Input sought on 100 Mile House old growth management

Courtesy of the BC Government:

British Columbians are invited to comment on proposed amendments to the boundaries of about 375 existing old growth management areas within the 100 Mile House Natural Resource District.

Old growth management areas help protect the biological diversity of old-growth forests by ensuring that stands of different ecosystem types are protected. These areas are excluded from commercial timber harvesting, which helps preserve plant ecosystems, wildlife habitat and cultural values.

The proposed amendments to the old growth management areas are to replace areas that have been impacted by the mountain pine beetle and associated harvesting of trees infested by mountain pine beetles.

In addition, the amount and distribution of old growth management areas are determined by ecosystem mapping. The boundaries of the relevant ecosystem units have been updated since these old growth management areas were originally mapped in 2002. This has affected their distribution and percent target requirements, so the proposed boundary amendments would correct those discrepancies.

Maps showing the proposed OGMA boundary amendments may be viewed at the 100 Mile House Natural Resource District office in 100 Mile House (300 Cariboo Highway 97) or online at:

https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/TASB/SLRP/100_Mile_House__LUOR_OGMA_Amendment.html

Members of the public are invited to submit comments about the proposed boundary amendments for these old growth management areas during a 60-day review and comment period that ends on March 31, 2016.

Written comments may be sent to:

“OGMA Comments”

100 Mile House Natural Resource District,

P.O. Box 129, 100 Mile House, B.C., V0K 2E0

Comments may also be emailed to: DMHOGMAcomments@gov.bc.ca

Quick Facts:

Currently, there are over 49,000 old growth management areas in B.C., covering almost 3.1 million hectares.

A total of about 4.5 million hectares of old-growth forest are protected within old growth management areas, provincial parks, national parks, ecological reserves, land conservancies and recreational areas in British Columbia.

The 100 Mile House Natural Resource District covers about 1.24 million hectares of land in the southern Interior. It extends from Clinton in the south to Hendrix Lake in the north and from the Fraser River in the west to Bonaparte Lake in the east.