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The allowable annual cut has decreased in the Kamloops Timber Supply Area effective immediately.
Chief Forester Diane Nicholls announced on Thursday that the new allowable annual cut will be 2.3 cubic million metres per year – a decrease of 1.7 million cubic metres per year from four million cubic metres per year which was set in 2008.
"The mountain pine beetle epidemic and the salvage of dead pine is ending in the Kamloops Timber Supply area. The new allowable annual cut reflects the transition to lower mid-term harvest levels and is needed to give regenerating stands time to grow and reach marketable size,” explained Nicholls.
According to Nicholls, the average annual harvest over the last few years has been approximately 2.8 million cubic metres.
Dominant tree species in the Kamloops TSA area, which covers approximately 2.77 million hectares, include pine, spruce, cedar, hemlock and Douglas-fir.
Communities in the timber supply area include Ashcroft, Barriere, Chase, Clearwater, Kamloops, Logan Lake and Vavenby, as well as 34 First Nations with asserted territories.
The allowable annual cut will decrease to 2.1 million cubic metres in 2021.