The Forest Practices Board has rejected an appeal of a decision to permit logging on Rose Swanson Mountain in Spallumcheen in a decision published Aug. 15, 2023. (Rose Swanson Mountain/Facebook)
The Forest Practices Board won’t appeal amendments to BC Timber Sales’ forest stewardship plan
Controversial logging on Spallumcheen’s Rose Swanson Mountain is set to go ahead after an appeal of a decision to allow the logging was denied by the Forest Practices Board.
Before any logging happens, the board says more consultation with the public would benefit the harvesting plans.
Rose Swanson Mountain was designated as a sensitive area in 1996, and recent plans by BC Timber Sales to harvest in the area have been met by pushback from the community, as the mountain is a well used recreational site. The sensitive area order had the following four objectives:
• Maintain and enhance trail network for use by recreationalists
• Protect visual quality of area
• Maintain recreation values by limiting timber harvesting to low impact silvicultural systems
• Protect the area against vandalism and timber theft
In July, the Forest Practices Board reviewed a request from a member of the public to appeal the approval of amendments to BC Timber Sales’ forest stewardship plan.
The board decided not to appeal amendments to the forest stewardship plan. However, as many in the area are concerned that the harvesting will jeopardize Rose Swanson Mountain’s recreational and natural value, the board is encouraging public consultation to take place before any logging is done.
“In the Board’s view, BC Timber Sales’ results and strategies represent a reasonable balance between timber harvesting and preserving recreation activities and values in the Rose Swanson Mountain area,” Forest Practices Board chair Keith Atkinson said in an open letter.
BC Timber Sales has divided the Rose Swanson Mountain area into two zones. The first zone includes the main trails, and the board says the timber harvesting restrictions in that zone should result in “little to no impact to recreation in this area.” No timber harvesting will occur within 100 metres of the first zone, except harvesting necessary for sanitation and salvage.
Timber harvesting in the second zone can occur, but it is limited to low-impact silviculture systems and a maximum of 50 per cent of the basal area can be harvested within 15 metres of a Zone 2 trail.
“BC Timber Sales will be required to consider input from the public when it plans to harvest timber. BC Timber Sales committed, in its results and strategies, to refer timber harvesting plans to the public for input at least 120 days before starting the work,” Atkinson wrote.
The board notes that “many people” are opposed to any harvesting in the Rose Swanson Mountain area, and says the government “has an opportunity now to address the public’s concerns by developing a new management plan that takes the local community’s knowledge and input into account.”
A management plan for the area was created in the 1990s but was never updated. Therefore, it was automatically cancelled in 2006. The board says a new management plan “that reflects the public’s perspective” would be of value.
Marge Sidney, president of the Armstrong Spallumcheen Trails Society, says the society is “not against logging,” but the forest stewardship plan needs to take into account values other than just profit-generating harvesting.
“What we’re having a problem with is we need all values to be taken into consideration, like rare and endangered species, and Indigenous values, and riparian, and recreation, and on and on,” she told The Morning Star.
She said BC Timber Sales has “wiped the slate clean” and will potentially hold off on auctioning timber until next year.
“We want to see what they do between now and then.”
Sidney sits on a select committee that looks into BC Timber Sales harvesting plans. She said BC Timber Sales has said it will bring maps of the logging plan to the committee’s next meeting for them to go over.
“We would love that BC Timber Sales put FireSmarting as part of their plan,” said Sidney, explaining the Rose Swanson Mountain area contains fire hazards that need to be cleaned up.
“There’s a lot of dead and dying wood, “she said, adding she’s skeptical that BC Timber Sales would harvest the wood as “there’s no value in the timber that’s left standing.”
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