Victoria, B.C. – The Forest Practices Board is calling for further assessment of the Twinflower Creek watershed in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, before any further logging occurs in that area.

 

The call follows the investigation of a complaint by a rancher in the region who say he was experiencing an unexpected loss of water when a stream his cattle regularly drank from, froze solid.  Later this year, two floods impacted his pasture land. The rancher blamed the salvage logging of beetle killed pine in the watershed for the unexplained incidents.

 

The Forest Practices Board investigated, and says it didn’t find any precise answers, but says salvage logging was one of several contributing factors.

 

"To some extent, forest practices likely influenced the situation," says board chair Al Gorley. "However, there were

numerous other factors including drought and cold weather that also likely played a role, so it’s not possible to attribute the problems solely to salvage logging."

 

"This case underscores the need for greater knowledge about the effect of forest disturbance on watersheds, and for further assessment in the Twinflower Creek watershed before additional  logging occurs," adds Gorley.