The BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sales license (TSL) holders in Burns Lake were audited by the Forest Practices Board and found compliance with two exceptions.

In a news release issued last week by the board, Kevin Kriese, the board chair said while BCTS complied with the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildlife Act, auditors found two bridges had guardrails that needed repair. Auditors also found that several TSL holders’ fire hazard assessment practices required improvement.

“The guardrails on the bridges had been identified for repair, but the work was not undertaken, which is a non-compliance,” Kriese said. “Some timber sale licensees did not conduct a formal fire hazard assessment following logging, although they did abate any hazards as a matter of practice. As a result, this was considered an area requiring improvement.”

This BCTS program was one of the two chosen randomly every year from all the province-wide BCTS programs.

In August 2020, the board had audited BCTS forestry operations in the Burns Lake Field Unit portion of BCTS’s Babine Business Area, located in the Nadina Forest District near Burns Lake. This audited area is between Babine Lake south to Ootsa Lake and from the west end of Francois Lake eastward to Francois Lake Provincial Park.

The main communities within the audit area are Burns Lake, Francois Lake, Grassy Plains and Southbank.

The audit, which was a full scope compliance audit, included BCTS and TSL holder activities that took place over a two-year period starting in August 2018. During this two-year period, the timber sale licensees harvested about 333,000 cubic metres from the audited area.

Post the audit, BCTS has replaced one of the bridges and made amendments to its procedures to address the issues that came up during the audit.

Priyanka Ketkar
Multimedia journalist
@PriyankaKetkar

priyanka.ketkar@ldnews.net

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