Discover Woodlot Licences

Woodlot forestry is an alternative approach to managing BC’s Crown forest lands.

Woodlot Licences are BC’s smallest forest tenure managed for timber. They are often located in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) because of their small-scale and hands-on management.

Licence holders are individuals, organizations and First Nations with an interest in managing forest land and have strong ties to the local community. They strive to balance sustainable forest management with environmental, social and economic values.

W1897 Quadra Island

Jerry Benner and family welcome the public to visit and learn about woodlot forestry. A sign portrays roads as trails for hiking and biking and areas where you’ll find resident wildlife, old growth trees and mushrooms for foraging.

W1598 Kamloops

Woodlot licensees are able to identify any beetle attacks to manage forest health through drone footage. Harvesting will be planned in this area of the woodlot to prevent the spread of the beetle.

W1621 Mable Lake

Once planning and approvals are in place, roads may need to be built to access areas for harvest. Being a small, area-based tenure Woodlot roads are usually built narrower to reduce disturbance.

W0126 Houston

Three generations walking through a harvested block. These small patch cuts are typical of woodlot harvests because of woodlot licence’s small size.

W1702 Slocan

Local, custom sawmills are an important part of value-added innovation in BC’s forest sector. Many woodlot licensees operate small mills that help support their local community.

Woodlot wood is also an important source of wood for value-added manufacturers because of the small volume of timber harvested and the hands-on stewardship.

W1500 Osoyoos

Fuel modification in the form of brushing is a wildfire preventative practise. While it is not a requirement, a crew was hired to reduce wildfire risk on the Osoyoos Indian Band woodlot.

W0012 Nanaimo

When logging on W0012 was planned to impact the Fine China Trail in the iconic Doumont Trail network, the woodlotter Rick Heikkila went above and beyond by meeting with the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club to understand their needs.

After harvesting the area, Rick donated material and covered equipment costs to rebuild it.

W0400 Castlegar

Woodlot licences must re-plant harvested areas to regenerate the forest. At W0400, held by Selkirk College it is used as an outdoor classroom for the Forestry Technology Program students. This group of students are learning about tree planting first hand.

W1641 Campbell River

On this Vancouver Island Woodlot, cone barriers are used to protect cedar seedlings from deer browse. With the harvested area being small, natural regeneration from neighbouring mature trees help fill in to re-establish a healthy forest.

W0272 Prince George

Some woodlot licences have unique social license. W0272 is a demonstration forest managed by the Willow River Demonstration Forest Society.

It hosts hundreds of school students and visitors each year who want to learn more about forest management and enjoy the forests.

W0344 Kelowna

Woodlot Licence holders are required to re-establish an area that has been harvested. This requires re-planting the area, ensuring the seedlings survive, reach a certain height and are healthy. A Free to Grow survey must be conducted to determine this.

This forester is conducting a free growing survey in 2023, on a block logged in 2016, planted in 2017.

W0411 Rock Creek

Old-growth Western larch with a wildlife tree tag tacked to it. The tag denotes a tree, often an old-growth or dead tree, that’s used by wildlife for nesting, shelter or food. Thanks to protecting trees like this, George Delisle’s woodlot has one of the province’s highest known concentrations of the rare Williamson sapsucker woodpecker.

W1506 Smithers

Woodlot Licences are small family-based businesses contributing to the local economy and creating jobs. This load of logs from Mark and Pauline Adamson’s woodlot will be hauled to the cant mill in Smithers.