An
End to Klinaklini Logging
In April of 2001, with logging
companies nipping at both the
head and the heels of the Klinaklini,
and new logging roads being constructed
in the river's lower reaches,
the Klinaklini River valley received
protection status from the province
of British Columbia's Central
Coast Land and Coastal Resource
Management Plan. According
to the plan, formulated over
a 5-year period by local governments,
federal and provincial agencies,
First Nations, forest companies,
environmental groups and tourism
and recreation representatives,
the Klinaklini will be protected
from logging. Under the provincial
Environment and Land Use Act,
mineral exploration and access
to mineral resources will be
allowed for a period of 15 years.
If no mineral-related development
is found to be feasible during
that time, the area will be
designated as a "protection
area."
The Klinaklini designation
is part of a landmark agreement
to protect 20 British Columbian
rainforest valleys from industrial
logging and development, and
to impose temporary logging
moratoria on a further 69 large
valleys. Along with the an end
to Klinaklini logging, the CCLCRMP
plan protects the North West
Coast's Princess Royal Island,
habitat of the Kermode "Spirit
Bear," and calls for the
application of "ecosystem-based
management" to ongoing
development in the plan area.
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Forestry in the
Chilcotin: An Economy in Transition
While much attention has been focused on
forestry issues related to the Pacific coast
of British Columbia, it is the province's
interior that accounts for about 75% of
its annual timber harvest. Forests of the
Chilcotin Plateau - consisting primarily
of virgin old-growth lodgepole pine - have
been aggressively logged.
The introduction of mechanically-operated
"feller bunchers" has transformed
logging into a 24 hour a day industry, with
logging trucks covering long distances from
the interior wilderness to the sawmill centre
of Williams Lake. In the past decade, a
record number of trees have been harvested
in the Chilcotin.
The future of the Chilcotin's forestry-based
economy, however, is uncertain, due to a
combination of political and economic factors:
• Ongoing softwood lumber trade
disputes with the United States have undermined
the stability of the entire British Columbian
forestry industry.
• The accelerated pace of timber
harvesting in the Chilcotin area has resulted
in a situation in which supply is beginning
to fall short of production capacity.
• The use of heavy-duty mechanical
equipment such as feller bunchers has reduced
the size of the labour force required to
complete the harvest.
• New amendments to the Forest
Practices Code, logging prohibitions in
parklands such as Tweedsmuir Provincial
Park, Ts'yl-os Provincial Park and Itcha-Hgachuz
Provincial Park, partial logging restrictions
in several "Special Management Zones"
such as the Charlotte Alplands, and the
2001 introductions of the new coastal logging
moratoria (including the Klinaklini River
Valley) have further reduced the Chilcotin's
total harvestable area.
As a result of these factors, mill closures
and job losses are now affecting Chilcotin
area communities, underscoring the need
for further diversification of the area's
economy.
What
is a Feller Buncher?
With its massive metal jaws and
razor-sharp whirling saw blades,
the "feller buncher"
is a powerful machine used to
harvest trees. It has rubber tires
or tracks, and is equipped with
a power plant, operator cab, and
felling head attached to a moveable,
extendable arm. A grappling device
on the feller head is used to
clasp the trunk of the tree, while
a built-in disc saw or chain saw
"fells" or severs it
from its stump. The machine then
lifts the severed tree, lowers
it into a horizontal position,
and drops it on a "bunch"
of logs piled on the ground. Feller
bunchers are equipped with headlights,
and can be used in round-the-clock
logging operations. The use of
feller bunchers in the forestry
industry has reduced the number
of employees required for large-scale
logging operations. Conservationists
have raised concerns about the
impact of heavy logging machinery
such as feller bunchers and skidders
on soil compaction and erosion |
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The Lodgepole Pine:
Foundation of the British Columbia Timber
Harvest
In the weather-beaten, subalpine tree-line
regions of the Chilcotin Plateau, near the
head of the Klinaklini River, the lodgepole
pine, with its thin, scaly bark and short,
prickly cones, is often shrubby, misshapen
and contorted. Elsewhere, it grows tall
and slender, adapting easily to habitats
ranging from waterlogged bogs to dry, sandy
soils. It is the first tree to invade an
area following a forest fire, and provides
food for a wide range of small mammals that
feed on its inner bark. (The tree has also
had many human uses, with strips of inner
bark eaten fresh or stored, pitch used to
make healing poultices, and needles used
to brew medicinal teas.)
Lodgepole pine is British Columbia's most
widespread tree species and the dominant
tree of its timber harvest. In 1999, lodgepole
pine accounted for almost 30% of the provinces'
total timber harvest. As a softwood it has
a variety of uses, including plywood, paneling,
furniture, doors, windows, fence posts and
railway ties.
Sapling-Sized: Although lodgepole
pine is a major resource in the timberlands
of the Chilcotin Plateau, harvested trees
are rarely more than 25 or 30 centimetres
in diameter. Even at 150 -200 years of age,
"old-growth" trees are small,
dwarfed by cold temperatures and harsh growing
conditions.
Beetle Bother: Along with the ponderosa
pine, white bark pine and western white
pine, the lodgepole pine is susceptible
to attack by the mountain pine bark beetle.
In its larval stage, the beetle weakens
and kills the tree, both by feeding on its
inner bark, and by introducing a devastating
"bluestain fungus." A recent outbreak
of mountain pine bark beetle in the Chilcotin
Forest Area has resulted in accelerated
harvesting levels, as forestry companies
race to log trees before they are seriously
affected. |
