By Mat Barrett

Operating Plan

Ministry of Environment to hold open houses

Feb 6, 2019 | 12:30 PM

The Forest Service with the Ministry of Environment has come up with their draft for the 2019/2020 Forest Operating Plan.

The forests that are included in the plan are the Canwood, Nisbet, Fort a la Corne, and Torch River Provincial Forests.

Bruce Walter is an area forester with the Ministry and he said it’s that time of year for their new plan.

“We put together and operating plan each year for all of these forests,” Walter told northeastNOW. “It would involve plans for our harvest, and also where we are going to be doing the reforestation. We consult with the public, we hold open houses, and we will be holding those in mid-February.”

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Open houses begin on Feb. 12 in Choiceland at the Seniors hall from 6 to 8 p.m., followed by one the next night in Melfort at the Canalta Hotel from 6 to 8 p.m. once again. The final open house will take place in Prince Albert at the Quality Hotel and Conference Centre from 5 to 8 p.m on Feb. 14.

Walter said the open houses allow those living in the areas to tell them some things they may have missed.

“If they come out, they can have a look at the maps and see if there are any areas that they are familiar with,” Walter said. “They can provide some input to that. If they see something we’ve missed, we would be receptive to hearing what they have to say about particular areas.”

Walter added that with this year’s plan, and some other future plans, they now have a precedent.

“We’ve almost finished our 20-year-forest-management-plan,” He said. “Which gives direction for where we harvest each year, so we’ve got the benefit of that and there’s quite a number of parts to the forest management plan that directs where the harvesting would take place. So I guess we have the benefit of that long range plan to help us with our planning now.”

The Ministry is required by law to consult with the public and aboriginal groups, but Walter said they have a pretty good idea as to where the users are in those areas.

Mat.Barrett@jpbg.ca