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VICTORIA – Major tenure opportunities are now being advertised for the harvest and utilization of beetle-killed pine from the timber supply areas hardest hit by B.C.’s mountain pine beetle infestation, minister of state for Forestry Operations Roger Harris announced today.
“One goal of the mountain pine beetle action plan is to create new markets for beetle-killed timber and put large volumes of this wood to good use, without disrupting existing markets for forest products,” said Harris. “The development of these tenure opportunities, for both large and small licensees, is key to recovering maximum value from beetle-attacked trees.”
Government’s mountain pine beetle action plan is committed to supporting affected communities by encouraging opportunities for future economic diversification, and fostering new and emerging forest-based activities.
Developing forests licences specifically directed at beetle-wood is also part of the disposition strategy for the allowable annual cut uplift that was announced last August by the chief forester in response to the beetle epidemic in the Prince George, Quesnel and Lakes timber supply areas.
The allowable annual cut for the three timber supply areas was increased by 27 per cent to 23.4 million cubic metres. The increase – a total of about 4.9 million cubic metres – will focus on salvaging pine forests with moderate to high levels of mortality as a result of the beetle.
The Ministry of Forests now plans to advertise about 2.5 million cubic metres of the beetle uplift as small, medium and large-size tenures through a competitive bidding process. Two 15-year, non-replaceable forest licences for 700,000 cubic metres per year are now being advertised. The ads are posted at http://www.gov.bc.ca/for online.
Small and medium-sized licences will be advertised within the next two months.
Based upon the outcomes of these initial allocations, another 1.9 million cubic metres will be advertised in the spring and summer of 2005. The beetle uplift disposition strategy will also make another 467,000 cubic metres available per year through BC Timber Sales.
The initial tenures will be monitored throughout the winter to assess if amendments are necessary before the remaining uplift volume for the Prince George, Quesnel and Lakes timber supply areas is advertised next year.
Government made an amendment to the Forest Act in October to facilitate the salvage of beetle-attacked timber.
In April, as part of the Province’s action plan for dealing with the mountain pine beetle infestation, the ministry called for expressions of interest demonstrating viable opportunities to use an amount of beetle-killed pine exceeding current industry needs.
The expressions of interest process generated 66 submissions – proposals ranging from pellet production to log home construction – to help guide the development of the beetle uplift disposition strategy while meeting the following objectives: · Utilization of the dead pine prior to its value being lost. · Early cost-effective reforestation of affected stands. · Economic diversification for impacted communities. · Maintenance of environmental values.
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