, 2006, an AAC reduction is in effect
under Section 173 of the Forest Act; therefore, the current allowable
annual cut for the Kingcome TSA is 1,232,000 cubic metres.
For information on the AAC's and a list of Licensees for Woodlots, Timber Sales Licences and
Forest Licences within the Kingcome and Lid Coast TSA's, please refer to:
An untapped reservoir of recreational
opportunities, the North Island - Central Coast Forest District has excellent
fishing, magnificent sailing in
and around the archipelagos, untouched
beaches on the mainland and west coast of Vancouver Island, and is the launching
point for the North West Passage. Visitors from all over North America and
Europe come to this area for steelhead and salmon fishing, pleasure boating,
kayaking and wildlife viewing, hunting, camping and mountain climbing.
Spectacular sites unique to the North Island include hundreds of caves and karst
(limestone) related features, world class scuba diving, and the world's largest
burl.
On a yearly basis the district
maintains recreation sites so British Columbians can enjoy world class
recreation. The district is assisted in their recreation program by TFL Forest
Ltd., Western Forest Products, Canadian Forest Products and Weyerhaeuser which
maintain recreational sites
within their TFLs. Approximately 40,000
visitors per year use the Forest Service and licensee-supported recreation
facilities.
Numerous parks lie in and around the
NICC Forest District area. Tweedsmuir Park South (at 982,427 hectares is one of
the largest provincial parks in B.C.), Codville Lagoon Marine Park (also known
as Sagar Lake Park, 654 hectares), the Hakai (122,634 hectares) and Fiordland
(84,057 hectares) recreation areas, and the network of small marine parks along
the inside passage are protected areas in the Central Coast that provide popular
tourism and recreation resources. The NICC Forest District
recreation program manages:
-
9 district recreation sites,
including 7
marine anchorages,
-
32 recreation sites
managed cooperatively with
major licensees,
-
3 hiking trails
totalling 17 km, and
-
4 interpretative trails
totalling 3 km.
For more information on
recreation within the NICCFD,
please visit our
Recreation Program webpage.
