Kimberley City Council received a delegation from forest company Canfor this past Monday evening. Planning Forester Ian Johnson and Planning Coordinator Grant Neville attended Council to explain Canfor’s plans for logging in the area of the Lois Creek trails.
Council heard that while the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic was holding fairly steady, there are still hot spots of beetle infestation. A couple of those hot spots are in the Lois Creek area and Canfor will be dealing with them this coming winter.
Johnson said that he had spoken with representatives from the Friends of Lois Creek and walked the trails with them.
“We talked about dealing with the beetle infestation without having too negative an impact on the trails,” Johnson said.
Only pine will be removed with an average of 170 stems per hectare left.
“In a partial cut that’s never even,” Johnson said. “But we will be leaving all fir, larch, spruce and balsam.”
Pine will also be left along the trails unless it’s infected.
“We will take out as little as we can,” Johnson said. “We want to get in there, remove problem trees and still leave a forest.”
With the logging being done in the winter, Canfor can build temporary roads. A bridge over Kimberley Creek will be removed after the logging for use elsewhere.
Johnson says that after logging this 80 hectare section, Canfor would consider itself done in the Lois Creek area for at least 20 years.
“We will continue to monitor the beetle and treat anywhere they come in high,” he said.
Mayor Ron McRae asked about the correlation between logging in the Kimberley Creek Lois Creek area and flood problems in the Morrison Subdivision.
“Do you feel this logging might have an impact on the Morrison Sub?” he asked.
Johnson the impact on the cut block would be reduced by leaving 170 stems/ha but that Canfor was bringing a hydrologist in to do a report.
“We want to make sure we don’t impact peak flow,” he said.
He also said there was another walk through the trails with the Friends of Lois Creek on August 6.
“We will continue to consult with them and we will make the hydrology report available,” he said.