The provincial government claims to have found an additional 600,000 cubic metres of merchantable timber in the Quesnel area.
The B.C. Ministry of Forests put in extra effort in the northern Cariboo region as part of the Mid-Term Timber Supply Action Plan. The area was last inventoried in 2011, but the Quesnel timber supply area was given a second, closer look this fall partially due to the heavy losses sustained there during the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
"The new analysis reflects the past four years of harvest activity, new forest-cover information from the eastern portion of the timber supply area, as well as Landscape Vegetation Inventory information for the western portion," said a joint statement from Minister of Forests Steve Thomson and Parliamentary Secretary for Forestry John Rustad. "Landscape Vegetation Inventory analysis is a new efficient and cost-effective method that takes advantage of satellite imagery, high resolution digital aerial photography, and software applications for managing very large data sets."
The pine beetle did not kill quite as much as expected, both in young stands and in more mature timber, the new data seemed to indicate, and there would be better growth than expected in particular areas of more intensive ground management.
"It's great to see these initial results, which are encouraging for mid-term timber supply. These results also show the benefits of new digital and satellite technology," said Rustad.
But Thomson cautioned the forest industry.
"While the new forecast shows an increase in potential mid-term timber supply, this does not mean the current allowable annual cut will change," he said. "The chief forester will be considering this, and other new information, in the next re-determination of the allowable annual cut."
More analysis is underway for the Quesnel timber supply area, with special attention on what silviculture practices will be best to invest in.
This new approach has a new government term: Type 4 silviculture. It incorporates, for the first time, the usual replanting considerations, but also wildfire and forest fuel management, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem restoration.
Initially, Type 4 plans are being developed in the following timber supply areas: 100 Mile House, Lakes, Morice, Okanagan, Williams Lake, Prince George and Quesnel.
Also, two other forest districts - Nadina near Houston and Okanagan-Shuswap - will be pilot project areas for testing the wildfire specifications coming out of the new silviculture calculations.
