GROWING OPPORTUNITY –SILVICULTURE LIABILITY MANAGEMENT

By René Jarosch, FIT, Procurement Coordinator and Mike Kozak, RPF, Project Manager

When a stand of trees is cut down on government-owned land in British Columbia, the harvesting entity is bound by law to replace it and ensure that it reaches a point where it can continue to grow unencumbered to maturity. The harvesting entity is referred to as the licensee, and the responsibility to replace the trees cut is the licensee’s silviculture liability. The licensee is free of silviculture liability when the replacement trees reach a stage known as free growing

Spectrum Resource Group identified an opportunity for growth in 2023 and made the move into Silviculture Liability Management. Spectrum is now managing basic silviculture as transferred from major licensees as well as liability activities for other industry clients. Currently, the Silviculture Liability Management portfolio includes:

• Accrual Management and Cost Projections

• Liability Assessments

• Survey Program Generation and Delivery

• Operational Prescription Development

• Silviculture Treatment Program

Creation and Delivery

• Reporting Silviculture Updates and Land Statis Tracking System (RESULTS) Reporting (Silviculture Activity Updates & Milestone Declarations)

Accepting the silviculture liability from an original licensee ensures work opportunities to several departments within Spectrum and allows Spectrum the freedom to leverage our industryleading knowledge in procedures and risk assessment.

To achieve a free growing stand, silviculture liability activities typically follow this pathway:

1. Harvest Disturbance Complete (obligation initiated)

2. Seedling Ordering/Growing (outsourced to nurseries)

3. Tree Planting (in-house)

4. Regen Surveys (in-house)

5. Stand Tending (Fill Plant, Brushing, Spacing, etc. as needed, in-house)

6. Free Grow Survey (in-house)

7. Free Growing achieved (Spectrum’s responsibilities fulfilled)

First Nations often either directly hold licenses to harvest timber or are in partnerships with the sawmills to do so. As a licensee, First Nations hold silviculture liability for harvesting. Spectrum considers this a natural pathway toward further collaborations and stronger partnerships with First Nations groups.

Spectrum is actively pursuing potential silviculture liability opportunities and is currently enjoying the fruits of this effort. Licensees are actively seeking us out to forge agreements, which indicates that we have swiftly become the go-to company in this field.