Prince George, B.C.- The wildfires of the past summer, and the increasing danger posed by mountain pine beetle killed trees are just a couple of reasons why the City of Prince George is going to explore applying to have its Community Forest Agreement extended in time and scope.

 

The current agreement, which covers 3,880 Ha of Crown land with an annual allowable cut of 12 thousand cubic meters, will end in November of 2011. 

 

At current harvest levels, completion of fire fuel treatments on the current CFA lands is expected to take between 4 and 8 years. That time frame all depends on funding, operational conditions and the completion of fuel treatments on municipal lands.

 

The expanded agreement calls for the Community Forest Agreement to be expanded to include lands within a  40 km radius of Prince George.  The expansion would address the concerns about wildfire hazards surrounding the City, but would also provide a long term source of biomass for a community energy system.

 

The staff report calls for discussions with senior Provincial representatives, the Regional District of Fraser Fort George, the Lheidl T’enneh and other key stakeholders  to gauge interest and support for the city to undertake further analysis and prepare a draft proposal which Council could take under consideration next spring.