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VICTORIA – A new bill introduced today by Forests Minister Michael de Jong will facilitate the salvage of beetle-attacked timber and direct stumpage costs paid by small-scale salvagers to reforestation activities.
Bill 65, the Forests Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2), 2004, will enable government to specify an area of Crown land as a mountain pine beetle salvage area and to enable specific requirements to be included in a forest licence competitively sold within the salvage area. In this way, government can direct harvesting and/or restrict harvesting to priority areas of beetle-killed timber. This amendment supports the mountain pine beetle action plan.
As a result of the Chief Forester’s allowable annual cut increases in the Quesnel, Prince George and Lakes timber supply areas, an additional 4.9 million cubic metres of timber will be available for harvesting over the next few years. Non-replaceable forest licences totalling 1.25 million cubic metres are being advertised until Nov. 29, in the Prince George and Quesnel timber supply areas.
The new bill also meets one of the recommendations stemming from the MLA small-scale salvage review committee report released last year. The small-scale salvage costs portion of stumpage will be directed to a special account, which will then be used reforestation.
Minor housekeeping amendments are also being made to other pieces of forestry legislation. The bill will come into effect once it passes third reading.
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