Over a thousand British Columbians derive their income directly from salvaging individual trees or small patches of diseased or fallen timber considered uneconomic for the commercial forest industry. These small-scale salvagers have been required to hold a timber sale licence for each extra patch of salvage timber, which has been costly for government and cumbersome for salvagers.

The ministry has begun offering salvage-based non-replaceable forest licences as part of a more efficient system. These licences are competitively awarded and entitle the successful applicant to do small-scale salvage logging in a particular area, which may include many patches, not just one. The licences reduce government administration and give small-scale salvagers more responsibility for their operations.

Government introduced and brought legislation into force in November 2003 that creates a new form of salvage tenure called the community salvage licence. These licences will create new forest sector opportunities specifically for communities, including First Nations, that want to take an enhanced role in the small-scale salvage industry.

After consultations with salvage loggers and other interested stakeholders in more than 40 communities around the province, a MLA review committee recently released a public report for the Minister of Forests’ consideration. The minister is expected to respond to the report in Spring 2004. Recommendations from the report will be evaluated and implemented where appropriate.

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