A convoy of logging trucks drove through Revelstoke on Dec. 12 to honour a local legend. Logging truck driver Doug Dillman died suddenly earlier this month and his family said they wanted him honoured the way he deserved. “He was a legend in this town,” said Leah Zacker, daughter. Dillman worked as a logger in Revelstoke for more than 30 years. Zacker said logging was his passion. “He loved the thrill and adventure of logging, especially climbing roads in an oversized truck.” The Dillman family has worked in forestry for more than eight decades.

A contract to remove burned timber stands near the Williams Lake regional airport has been awarded to Borland Creek Logging of Williams Lake First Nation. WLFN stewardship forester John Walker said the work got underway on Monday, Dec. 14. and will involve hand work, full phase logging and brush sawing. About 12 people will be employed. “We’re doing fuel management currently on Fox Mountain, South Lakeside and just finished a project in the Dairy Fields and the river valley,” Walker said, noting they have done a few projects in the community forest that WLFN owns with the City of Williams Lake.

B.C.’s forest practices watchdog is calling for a revamp of the way old growth forest is treated in the Prince George Timber Supply Area, saying the biodiversity of the stands may be at risk. …The FPB is recommending the remaining old growth forest be mapped and that the definition of old growth forest be changed to trees at least 250 years old from the current 140 years. …Michelle Connolly of Conservation North said said raising the limit at which a tree is considered old growth will prevent forest companies from retaining trees barely meet the criteria meet their old growth retention targets while still going after the older trees. “140 years is ‘old’ in a fire-maintained forest – like lodgepole pine forests – but not in a rainforest, like the Anzac or the Morkill,” Connolly said. She also welcomed the proposal to map the remaining old growth forest and draw lines around specific areas.

The B.C. government is reviewing plans for a proposed cat-ski hill in the Midway range of the Southern Monashee mountains. The adventure tourism company Powder Renegade Lodge (PRL) submitted “formal applications” to the ministry of forests on Nov. 3, according to a spokesperson. …Snowcats would access PRL’s operation using forest roads currently licenced to the logging company Interfor as well as BC Timber Sales and the Selkirk Forest District. Using existing forest roads would minimize the operation’s environmental impact, according to the plan. The company has identified eight First Nations with potential or proven land claims to the area. …The ministry is considering public comments until Jan. 16.

PRINCE GEORGE – An investigation of a complaint about the management of biodiversity in the Prince George Timber Supply Area (PG TSA) has found that biodiversity, as it relates to old growth forest, may be at risk in the TSA. While forest licensees are complying with legal requirements for biodiversity protection in the PG TSA, the investigation identified several concerns with how government and licensees are managing old forest. “One of the key issues is that the legal requirements have not been reviewed or updated to reflect the impacts of the mountain pine beetle, updated science or society’s changing values,” said Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board. “The PG TSA is also one of the few areas in the province where the amount of old forest legally required to be conserved is not specifically identified on maps, but is measured as a percentage of the overall forest inventory. This creates risks to other forest values.

City of Powell River and qathet Regional District have been prompted to send letters to the provincial government endorsing recommendations in the old-forests strategic review report. Retired registered professional forester Janet May… was representing the qathet old growth group concerned about old growth in the area. …The basic kernel is that the province is running out of old growth, and it is going to have to stop being logged at some point, said May. …City director George Doubt wondered about the possible economic impact resulting from the recommendations. May said from the point of view of the region’s tenure holders, Western Forest Products is the largest one, and old growth is a small component, between five and 10 per cent of its annual cut. May said the government has been advised by the report that there would need to be some recognition and compensation.

A tender has been issued to rebuild and realign the washed-out sections of West Fraser Road. The provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the project is complicated from a geotechnical and hydrotechnical perspective and will bypass the active slide areas along the washed-out portions, improving the safety and efficiency of the roadway. “People living in the area are looking forward to this project, following the severe washout that occurred in spring 2018, altering the connections for those who live in this community,” Rob Fleming, minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, said in a Dec. 17 news release. “When the West Fraser Road project is complete, students and residents, including farmers, ranchers and the ?Esdilagh First Nation, will benefit by reduced travel times between communities west of the Fraser River.” … Construction is expected to begin in spring 2021 and finish in fall 2023.

An independent investigation into how the province manages some of its oldest forests has found industry practices may be putting biodiversity at risk … .The B.C. Forest Practices Board, an independent industry watchdog, says … that forest licensees are complying with legal requirements for biodiversity protection. However, the board found some concerns with how government and timber licensees are managing one of the province’s largest timber supply areas around Prince George, B.C. “One of the key issues is that the legal requirements have not been reviewed or updated to reflect the impacts of the mountain pine beetle, updated science or society’s changing values,” wrote board chair Kevin Kriese. Kriese noted that the legal order on biodiversity protection in the Prince George timber supply area was developed nearly 20 years ago. The statement said the investigation also found concerns over how the industry designates old-growth trees in the area.

The Wetzin’kwa Community Forest Corporation had a good year despite some changes that had to be made because of COVID-19 … The community forest’s annual profits from the operations are distributed back into the Bulkley Valley with the aim to provide the greatest long-term benefit. … This year a major investment was made into road building and maintenance. … They also pride themselves on using local contractors. …The majority of this volume, approximately 80 per cent, was sawlogs sold and delivered to Pacific Inland Resources in Smithers and about 17 per cent was dry balsam logs that was delivered to Seaton Forest Products near Witset. … [I]n addition to these delivered volumes, almost 10,000 tonnes of harvesting by-product was delivered to pellet producing facilities in the local area.