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Defined Forest Area
The Defined Forest Area (DFA) for Tolko’s Okanagan Regional Woodlands is located in the Okanagan Shuswap and Arrow Boundary Forest Districts. For Gorman Bros., BCTS-Okanagan Columbia Business Area and WFN, the DFA is located within the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District. The boundary of the DFA is specified in the licencees’ geographic information system (GIS) inventory.
The DFA includes Tolko’s traditional operating areas in the Okanagan and Arrow TSA's including: TFL 49, FL’s A18632, A18667, A18672, A20191, and A74912, Timber Licence T0816 and FLTC A76247. Tolko manages FL A18632 on behalf of the licencee, Selkirk Timber Company. A portion of Bell Pole Company Ltd’s FL A18666, which is also managed by Tolko, is included in the DFA. The DFA within Gorman Bros. traditional operating area in the Okanagan TSA includes FL A18671. The DFA for WFN includes their Community Forest Agreement K1P and their Woodlot Licence W0346. These replaceable licenses give the licencees the authority to harvest trees and construct roads along with the responsibility for forest planning, reforestation and road maintenance. The DFA also includes approximately 25 BCTS operating areas scattered across the DFA, ranging in size from a few hundred hectares to several thousand hectares.
In addition to the listed licences, there may be other licences that operate within the DFA through such mechanisms as Non-Replaceable Forest Licences or through harvest transfers facilitated under Section 18 of the Forest Act. Activity on these licences may occur inside the Licencees primary operating areas or outside the primary areas. Annual reporting will occur for these licences where they are under the control of the Licencees or where the Ministry of Forests and Range has included the requirement for reporting in the licence document. Reporting data for blocks outside the primary operating area will be cutblock specific.
The Table below illustrates the distribution of land classes within the DFA. Approximately 30 percent of the DFA (including parks, inoperable areas, and non-productive areas) is not available for harvesting. However, these areas are included in the DFA as they play a role in biodiversity and landscape level ecosystem functions.
Land Classification
Westbank
Tolko
Gorman Bros.
BCTS
Total Area
Percent of Total Area
Parks/protected areas & Old Growth Management Areas (approved study areas / areas of interest)
6,173
58,548
18,108
22,133
104,962
8
Streams, wetlands, lakes
473
11,435
1,245
5,115
18,268
1
Non-contributing forest (deciduous, problem forest type, ESAs, inoperable, NP, NPBR)
6,996
78,935
35,466
22,651
144,060
11
Non Forest Land (alpine, rock, open range)
2,187
46,157
16,285
18,340
82,969
7
Timber Harvesting Land Base
30,710
595,178
94,862
195,281
916,612
72
Total Defined Forest Area
46,539
790,253
165,966
263,520
1,266,871
100