A new Bulkley Valley Lake forest planning project is now in the public input phase.
The Bulkley-Morice Forest Landscape Planning (FLP) project is one of five new provincial projects that are shaping a revamped framework for sustainable forest management in B.C.
The Province held an open house on Feb. 26 at the Houston Community Hall about its newest forestry project.
In addition to the open house in Houston, the province also held open houses in Granisle on Jan. 29 and Smithers on March 6, inviting communities within the Bulkley Valley to get involved in the development of the new FLP project.
"What excites me about forest landscape plans is they provide the opportunity to bring the community together, said minister of forests Ravi Parmar. "To the residents in the Bulkley and Morice areas, this is your opportunity to help shape the future of forests in our province."
The three open houses served as engagement sessions for the community to learn more about forest landscape planning, as well as provide input on the development of the Bulkley-Morice FLP project.
Attendees had the opportunity to fill in a public engagement questionnaire during the sessions or online, as the province says their input is valuable and will help provincial officials understand public perspective on important issues.
The information gathered from the questionnaires will be used to inform the development of the project.
The FLP project is adjacent to the Lakes Resiliency project, which is one of the pilot projects of forest landscape planning in B.C., and seeks to build upon the existing data, experiences and framework from the Lakes project. That project is also being co-developed with First Nations, as well as, with input from communities, experts and forest licensees.
The goal of the FLP project is to create a plan that will:
- Support the protection and conservation of the environment
- Support production and supply of timber in the forest landscape area
- Manage the values placed on ecosystems by local communities
- Prevent, mitigate, and adapt to impacts caused by significant disturbances to forests and forest health
The Bulkley-Morice FLP project is expected to be completed in 2026.
