The timber harvesting land base includes areas where it is environmentally and economically feasible to harvest and reforest with current practices and harvesting methods. With alternative harvesting practices and a possible increase in timber values as wood supplies become limited, more of the timber may be economical and environmentally feasible to harvest in the future than is currently estimated. This may lead to an increase in the timber harvesting land base and possibly an increase in the short- and long-term timber supply. On the other hand, changes in management practices for non-timber resource values may prompt a reduction in the size of the timber harvesting land base.
Figure 8 illustrates the impacts of changes in the size of the timber harvesting land base.
Figure 8 Impacts of changes in the size of the timber harvesting land base
In addition to the area reserved to protect non-timber resource values, two factors have the greatest potential to influence the size of the timber harvesting land base in the 100 Mile House Timber Supply Area:
• problem forest types*
Approximately 137,000 hectares of problem forest types have been identified in the 100 Mile House Timber Supply Area. These forests have poor quality timber or low timber volume and cannot be economically harvested as sawlogs (i.e., very dense pine forests, deciduous forests and sites with low timber growing potential). Because these forests have not been harvested in the past, they were not included in the timber harvesting land base for the timber supply analysis.
Recent changes in timber harvesting and milling technology now provide an opportunity to utilize problem forest types for oriented fibreboard products. A pulpwood agreement currently authorizes harvesting a maximum of 112,000 cubic metres per year of problem forest types in the 100 Mile House Timber Supply Area.
If these problem forest types were harvested, they would be reforested and a portion would be managed to produce sawlogs in the future. This would increase the size of the timber harvesting land base, and the projected long-term timber supply.
Harvesting problem forest types under the pulpwood agreement may affect the availability of mature timber for sawlog harvesting by creating cutover areas that must be reforested and reach three metres in height before adjacent sawlog forests can be harvested. This is particularly a concern in the special management zone. Concerns have also been raised that harvesting problem forest types may have a negative impact on wildlife habitat.
• environmentally sensitive areas
Approximately 22,000 hectares of environmentally sensitive areas were deducted from the timber harvesting land base for the timber supply analysis. It is possible that alternative harvesting practices could be developed to harvest some of these forests without compromising the environmental values in these areas.
