Kamloops FFS Pilot


Introduction

Through an Expression of Interest process, the Kamloops Timber Supply Area (TSA) was selected as a pilot area
to test the applicability and functionality of the Future Forest Strategy (FFS) concept and identity opportunities for improvement before moving the concept and framework into practice. The intent of the Kamloops FFS is, first and foremost, to: understand planning synergies and conflicts, and resolve these on several spatial scales across a TSA; and ultimately provide reasonable management guidance that integrates overlapping objectives and seeks well-informed solutions to fit with stand and landscape structures and functions over time.

To effectively integrate management for multiple objectives over time it is important to have a vision of the mix
of stand types and structures for various landscapes to reasonably fit with those objectives and the ecosystems present. It requires best estimates of changing future ecological conditions, with a reasonable consideration of the uncertainty tied to those estimates.

Objectives

To articulate the vision of what the desired forest condition is to be towards ensuring / mitigating more resilience to ecological, economic and/or social issues and/or drivers such as climate change, and mountain pine beetle.

  1. Clarify intent and overlap from the various plans and strategies for the Kamloops TSA and to assess management options based on the desired future condition;
  2. Provide management options based on climate change scenarios;
  3. Mitigate risks to environmental values to ensure objectives for timber and other values are not jeopardized;
  4. Identify data gaps and uncertainties; and
  5. Provide a template for managing multiple objectives in a changing environment.

Approach

The project is separated into two phases:

Phase 1: preliminary data organization and analysis

Phase 1 informs the choice of an area within the TSA which will act as a case study to develop an approach
for integration of planning direction within the context of a changing climate. This case study area will reflect
a variety of overlapping management objectives and significant anticipated impacts from climate change.

Phase 2: develop the strategy

Phase 2 utilizes existing inventories, expert opinion and available data, tools and information emerging from the Future Forest Ecosystems Initiative to identify what if any ecological or management vulnerabilities emerge over time within the modified landscape.

Phase 2 will take the methodology developed in the case study area and apply it over the TSA. The final report will present the results of the Kamloops FFS and provide a process to design management guidance that integrates overlapping objectives and seeks informed solutions to fit with stand and landscape structures and functions over time for ecosystems influenced by climate change.

2007-08 Deliverables

2008-09 Deliverables