In August of 2004 the Westbank First Nation (WFN) entered into an agreement with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests providing WFN with a Community Forest Pilot Agreement. This provides WFN with the opportunity to harvest an annual allowable cut (AAC) of 55,000 cubic meters per year from the community forest.
In January 2007, the harvest level was increased to 85,000 cubic metres per year to help address the on-coming mountain pine beetle issue.
With this license also comes a series of obligations and requirements including;
Although this is only 5 year pilot agreement, the Ministry of Forests implement provisions for the replacement of pilot agreements with long-term community forest agreements which could extend the lease for up to 99 years. This 99 year term has been the long term goal for the Westbank First Nation since the tenure document of the Westbank First Nation Community Forest Pilot Agreement was signed in July 2004.
In order to replace the current 5 year license with a 99 year license, WFN will be completing an assessment report which will summarize what we have achieved to date including; harvesting activities, road construction activities, silviculture, compliance and enforcement, community support, and consistency with government.
March 31, 2009: The Ministry of Forests and Range removed Community Forest Pilot Agreement from the Forest Act. The Minister and his staff were so impressed with the management of Community Forests around the province, including the Westbank Community Forest, that they decided the 5 year pilots were no longer required. A long term licence was offered to WFN in 2009.
After the signing of the license agreement and before any works can start on the ground, WFN was obligated to develop a series of plans.
Management plans The management plan outlines the forest development strategies that WFN will pursue during the period of August 2004 to July 2009. These activities will further the long-term forest management objectives for the license. Our initial management plan was approved by Ministry of Forests in May, 2005. Forest Development Plans Our initial forest development plan identified proposed cutblocks and road construction works that were anticipated for the period of August 2004 to July 2009. The initial forest development plan was approved by Ministry of Forests in May 2005. Since 2005, six amendments have been made to the original forest development plan. All of these amendments were required to remove timber infected by mountain pine beetle. Cutting Permits A cutting permit is a legal document that authorizes the licensee to harvest trees within a specific area as long as the licensee adheres to the rules and regulation set out by the Forest Service. WFN has now developed over 15 cutting permits. Site Plans Site plans are detailed summaries of each block and are designed to identify any issues that will affect the success of harvesting and regeneration of the site. Where required, harvesting plans are modified to address the values being managed. Some of these values that are considered include: ungulate winter range, fish populations and habitat, visuals, community watersheds, wildlife tree retention, recreation use, and sites that have cultural or heritage significant.
The management plan outlines the forest development strategies that WFN will pursue during the period of August 2004 to July 2009. These activities will further the long-term forest management objectives for the license. Our initial management plan was approved by Ministry of Forests in May, 2005.
Our initial forest development plan identified proposed cutblocks and road construction works that were anticipated for the period of August 2004 to July 2009. The initial forest development plan was approved by Ministry of Forests in May 2005.
Since 2005, six amendments have been made to the original forest development plan. All of these amendments were required to remove timber infected by mountain pine beetle.
A cutting permit is a legal document that authorizes the licensee to harvest trees within a specific area as long as the licensee adheres to the rules and regulation set out by the Forest Service. WFN has now developed over 15 cutting permits.
Site plans are detailed summaries of each block and are designed to identify any issues that will affect the success of harvesting and regeneration of the site. Where required, harvesting plans are modified to address the values being managed. Some of these values that are considered include:
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The development and harvesting phases include layout, road engineering, road construction, logging and hauling.
The layout and road engineering includes the engineering of proposed road locations, boundary locations, no machine zones, riparian management zones, stream assessments, retention patches for visuals and archeological overview assessments.
Road construction is completed during the first phase along with the harvesting. With the use of modern industrialized equipment, contractors cut down, skid, and process the trees on landings, getting them ready for transport or the hauling phase.
The hauling phase of harvesting is when the logs are loaded onto the logging trucks and hauled to the local mills to be processed and made into specialty wood products.
On the Community Forest the harvesting started in June 2005 and continues to this day, only shutting down for spring break-up, and in August for fire shut down.
After the harvesting is complete a post harvest assessment is completed to prepare the blocks for tree planting and regeneration. To reduce the fire risk hazard, debris piles are created throughout the block and burned in the late fall. Burning only takes place when the venting index is appropriate and only after blocks have been surveyed for waste.
The post harvest assessment also provides us with an opportunity to determine the appropriate treatments required to establish a young and thrifty forest. This assessment determines tree species, the number of plantable spots in a block and the appropriate stock type for the site.
In 2007, we embarked on our first planting program on the community forest when approximately 156,000 trees were planted. In 2008, approximately 250,000 trees were planted and in 2009 we anticipate planting over 300,000 seedlings.
To date WFN has already realized a number of benefits from the community forest including:
Protection of community watersheds.
The prime contractors working on the community forest are owned and operated by First Nation members from the community. This includes:
For more information about Heartland Economics LP, please contact:
Grant Thompson, RPF 3522A Red Cloud Way
Westbank, BC V4T-2G9 T 250 768 5617
F 250 768 5619 grant.thompson@wfndc.ca