With local timber supply impacted by wildfires and a possible upcoming reduction to the region鈥檚 annual allowable cut (AAC), sawmills in the 亚洲天堂 Lake area are thinking outside the box to increase their timber supply.

READ MORE: Too soon to assess timber damage in 亚洲天堂 Lake area: province

READ MORE: No forecasts developed yet for new AAC in 亚洲天堂 Lake area: ministry

Hampton Lumber, which owns both Babine Forest Products and Decker Lake Forest Products, will attempt to mill a different type of timber next year 鈥� poplar (genus Populus).

The province estimates that less than eight per cent of the total live timber volume in the Lakes Timber Supply Area (TSA) is from aspen stands, which is a species of this deciduous, hardwood tree.

鈥淭here is no doubt that to keep both mills running at normal levels we need to reach farther outside the Lakes District for timber, and consider any species that can economically be milled,鈥� said Steve Zika, Hampton Lumber鈥檚 chief executive officer.

鈥淲hile we have not yet run any poplar through the mills, we will likely try a small test next year,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲e are always looking for new opportunities to help keep both mills in timber.鈥�

According to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, poplar has not been utilized to a significant extent in the past in the British Columbia. Ministry staff told Lakes District 亚洲天堂 they鈥檙e only aware of licensees milling aspen in northeast B.C. and milling alder on B.C.鈥檚 coast with any consistency.

However, the ministry says other licensees have expressed interest in exploring the potential of harvesting deciduous trees.

Although no forecasts have yet been developed for the Lakes TSA鈥檃 new AAC determination, Zika says many of the assumptions in the province鈥檚 recent data package appear to be more restrictive on timber supply than appeared in forecasts made in 2012, when the Babine sawmill was rebuilt.

The province has been seeking input from licensees, the public and First Nations on this data package, which summarizes the technical information that will provide the basis for an upcoming public discussion paper.

Local residents will have another opportunity to comment when the public discussion paper is released in early 2019.

As was the case elsewhere in Interior B.C., AACs were increased in the late 1990s because of the mountain pine beetle epidemic which, in the Lakes TSA, killed an estimated 90 per cent of the pine trees available for logging.

The last AAC was set in 2011 at two million cubic metres a year, but adjusted downward in 2016 to approximately 1.6 million cubic metres when Lake Babine Nation was granted tenure and the Chinook Community Forest was created.

The chief forester鈥檚 decision is expected in late 2019.

鈥� With files from Rod Link