BC Timber Sales is seeking public feedback regarding an application to amend Forest Stewardship Plan No. 601 for an area called Robson Ridge above the southwest shore of Lower Arrow Lake.
The application for Visual Sensitivity Unit #703 in the Selkirk Forest District asks permission to use a lower visual quality objective (VQO) for the designated parcels.
The point where the harvest will be visible is up the Deer Park Forest Service Road west of Syringa Creek Provincial Park. It will not be visible from the park itself.
The request seeks to harvest a higher percentage of trees than the stewardship plan allows in order to facilitate salvage and sanitation logging resulting from Douglas-fir beetle damage.
The Douglas-fir beetle is the principal killer of mature Douglas-fir in B.C. It usually attacks weakened or dying trees, but occasionally its populations increase to the extent that it infests and kills large numbers of healthy trees, according to the B.C. Forest Ministry.
Maps of the area can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3QX044E.
Melissa Rode, planning forester for the Arrow Field Team, says the VQO is the only part of the plan that will be altered. The harvest will still meet all other requirements.
The public is invited to review and comment on the Forest Stewardship Plan No. 601 amendment before Nov. 13. Comments must be submitted in writing to: Melissa Rode, Planning Forester Arrow Field Team; Box 219, Nakusp, B.C., V0G 1R0 or to Melissa.Rode@gov.bc.ca.
betsy.kline@castlegarnews.com
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