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CAMPBELL RIVER – Another new woodlot licence is available near Chamiss Bay, as the number of small tenure opportunities continues to increase on northern Vancouver Island, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced today.
“Woodlots are one way that forestry continues to strengthen communities on northern Vancouver Island,” said Bell. “New woodlots offer the opportunity for smaller operators to enter or expand their role in the forest sector, contribute to improved silviculture, and support the local and provincial economy.”
The
woodlot will include 495 hectares of Crown land on Moketas Island, northwest of
Zeballos, with a proposed allowable annual cut of 1,674 cubic metres, as well
as any private land contributed to the woodlot by the successful applicant. It will
be the fourth woodlot near Chamiss Bay and follows the advertising of a woodlot
licence on nearby Union Island at the end of 2008.
The
new licences are part of more than 60 the Province will offer over the next
three years.
“Woodlots bring employment and economic
benefits to communities while ensuring the land is managed with the objectives
of a healthy and productive forest over the long term,” said Federation of B.C.
Woodlot Associations’ general manager Brian McNaughton. “There will be about
900 woodlots in operation in B.C. by 2011, and they continue to be a
significant part of many families’ incomes and local economies.”
Woodlot licences are small, area-based tenures that combine private land
with up to 800 hectares of Crown land on the coast and 1,200
hectares of Crown land in the Interior, and are managed by individuals, groups
or First Nations. Usually, they are replaceable tenures, awarded for 20 years.
There are nearly 830 active woodlots, covering about 546,000 hectares,
in British Columbia.
In 2005, woodlot licensees generated an
estimated $183 million in economic activity in B.C. and harvested just over
three million cubic metres of timber. Each woodlot generates jobs in planning,
harvesting, road construction and maintenance, reforestation, silviculture and
small-scale timber processing.
Applications and further details about the new license are available through the Campbell River Forest District office and at http://www23.for.gov.bc.ca/notices/init.do.
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Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592 |
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