The current forest management practices that are approved and implemented in each zone are briefly described below.
• Basic silviculture — British Columbia laws require areas that are harvested and expected to produce timber in the future to be reforested with ecologically acceptable species within a specified time frame. The most common silvicultural practice is to clear-cut harvest with patch retention, site prepare if required: reforest by planting and control competing vegetation if needed. In addition, selection management is being practiced in some forest stands. It is assumed that, on average, harvested areas will be restocked within two to three years.
• Unsalvaged losses — Timber losses due to wildfire, insects, diseases and wind are minimized as much as possible, and damaged timber is harvested when possible. Unsalvaged losses of merchantable timber to fire are expected to be approximately 5,932 cubic metres per year. Losses due to balsam bark beetle are undetermined at this time.
• Wildlife/biodiversity — Many of the forest cover requirements described in Management zones and integrated resource management practices above are designed to protect and maintain wildlife and general biodiversity values. In addition, the forests that were deducted from the timber harvesting land base, including environmentally sensitive areas, forests dominated by deciduous trees, and forests that have been uneconomical to harvest contribute to wildlife habitat and biodiversity.
• stand level biodiversity has resulted in a five per cent volume reduction on 50 per cent of the cutblocks (as per the Kispiox Land and Resource Management Plan).
• riparian* reserve zones, as per the Forest Practices Code, have been deducted from the timber harvesting land base. This amounts to 15,074 hectares (two per cent) of the productive forest land being excluded from harvesting.
• Harvestable ages — Minimum harvestable age is defined as the time it takes for forests to grow to harvestable size. For the timber supply analysis, minimum harvestable ages for existing forests were based on species and timber productivity, and ranged from 95 to 170 years. For regenerated forests, minimum harvestable ages were defined as being between 65 and 135 years.
• Timber utilization — Within cutblocks, all timber that meets or exceeds the following size limits and is suitable for manufacturing lumber or pulp chips must be utilized:
• lodgepole pine — diameter at stump height: 15 centimetres
• other species — diameter at stump height: 20 centimetres
• Roads and landings - Road building and harvesting layout follow provincial and regional standards. For the timber supply analysis, 9.2 per cent of the timber harvesting land base with forests up to 40 years old was deducted for existing roads and landings. To account for future roads and landings, the remaining timber harvesting land base was reduced by 9.2 per cent following harvesting.
