Area Description ²                

The Kamloops TSA Defined Forest Area (DFA) is approximately 2.9 million hectares made up of the Kamloops TSA (2.8 million hectares), and TFL’s 18 and 35 (0.1 million hectares). The Kamloops TSA is just over ninety-six percent of the plan area. The plan area follows the boundary of the Kamloops and Headwaters (Kamloops TSA portion) Forest Districts in the southern interior of British Columbia and includes Wells Gray Park. The DFA (see map to right) extends from the Logan Lake area south of Kamloops north to Wells Gray Park, and is bounded by the Columbia Mountains to the east and the Cariboo/Chilcotin area to the west.

Communities
Almost 80% of the TSA's residents live in the City of Kamloops. Other communities include Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Savona, Chase and Logan Lake in the south, and Barriere, Blue River, Avola, Clearwater, Little Fort and Vavenby in the north. The 2006 Census data indicate a total population of 107,298 people residing in the TSA, a 5% increase from 1996. The Secwepemc Nation, the Nlaka'pamux Nation, the St'at'imc Nation, the Okanagan Nation and the South Carrier Nation have traditional territories within the Kamloops - North Thompson. Currently there are ten First Nation communities with a population of about 4,500 people. These communities are Adams Lake, Bonaparte, Kamloops, North Thompson, Neskonlith, Skeetchestn, Whispering Pines, Little Shuswap, Ashcroft and Oregon Jack. Additional First Nations communities are located outside of the Kamloops - North Thompson but maintain traditional interests inside the area. These include the High Bar, Spallumcheen, Lower Nicola, Upper Nicola, Xaxl'ip (Fountain), Ts'kw'aylaxw (Pavilion), Cooks Ferry, Lheidli T'enneh Nation and Canim Lake.

Economy

The economy of the Kamloops - North Thompson is well diversified. The City of Kamloops with an extensive local economy based on trade, administration, services and manufacturing, dominates the economy of the TSA. The public sector, forestry and tourism are the major employment sectors, with agriculture, construction and mining also contributing to the local economy. The forest sector supports numerous other jobs in the area through companies and employees purchasing goods and services from local businesses. Employment associated with the forest industry is estimated to be1.41 jobs per year per 1000 cubic metres of timber harvested. The personal incomes average $75,350 per 1000 cubic metres harvested while government revenues are $36,250 per 1000 cubic metres harvested (source: Natural Resources Canada, 2006-2008 data).

Environment

The topography of the Kamloops - North Thompson is one of sharp contrasts, from dry, hot grasslands in the south, to wet areas and rugged mountains in the north. The Thompson River and its tributaries wind through the heart of the area, traveling southward and westward toward the confluence with the Fraser River. In the northern portion of the area, the North Thompson River is bounded by the high peaks of the Monashee and Cariboo Mountains. Wet to very wet conditions, with high snowfalls, are the norm. In the central portion, the mountains give way to high plateaus dissected by steep valleys and dotted with lakes and rivers. Moist conditions support mixed forests. Further south, the landscape continues to become drier and gentler, with rolling uplands and numerous lakes. The dense forests of the north and central areas give way to mixed pine and pine-fir forests with grasslands in the southern valleys. The Kamloops-North Thompson is ecologically diverse, containing nine of the eleven interior biogeoclimatic (BEC) zones3. The area is dominated by the four most important BEC zones for forest management in the southern interior – the Interior Douglas-fir (IDF), Interior Cedar- Hemlock (ICH), Montane Spruce (MS), and Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir (ESSF). These zones include over thirty subzones across the area (figures 2, 3). The diverse forests of the Kamloops - North Thompson host a wide variety of wildlife species including grizzly bear, black bear, moose, mule deer, mountain goat, California bighorn sheep, marten, badger and over 200 bird species. Many wildlife species range over large areas and some have specific habitat requirements at different times of the year. The Kamloops LRMP document sets out Objectives, Strategies and Indicators for identified Critical Deer and Moose Winter Ranges, with Objectives, Strategies and Indicators for each species.

The Kamloops - North Thompson contains more than 1,800 lakes and 40 salmon-producing steams, as well as many additional fish-supporting steams. These water bodies support some of      the finest inland fisheries in B.C. Species of high recreational or economic value include rainbow trout, steelhead, kokanee, brook trout, white fish and Dolly Varden. The Thompson, North Thompson, South Thompson and Adams rivers and their tributaries support a significant population of anadromous fish — steelhead and sockeye, coho, chinook and pink salmon. The North Thompson River also contains most of the wild stocks of rainbow trout within the area.

Species at Risk
Numerous other at risk species occupy forested habitat within the Kamloops-North Thompson area. Federal and provincial legislation provides mechanisms for developing plans for their recovery. Appendix 6 of the SFM Plan outlines wildlife species at risk (current as of December, 2009) that require management in the TSA. The Kamloops - North Thompson overlaps the range of a provincially important and viable herd of Mountain Caribou. Mountain Caribou require sufficient canopy cover, provided by mature forests, to move between feeding areas, and especially in the winter. Movement corridors require attention during planning of forest development activities. The Kamloops - North Thompson provides a migration corridor for the Mountain Caribou that inhabit Wells Gray Park. In late 2007 the Province of B.C. announced a recovery plan for Mountain Caribou populations in the North Thompson area. This is a 5-part plan involving the following components:

• Habitat Management

• Recreation - Public Snowmobiling

• Recreation – Commercial Tenures

• Predator/Prey Control

• Population Augmentation

More information on the Mountain Caribou Management Plan can be found on the Species at Risk Coordination Office (SARCO) website: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/sarco/mc/

Forest Use
The forests of the Kamloops - North Thompson provide a wide range of forest land resources, including forest products (timber and non-timber, such as botanical forest products), recreation and tourism amenities, within significant wildlife habitat. 

Extensive grassland and forested areas provide important forage for both livestock and wildlife. Ranching continues to play an important role in the TSA. The range program in the TSA is the second largest in the province and has a significant impact on the local economy. Parks, recreation areas and other Crown lands provide the setting for a host of activities including camping, hiking, wildlife and scenic viewing, fishing, hunting, hang-gliding, boating, river rafting, mountain-biking, four-wheel driving, ATV use, snowmobiling, and downhill, helicopter and cross country skiing. Major highways pass through areas of exceptional natural scenery, providing easy access to
national and provincial parks, such as Wells Gray Provincial Park and Jasper and Banff National Parks.      

Occurrence and distribution of biogeo-climatic zones in the Kamloops SFM Plan DFA

 
Composition of the total land base — Kamloops TSA, 2001.

 Composition of the productive forest land base — Kamloops TSA, 2001.

 Mountain Pine Beetle - Overview

Mountain pine beetle is severely impacting mature lodgepole pine stands in the southern part of the Kamloops - North Thompson area. A summary of the current situation is described based on excerpts from the following publications:

• Kamloops TSA – MoFR Rationale for Allowable Annual Cut Determination,                                  Jim Snetsinger, Chief Forester. June, 2008

• Kamloops TSA, MoFR Timber Supply Review Public Discussion Paper. October 2007.

• Beetle Facts, MoFR website:                                                                                                              http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/facts.htm

• Forest Health Strategy - Kamloops TSA May 2009                                                                          http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dka/Forest_Health/Doc/

The mountain pine beetle (MPB), Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), is the most damaging insect attacking lodgepole pine forests in BC. Mountain pine beetles exist naturally in mature lodgepole pine forests, at various population levels, depending on pine availability and weather conditions. They play an important role in the natural succession of these forests by attacking older or weakened trees, which are then replaced by younger, healthy forests. The beetle population levels in British Columbia’s interior have been increasing steadily since 1994 with an exponential increase seen in 2004 as a result of the 2003 beetle flight.

Area Affected
Thirty-one percent of the area in the TSA, twenty-four percent of TFL 18 and thirty-six percent of TFL 35 has lodgepole pine (Pl) as the leading species. This exposure, from a volume perspective equates to almost 60,000,000 m³ in Pl leading stands susceptible to MPB attack. Beetle susceptibility models suggest that the majority of the Pl stands in the TSA have or will have MPB populations that threaten their survival. The 2004 aerial overview surveys for the Kamloops TSA resulted in classifying about 124,401 hectares as attacked. The area mapped for MPB in 2008 was 309,606 hectares. The current year conditions can be summarized as follows:

• More than fifty-eight percent of Pl leading stands older than 60 years already has some level    of attack that was visible to mappers conducting the 2008 aerial survey.

• Regional estimates based on Provincial history to date are eighty percent of the                        susceptible Pl stands in the TSA will be attacked to some significant level.

• High beetle population levels can be found in some stands in all parts of the KFD and the          southwest part of the Headwaters Forest District (HFD).

Strategy and Response
In response to the economic importance of lodgepole pine and the potential impact of the current beetle infestation on forest-dependent communities in BC’s interior, the forest industry and government jointly created the Mountain Pine Beetle Emergency Task Force in 1999 to manage and reduce the impact of the infestation. One of the objectives of the Task Force is to ensure that mitigation measures are well planned and as effective as possible. Management strategies have been aggressive and successful in reducing the spread of the infestation and limiting the amount of killed timber in some areas. The strategies have also assisted in securing the maximum value in pine forests that have been killed or threatened by the beetle. To this point in time most of the harvest has been concentrated on higher value stands for the recovery of sawlogs. However, this aggressive strategy has led to large harvest areas within even larger areas of natural disturbance caused by the beetle. Going forward, additional landscape level retention strategies are urgently needed, particularly in forests consisting primarily of lodgepole pine. Areas of higher potential biological diversity need to be identified and reserved as necessary from future salvage operations looking to recover value from dead lodgepole pine. The current MPB epidemic is having a significant impact on communities and forest values. 

The Kamloops TSA MPB Strategy has been developed to provide guidance for harvesting of lodgepole pine (Pl) stands susceptible to MPB attack. The strategy addresses the Timber Harvesting Land Base (THLB). The strategy is intended to focus resources in response to the epidemic levels of attack by identifying the significant issues created by the MPB infestation and providing information and guidance to address them. The Kamloops TSA MPB Strategy has the following six objectives: 

1. Assessing the Extent of the Current Infestation and Forecasts Future MPB Impacts
2. Providing Guidance for Salvage Harvesting.
3. Developing Salvage Priorities
4. Assessing Capacity and Allocates Resources
5. Addressing Administrative Challenges.
6. Identifying Next Steps. 

• Actual progress of the MPB 

• Addressing MPB impacted stands initially by-passed as lower priority for salvage 

• New or improved information as it is developed 

• Changing social and economic circumstances and forestry priorities 

• Assessing future forest conditions and management within extensively harvested areas 

• stands predominated by Douglas-fir, spruce, or balsam, a maximum of 1,700,000 cubic              metres (‘non-pine’ partition);

• pine species, 1,994,000 cubic metres, with the possibility of an increase to the extent of            anyunder-harvesting in the ‘non-pine’ partition;

• cedar- or hemlock- leading stands, 200,000 cubic metres;

• harvesting in Pulpwood Agreement (PA) 16, 86,000 cubic metres; and

• deciduous-leading stands outside PA 16, within the Headwaters District, 20,000 cubic metres