NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
2009FOR0031-000138
July 22, 2009

Ministry of Forests and Range
Chief Forester’s Office

VICTORIA – The allowable annual cut for the Arrowsmith timber supply area on southern Vancouver Island remains essentially the same at around 420,000 cubic metres, chief forester Jim Snetsinger announced today.

The new allowable annual cut is 420,000 cubic metres, a slight increase from the previous level of 418,769 cubic metres.

“Given the nature of the forests in the Arrowsmith timber supply area, the current level of cut can be maintained,” said Snetsinger. “I’m confident that the level of cut will maintain forestry jobs and also sustainable forests into the future.”

The Arrowsmith timber supply area covers about 155,471 hectares on southern Vancouver Island surrounding Port Alberni, Nanaimo and Duncan. A portion of the timber supply area also extends into Clayoquot Sound; in that area, forests are managed according to the recommendations of the 1995 Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel Report.

The new allowable annual cut maintains two existing partitions:

• a maximum of 6,300 cubic metres attributable to harvesting red alder stands which have at least 50 percent deciduous species (measured by volume).
• 13,700 cubic metres for harvesting in stands within the Clayoquot Sound area.

The chief forester’s determination is an independent professional judgment based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations input and public input to the government’s social and economic goals. The timber supply review accounts for environmental factors such as biodiversity (which includes old-growth forests), water resources, and scenic values, in addition to social and economic issues.

Under the timber supply review, the chief forester or deputy chief forester must determine how much wood can be harvested in each of the province’s 37 timber supply areas and 34 tree farm licences at least once every five years. A new allowable annual cut may be determined earlier in response to abnormal situations, or postponed for another five years if an allowable annual cut level is not expected to change significantly.

Copies of the chief forester’s allowable annual cut determination are available on the Ministry of Forests and Range website at www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/ or from the South Island Forest District office in Port Alberni or the Coast Forest Region office in Nanaimo.


Media contact:

Jim Snetsinger
Chief Forester
Victoria
250 387-1296