The province announced on Thursday (Nov 21) the Lakes Timber Supply Area has a new allowable annual cut (AAC).
Starting immediately the new allowable annual cut for the area is 970,000 cubic meters.
The limit is broken off into three sections, a maximum of 400.000 cubic meters per year is attributable to live coniferous volume, a maximum of 20,000 cubic meters per year is attributable to live deciduous volume and a maximum of 550,000 cubic meters per year is attributable to dead volume.
The new cut level is about 41 % lower than the previous AAC.
Diane Nicholls, Chief Forester says the ministry held open houses, talked to councils and conversations before making the decision.
“I don’t think this will come as a surprise, we were very comprehensive letting people know of the situation in this particular and what is shaping up to look like,” she said.
The decrease is a response to the end of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and the salvage of dead pine.
Nicholls also said the mountain pine beetle is always in presence in the province.
“It’s an endemic activity and what we had in the 2000s was an epidemic so, what we do know is the epidemic is done and there’s still an opportunity with salvage in the area this determination was made for,” she said.
The chief forester has to make changes to the AAC every ten years but if they have to make changes sooner they can do so.
Factors are considered before making any changes, like community, Indigenous Nation, stakeholder, and public input.