Allowable Annual Cut Reduced for B.C.’s Okanagan Timber Supply Area

Shane Berg, B.C.’s deputy chief forester, has announced that he has set a new allowable annual cut (AAC) level for the Okanagan Timber Supply Area (TSA), effective immediately.

Under the Forest Act, the chief forester must determine the AAC in each of the province’s 37 timber supply areas and 34 tree farm licensees at least once every 10 years. The chief forester’s AAC determination is an independent, professional judgment based on information ranging from technical forestry reports, First Nations, and public input to the government’s social and economic goals.

Numerous comments were received from First Nations, licensees, and residents of the TSA regarding this determination. The new AAC accounts for Indigenous Peoples forestry principles, limits on harvesting in community watersheds, wildlife habitat, and a national park reserve area.

The new AAC for the Okanagan TSA is 2,462,800 cubic meters. It is a decrease of approximately 20% from the previous AAC of 3,078,405 cubic meters, which included an increase to allow salvage of stands affected by the mountain pine beetle. It is 7% below the AAC set in 2006, prior to the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

The Okanagan TSA covers about 2.45 million hectares in the Thompson-Okanagan Region, with approximately 31% of the total TSA area available for timber harvesting. The major tree species in the TSA include Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, spruce, and balsam.

Kelowna is the major population center in this TSA, which also includes Armstrong, Chase, Coldstream, Enderby, Kelowna, Keremeos, Lake Country, Lumby, Oliver, Osoyoos, Peachland, Penticton, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Spallumcheen, Summerland, Vernon, West Kelowna, and the unincorporated areas of north and south Okanagan.