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by Tod Strachan

The Thunderbird Forest Area (the
T-Bird), surrounding Lakelse Lake
and the Lakelse River corridor, is
an area rich in recreational oppor-
tunity, wildlife and fish habitat,
and natural resources. Recognizing

' these facts, the Ministry of Forests,

Ministry of Environment and the
Department of Fisheries and
Oceans initiated a planning team to
design a Thunderbird Integrated
Resource Management Plan.
Under the direction of provincial
and federal staff members Nom
Parry, Kathy Stuart and John Hipp,
and project facilitator Jim Culp, a
number of private consultations
with local interest groups and three
public meetings were held earlier
this year and a basic management
plan has now been developed.
This plan seems acceptable to
most. It addresses biodiversity,
wildlife, fish, public use, private
use and forest management objec-
tives. But the process established
one unexpected and important

fact... The issues are complex and

in many areas further study is still
required.

The public process, however, has
been completed. The responsibility
for reviewing new data collected
over the summer and fine tuning
the resource management plan will
now be handled by a 20 member
plus Thunderbird Forest Area
Advisory Committee. This commit-
tee is made up of representatives
from a variety of local groups, and
while they may hold a few public
information meetings, they will
operate independently to develop

ontributing to the local economy

EMPLOYEES:

recommendations on a consensus 2 , areas, management priorities

basis to the two levels of govern-
ment.

The basic plan. as it exists today,
divides the T-Bird into four basic
management .areas: Recreational,
habitat reserve, working forest and
private land. One kilometre on
either side of the Lakelse River, or
as close to one kilometre as top-
ography and other criteria will

allow, fits into the first category; a

recreational fish and wildlife area.

Here, although some trees may be

cut, logging is not a first choice.
The Lakelse River corridor is

then broken down into two sub- -

zones. The first is 200 metres on
either side of the river and the

second is the balance of the corti- -

dor. In Subzone 1, old growth
forest contributes significantly to
biodiversity and the entire subzone
has been identified for the reten-
tion of trees. Biodiversity is a term
describing the total variety of life
forms in an area. This includes
plants, animals, trees bugs and
even decaying logs.

The second management zone is
made of two separate areas. One
located at the north end of Lakelse
Lake and the other at the south
end of the lake. At the north end
of the lake is an area of wetlands
and even though Hwy. 37 is cur-
rently the eastern boundary of the
T-Bird, that boundary may be
moved further cast at some point
to envelope the wetland area cast
of the highway as well.

To the south of Lakelse Lake Is
a sensitive habitat area formerly
studied in the South Lakelse Lake
Wildlife Plan. In both these Zone

provide for the protection and
maintenance of the existing fish-
eries and wildlife habitat. There
will be no harvesting in environ-
mentally sensitive areas designated
as "critical habitat", while portions
of the zone outside this designation

may be harvested but the protec-

tion of fish and wildlife habitat
will be the first priority.
Because the portion of Zone 2 at

the south end of Lakelse Lake
includes a variety of recreational

activities, such as the Onion Lake
cross-country ski trail develop:
ment, road access is an issue thal
needs to be addressed. This will be
done with a Coordinated Access
Management Plan that will
coordinate the construction of the
ski trails and use by all terrair
vehicles and snowmobiles in orde:
to prevent interference with over-
wintering moose populations and
the siltation of  fish-bearing
Streams.

Zone 2 is one area that requires
the collection of more data. The
issue of TFL #41 boundaries still
has to be settled, and a fish and
wildlife species and habitat inven-
tory has yet to be completed by the
Ministry of Environment.

Zone 3, the "working forest",

makes up 65 percent of the T-Bird ©

and is also divided into two parts.
One is located north of the Lakelse
River corridor and the other south
of the corridor. While the term
“working forest" might sound a
little ominous, it doesn’t necessar-
ily mean business as usual for
logging companies. The working
forest is designed to meet the

baat Lf

' r er GaP :

Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 8, 1991 C9

needs of the Small Business oper-
ator but there will be some special,
site-specific rules to follow.

The T-Bird is, in reality, a very
tiny part of the Kalum Forest
District. But the move towards an
integrated resource management
plan here is a significant indicator
of the direction forest management
in B.C, is taking in the 1990s, a

A wealth of other values — integrated management

direction that will become more
opvious with the passing of time.

‘Other integrated resource man-
agement plans currently being
developed in our area include
Management and Working Plans
for Skeena Cellulose’s TFL #1 and
West Fraser’s TFL #41, and the
Kalum Resource Management Plan.

Zone 1 — The Lakelse River corridor, recreational fish and
wildlife uses. Logging is not a first choice. Zone 2 — South
and north of Lakelse Lake, fish and wildlife habitat reserve.
Zone 3 — "Working Forest", timber management is a priority.
Zone 4 — Private land. The preservation and enhancement of
forests and habitat will be encouraged.

through the forest industry

Sawmill — 220

Pulp mill — 580

PAYROLL: $69 million
1991 PLANTING: 800,000 seedlings

Logging — 110
MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL TAXES PAID: $2.9 million

"4990 SAWMILL CONSUMPTION: 760,000 cubic metres (20,000 truck loads)