B.C.’s chief forester has immediately decreased the allowable annual cut in the Merritt timber supply area (TSA) from 2.4 million cubic metres down to 1.5 million.

By March of 2021 it will decrease to 1.2 million cubic metres.

This is the second decrease of Merritt’s TSA in six years.

In 2010, the allowable annual cut decreased from 2.8 million cubic metres to 2.4 million.

This new allowable annual cut is comparable to those set before the mountain pine beetle epidemic began.

Now that we have nearly completed salvage harvesting of mountain pine beetle-affected stands in the Merritt timber supply area, my new determination signals a return to more sustainable harvesting practices that will support and ensure the long-term timber supply,” said chief forester Diane Nicholls in a press release.

The Merritt TSA covers 1.13 million hectares. Of this, about 590,000 hectares are available for timber harvesting.

In 2010, that number was 803,558 hectares.

Communities in the timber supply area include Merritt, Princeton, Tulameen, Douglas Lake and Spences Bridge, as well as the First Nations communities of Coldwater, Cooks Ferry, Nooaitch, Shackan, Upper Nicola, Lower Nicola and Upper Similkameen.

The allowable annual cut is determined through a timber supply review.

The Timber Supply Review in a nutshell

  • British Columbia’s chief forester’s determination of the allowable annual cut (AAC) is based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations and public input to the government’s social and economic goals.
  • Started in 1992 to update the understanding of timber supply in each of the province’s 38 timber supply areas (TSAs).
  • The AAC is the maximum amount of timber that the chief forester determines is reasonable to harvest from the TSA.
  • The chief forester’s job is to determine the AAC for each TSA every ten years, or, as in the case of the Merritt TSA, whenever it is deemed necessary.
  • The last TSA done in Merritt was in December of 2010. The chief forester at that time said that as the mountain pine beetle was wrapping up its attack on the district, he wanted to get back sooner than the typical 10 year period.
  • Some of the things that go into the chief forester’s decision on what to set the annual allowable cut at are forest composition and management, and objectives for that land base, the region, and the province.
  • The review process varies depending on the complexity of the information or issues, but there are three general stages that take place.
  • STAGE 1: Information sharing and gathering. A data package, which descirbes the inventory and management information and timber supply analysis assumptions that are believed to best reflect current forest management is produced and made public.
  • STAGE 2: The timber supply analysis. This generally follows the data package, but will differ based on input from the public and First Nations, or new information and analysis.
  • STAGE 3: The determination. The chief forester considers the information from the data package, timber supply analysis, information, objectives and uncertainties that were unavailable or could not be quantified. He or she then announces the new AAC with a rationale document explaining the decision.