Kamloops, Summary of Public Input

Public Review Process and Response

Kamloops and Clearwater Forest District staff actively solicited public input on the Timber Supply Review in the Kamloops Timber Supply Area through the following actions:

• copies of the Discussion Paper were mailed to over 700 organizations and individuals within the Kamloops Timber Supply Area and adjacent timber supply areas. The Discussion Paper included a response form that readers were encouraged to complete and return to the district manager(s)

• a standing offer was made to provide presentations on the timber supply review to interest groups

• a meeting with the major licensees in the Kamloops Timber Supply Area was held to discuss their analysis of the timber supply analysis

• two open houses were advertised through a direct mail-out, newspaper advertisements and radio coverage

• local newspaper articles reported on the open houses and interviews with Forest Service staff

As Table 1 shows, 97 individuals attended meetings and open houses. The Kamloops and Clearwater Forest District offices received 10 completed response forms and 12 written submissions (see Appendix 1). The major licensees operating in the Kamloops Timber Supply Area commissioned Timberline Forest Inventory Consultants to technically critique the Timber Supply Analysis. That document is referred to as the "licensee analysis" in this report.

Table 1: Participation in public information activities

Overall, those who attended the open houses indicated they were informative and useful, but that much of the information was too technical for the general public to assess. One respondent expressed a preference for having a panel presentation with a question-and-answer period for the public, as opposed to the open house forum.

Many individuals and organizations indicated they did not attend the open houses because they had already provided input through the Kamloops Land and Resource Management Planning process.