Specific information on the Slocan Valley timber landbase and timber harvest is not readily available. Neither the MoF nor any of the licensees operating in the Slocan Valley determine and administer an annual allowable cut for the Slocan Valley by itself. Except for TFL #3, all the existing forest tenures in the Slocan Valley extend beyond the valley boundaries. Due to planning and scheduling factors the volume of timber harvested in the Slocan Valley can vary from year to year.

In order to approximate the timber landbase and timber harvest from the Slocan Valley the following analysis was undertaken and compared to existing data. The information used is a compilation of research information from various sources such as; personal correspondence with Arrow District Staff & Slocan Forest Products Staff, the Silva Forest Foundation Plan, the Ministry of Forests Arrow TSA Timber Supply Review, Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks, and the Slocan Valley Land Use Plan.

To provide an indication of what proportion of timber is harvested by each licensee it is necessary to first define the Timber Harvesting Landbase (THL) each licensee has within the Slocan Valley Watershed. Table 5 shows us these numbers.

In order to provide an approximation of the annual volume of harvest from the Slocan Valley the THL total area can multiplied by a factor representing the volume contributed to harvesting by each ha. of land in the THL. This factor can be derived by dividing a known annual harvest level (AAC) by its corresponding THL. Using the whole Arrow district we know that the Timber harvesting landbase for the Arrow TSA is 216,760 ha. & the AAC is 619,000 m3/yr. Thus each ha. of land must contribute 2.86 m3/yr. By multiplying all of the known THLs for each licensees within the Slocan Valley by this factor we are able to derive a potential AAC (see Table 5).

The numbers calculated using the above analysis represent a potential model for timber harvesting in the Slocan Valley. In order to “reality check” the numbers a comparison of TFL # 3’s actual AAC with the above mentioned potential AAC will provide us with an idea of how close the model represents actual harvesting. At the time of this analysis the actual AAC for TFL # 3 is 59,600 m3/yr and the model presented above indicated the potential AAC to be 90,296 m3/yr. Thus the model overestimated the actual TFL AAC by 34%. If this 34% is to be considered a “reality net down” and we apply it to the other licensee potential volumes we derive a much lower level of timber harvest for the Slocan Valley. These two levels of harvest can be considered a range of potential harvesting levels for the Slocan Valley (see Table 5).

As we can see the Timber Harvesting Landbase (THL) for the Slocan Valley is 83,749 ha. This is 25% of the total Slocan Valley landbase (which is 340,000 ha). Slocan Forest Products TFL #3 operates in 38% of the Timber Harvesting Landbase and Slocan Forest Products Forest License A20194 operates in 45%. Thus Slocan Forest Products operations cover 83% of the Timber harvesting Landbase in the Slocan Valley.

The range of potential harvesting levels for the Slocan Valley is between 158,084 m3/yr & 239,522 m3/yr. It must be remembered that the noted timber harvesting levels for the existing licensees in the Slocan Valley are based upon proportionate contribution per hectare of timber harvesting landbase and are approximations only. The Forest Licenses and Small Business Program listed are volume based and have operating areas in other parts of the Arrow district outside of the Slocan Valley thus these derived harvesting levels are by no means binding. Site productivity, age class distributions, resource management guidelines will dictate a different harvesting scenario for each portion of their operating landbase for each licensee.

To provide one further check of the potential harvest levels in the Slocan Valley we can compare the results listed above with those from the Silva Plan (Ecosystem Based Landscape Plan for the Slocan River Watershed). The Silva plan undertook an extensive forest cover data base analysis to isolate the timber harvesting landbase and harvest rates for the Slocan Valley as per Ministry of Forests guidelines. The geographic boundaries of the Silva Plan analysis were similar to that of our analysis unit.

The Silva Plan found that the estimated MoF Timber Management Landbase for the Slocan Watershed was 96,287 ha. (compared to 83,749 ha. in Table 5) and the Gross estimated Ministry of Forests Annual Allowable cut was 226,670 m3/yr. (compared to 239,522 m3/yr. in Table 5). Using a similar net down analysis as that listed above the Silva plan found a net MoF AAC of 170,002 m3/yr. (compared to 158,084 m3/yr. in Table 5).