KDCFS 2023 Operations Update

KDCFS operations to salvage fire damaged timber from the Briggs Creek wildfire have begun. Sunshine Logging started road construction by Kemp Creek to access CP 52-01. This block is 30ha but has been reduced to three 5ha patches that will be harvested this year by a winch assist system. The remainder of the block has a higher percentage of Douglas fir that is mostly surviving and will be monitored for Douglas fir bark beetle this summer. The road will be temporary construction and fully rehabilitated following harvesting and silviculture activities.

Two blocks, CP 51-1 and CP 53-8, in Keen Creek will be logged through this summer and fall as well. The fire severity in CP 51-1 was mixed, with patches of severely burnt trees but also areas of green that lasted through the winter. The stand is primarily hemlock and with the high intensity ground fire causing extensive root damage, the trees did not flush this year and the needles are going chlorotic and falling off the trees. It is estimated 95% of the trees will die over the summer, with pockets and single stems of larch and Douglas fir surviving that will be retained on site. This block will be harvested by Timber Ridge Contracting starting in July.

CP 53-8 has a steep ground that is predominantly Douglas fir and cedar that had a moderate to high fire severity, with over 70% of the trees dead already, including most of the Douglas fir. This cable area will be cable harvested by Iron Peaks starting in September.

The southern and western area of the block is on a fairly flat ridge between Deer and Nashton Creek up to 1900m, with the trees being torched with only black sticks throughout the landscape. FESBC funding will be required to economically salvage this pulp. The Wildlife Tree Retention Areas (WTRA) are unburnt areas that will not be harvested

Seedlings will be ordered for these blocks in the fall of 2023 to be planted in the spring of 2025.

Comments and questions can be directed to manager@kaslocommunityforest.org

KDCFS Wildfire Risk Reduction

After watching the Briggs Creek wildfire burn down the Nashton Face last summer it reinforces that
access is critical to enable crews to combat fires and the need for us to proactively manage for wildfire
risk reduction and plan for future forest fires. KDCFS has received funding for multiple wildfire risk
reduction projects through the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) for 2023. We are working
with Cathro Consulting on the Buchanan Fire Access Trail and Jimi Crack Corn projects, where Fuel
Management Prescriptions will be developed and thinning treatments will be implemented this fall and
winter to reduce the fuel loading and ladder fuels in these areas. See map for locations. For the
Buchanan Fire Access Trail project we will look at using the trail as an anchor and completing treatments
either side of it to provide a reduced fuel loading zone as well as identifying water sources. The Jimi
Crack Corn project will be similar to the Buchanan East Access project completed in the winter of 2022.
Thinning and burning will likely take place late this fall and into early winter.


Comments and questions can be directed to manager@kaslocommunityforest.org

BRIGGS CREEK WILDFIRE – Update

KDCFS has developed several blocks on the Nashton Face behind the Kaslo dump and in Keen Creek to harvest timber damaged from the Briggs Creek wildfire.  The block locations can be seen on the overview map.  The Briggs Creek fire burnt area as well as our fuel mitigation projects can be seen on the Briggs – Fuel Mitigation Projects map.  The Nashton Face block will be visible from the Kaslo airstrip and dump, and also from a few spots on Hwy 31.  The Visual Impact Assessment shows how the proposed block will look from each viewpoint, with View Point 3 being from the road beside the airstrip and the other two viewpoints from Hwy 31.  The block is 30ha in size and is cable ground, with a mix of hemlock, fir, cedar, larch and spruce.   The pictures below show this block, which is typical for the whole area of the Briggs Creek Fire, with the ground scorched down to mineral soil.  In some areas the trees are dead already with the remaining trees expected to die over the next summer or two. 

The fire has devastated the Keen and Nashton Face area and we will do our best to salvage the dead and dying timber before it deteriorates, with an estimated 60,000m3 being harvested over the next two years.  Prior to developing the blocks, overview planning identified stands and patches of live trees, a mosaic of intact unburnt and burnt patches, and landscape level connectivity  of residual trees to be retained for habitat, hydrologic function and other values.  The blocks developed target stands of timber that are 100% affected by fire but are operable and salvageable. 

Harvesting these areas will minimize impacts to timber supply by shifting logging from un-damaged stands to damaged stands to recover as much value as possible before the wood quality deteriorates.  It will also help restore the ecosystem through planting, speeding up the natural recovery process at the stand and landscape levels.  In an effort to balance the need for ecological conservation, unburnt areas, snags, coarse woody debris, as well as individual and patches of live trees will be retained on site to provide structural characteristics and biodiversity.  

Road building and harvesting of the Nashton block is expected to commence in June and will be completed by Sunshine Logging.  Timber Ridge Contracting will commence harvesting in Keen Creek in June.  Comments and questions can be directed to manager@kaslocommunityforest.org

Next Board Meeting: Jan 12th at 7pm

We invite you to join our next Board meeting on Thursday Jan 12th 2023. In person in the Loki Room at the Langham @ 7pm or via Zoom.

Link to ZOOM Virtual Meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6949720471

The Board welcomes input from the public during a five minute consultation period at the end of each meeting. Please visit one of our Board meetings to express your interest in participating in one of our following Committees:

  • Finance / Budget
  • Long Term Planning
  • Communications
  • Governance / Policy / Personnel
  • Recreation
  • New Ventures

News Update

Road Building

We are currently extending the Branch 7 road 3km up towards Blue Ridge.  The work is being completed by Sunshine Logging and will provide access further up Mt Buchanan to complete our FESBC funded landscape level fuel break next year.

Briggs Creek Fire 

Timber development on the Briggs Creek fire in both Keen Creek and the Nashton Face behind the dump have shown the ground fire was quite intense with no duff remaining and heavy damage to most tree roots.  In some areas the crowns have gone red to indicate the trees are dead but in a lot of areas the crowns are still green but due to the intensity of the ground fire and the damage to the roots most of the trees will perish over the next year or two.  There are some pockets on the Nashton Face that are heavier to FdLw which hopefully will survive to provide retention areas in an otherwise burnt landscape.  Efforts will be made to layout as much timber as possible with estimates of around 50-60k m3 being accessible with the remainder having very limited to no access options expect for heli harvesting, or too rocky of ground to be able to harvest or replant.  To put in context 50k m3 at even $100m3 is $5 million worth of timber. 

On the silviculture side we haven’t surveyed the whole burnt area but estimate 60ha of non-free growing stand is burnt with a further 50ha of free growing stands burnt.  The non-free growing stands are still under KDCFS silviculture obligation and are eligible for FPPR Section 108 funds to reforest.  The free growing stands will be covered by government funds through the Forests for Tomorrow (FFT) program. 

Next Board meeting: Nov 17, 2022 at 7pm

We invite you to join our next Board meeting on Thursday Nov 17th. In person in the Loki Room at the Langham @ 7pm or via Zoom.

Link to ZOOM Virtual Meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6949720471

The Board welcomes input from the public during a five minute consultation period at the end of each meeting. Please visit one of our Board meetings to express your interest in participating in one of our following Committees:

  • Finance / Budget
  • Long Term Planning
  • Communications
  • Governance / Policy / Personnel
  • Recreation
  • New Ventures