After only two months, the Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings LP (PATH) received the results of an audit for tree farm licence (TFL) 61, located on Pacheedaht territory.
PATH had completed their work in May 2019, and the audit began soon after by the Forest Practices Board, an independent watchdog for forest practices on Crown land. After extensive research, the FPB found compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The district was randomly selected by the FPB in May after PATH had finished. They began by looking to see if operations were active, followed with an examination of what was happening in TFL 61. With that information, the FBP moved forward with the audit.
“PATH did a good job meeting all of its legal requirements, including maintaining (the) visual quality,” says Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board.
The audit consisted of the harvesting of 14 cut blocks, construction of 12 kilometres of road and six bridges, as well as the maintenance of over 400 kilometres of road and 64 bridges. They also covered silviculture and fire protection activities that happened over the course of the two-year project.
The licence is managed by a partnership between the Pacheedaht First Nation and Andersen Timber.
TFL 61 is located between Port Renfrew and the Jordan River, and is a regularly used recreational area, as the Kludahk trail and the Juan de Fuca marine trail run in and around the TFL.
