Several issues raised in the Discussion Paper prompted public input.
allowable annual cut adjustment
Input on whether and how the allowable annual cut should be adjusted covers the full range of options: from increasing the harvest, through maintaining current levels, to immediate reductions to sustainable levels.
One respondent suggests the allowable annual cut should be reduced by 60 per cent (33 per cent for the Old-Growth Strategy, 5 per cent for the Protected Areas Strategy, 10 per cent for visual quality, 5 per cent for riparian protection, and 7 per cent for a margin of error). The submission contends that the timber supply area has been systematically overharvested and the allowable annual cut must be reduced to a sustainable level immediately.
Another respondent states that the harvest must be lowered to a sustainable level now. Increasing or maintaining the allowable annual cut will exacerbate the threat of short-term falldowns in timber supply that will have negative impacts on licensees. The submission also says that northern timber supply areas must not suffer because of allowable annual cut reductions on the coast and in the south; communities and environmental integrity in the north must not be sacrificed to meet provincial fibre flow requirements.
One submission expresses strong opposition to any increase in either the deciduous or coniferous allowable annual cut. He believes the majority of residents, including First Nations, oppose an increase. This is partly because the Forest Practices Code has not mitigated environmental impacts of harvesting to any large degree and also because it is important to be conservative in setting harvest levels.
A forest industry submission suggests the deciduous allowable annual cut be maintained at the current level for the next 10 years, until more productivity information is collected. Another company recommends the deciduous harvest be reduced immediately to a level that will allow a more moderate transition to the long-term timber supply level.
The same company states the coniferous harvest should be maintained at the current level until the impacts of the Land and Resource Management Plan, the Protected Areas Strategy and the Forest Practices Code can be accounted for. However, if the chief forester increases the harvest due to the inclusion of small diameter pine, this increase must be partitioned so that the traditional sawlog supply is not compromised. The company says the increased harvest should be made available to existing mills rather than used to encourage new capacity.
Another industry respondent contends that the current harvest levels can be sustained and even increased, now and in the future.
Timber Supply Review process
One submission recommends that the allowable annual cut for tree farm licenses must be considered at the same time as for the timber supply area, in order to get a complete picture of the harvesting and environmental situations.
Timber Supply Area boundaries
An industry submission questions why the drainages flowing east and north from the Kakwa recreation area are now part of the Prince George Forest District instead of the Dawson Creek district. The company also asks what timber volumes could be available from Pulpwood Agreement 7, a portion of which lies within the Dawson Creek Timber Supply Area.
