An audit of a forest service road in the Clearwater area has been closed after an audit of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale license holders in the Clearwater Field Unit portion of BC Timber Sales’ Kamloops Business area.
Chair of the Forest Practices Board Kevin Kriese says auditors found one timber sales license holder did not ensure a section of the Oliver Creek forest service road was safe for industrial use. “The Oliver Creek forest road in the North Adams had a section that had some landslides and terrain instability,” Kriese says, “This slide went back to about 2015 when there was very wet conditions, and that’s the kind of thing seen in the Cariboo with all sorts of slides around Williams Lake, and stability issues in lots of roads. The more moisture you have the more that tends to happen, but this is an ongoing situation that probably stems from the terrain the road sits on and made worse when you have high water flows.”
According to Kriese, the area affected by the closure is quite large. “It’s one of the tributaries of the upper Adams, it’s a good chunk of the area, and there are ongoing forestry activities serviced by this road.
To fix this issue, Kriese says an engineer will need to be brought in to assess the terrain, and decide which steps are necessary to stabilize the slope.