Prince George Community Forest Update

City Pushes for New, Expanded Community Forest License

Prince George, B.C. – There is an effort underway to extend the City’s community forest license beyond its five year tenure, and beyond its current limit of Crown lands within City Limits.

There are some 38 thousand hectares of lands which  City Environment Manager Dan Adamson says need some sort of treatment in an effort to reduce the risk of interface fires, “The situation  is getting worse, not better” says  Adamson.

The application would involve the City, the Lheidli T’enneh and the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. Adamson says the revenue from the removal of some of the timber would pay for the cost of the operations.

Councillor Brian Skakun says this should be a provincial responsibility and he is concerned the City will become liable for the full costs and will lose money. But Adamson says their analysis has shown this would be a net positive operation “If there is a period when the cost of logs drops, this program would be stopped until the cost recovery improved.”

Councillor Dave Wilbur says he hopes the City will continue to look for grant money to get the work done. He says the Provincial and Federal Government’s need to be made aware that when there is a fire, there is not only a risk of losing timber and homes, but there is a detrimental impact on health as people in the region are forced to breathe the smoky air.

Councillor Deborah Munoz adds that when it comes to fires, “There are no political boundaries”.

The City’s Community Forest License is scheduled to come to an end in October of 2011 if the license is not revised to a 25 year license. “Wildfire mitigation is the primary driver for this application” says Adamson, although he says there would be benefits for future agricultural development.

“This is an extremely serious challenge we are facing”, says Mayor Dan Rogers. He says the fact the effort is looking at a three part partnership should carry weight with the Province which has the final say  “We are moving forward to find a solution to the challenge with our partners in the region.”

By 250 News

Monday, October 18, 2010 09:17 PM