Allowable Annual Cut Reduced on Tree Farm License 8

B.C.’s chief forester, Diane Nicholls, announced on Thursday (2-10-22) that a new allowable annual cut (AAC) level for Tree Farm License (TFL) 8 in the Southern Interior has been set, effective immediately.

The new AAC for TFL 8 is 158,400 cubic meters with a maximum of 131,500 cubic meters harvested from terrain of less than 45% slope. This is to ensure sustainability in low slope areas. The new AAC is a reduction of approximately 14.8% from the previous AAC of 186,000 cubic meters, which was set in 2009. The new AAC accounts for management measures that address Indigenous interests and the accumulation of unharvested volume in the TFL.

TFL 8 overlaps with the territorial boundaries of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, Okanagan Indian Band, Okanagan Nation Alliance, Osoyoos Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, Splatsin First Nation, Upper Nicola Band, Westbank First Nation, and the Okanagan Nation Alliance (First Nations Tribal Council).

TFL 8 is held by the Interfor Corporation. It encompasses 77,189 hectares across two distinct blocks in the southern interior of British Columbia. The south block is north of Greenwood in the Boundary Creek area, and the north block is within the drainages of Trapping Creek and Carmi Creek north of Beaverdell.

The forests within TFL 8 are primarily mixtures of Douglas fir, larch, lodgepole pine, and ponderosa pine at lower and middle elevations and lodgepole pine, spruce, and balsam at higher elevations.

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. 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 licenses at least once every 10 years.