Slash-pile burning in the Sandy Hook area began Oct. 25 and could continue when conditions allow until the end of the year.
The District of Sechelt issued a media release and advised the public last Friday afternoon, just hours before the first slash piles were lit.
The district said it had been notified by the Sechelt Fire Department that the property owner of Private Managed Forest 503 in Sandy Hook intends to dispose of the slash piles from his logging operations by open-air burning.
“The contractor who will be conducting the controlled burns informed district staff that he will begin burning test piles when the air venting index reaches the optimal level, which could happen in the next few days,” the release said.
The property owner intends to burn 120 to 160 slash piles in total.
As a Private Managed Forest, the property is under the jurisdiction of the provincial Private Managed Forest Council and is exempt from Sechelt’s open-air burning bylaw, the district said. The BC Wildfire Service monitors registered Category 3 burns on land outside local government jurisdictions.
The release directs questions or concerns from the public to Managed Forest Council (MFC) executive director Phil O’Connor at 250-386-5737.
Private Managed Forest 503, which borders Seaview, Skookumchuck, and Mt. Richardson roads, has been an ongoing source of controversy.
The District of Sechelt has been involved in legal action over logging on the property in 2006 that it said violated local bylaws, and neighbourhood residents filed a formal complaint with the MFC in early 2018. The MFC’s 2018 inspection program report said there were “no compliance issues noted.”
In February, blown-down trees in a buffer zone near homes, along with soil erosion and slash piles, prompted fresh complaints from Sandy Hook residents about logging on the property.
And in July, Mayor Darnelda Siegers wrote to the province about council’s concerns as part of its input on a review of how the province regulates private managed forests. The letter was copied to the Private Managed Forest Council with a request that the district be informed if MF 503’s owner applies to add adjacent property to MF 503. It urges the council to ensure “a higher standard of communication with local government” and “ensure all operational plans and permits contain measures to minimize impacts on the environment, neighbouring properties and municipal infrastructure.”
