The goal of protecting the environment while providing jobs for our communities and high-quality specialty wood products for our customers around the world is grounded in Kalesnikoff’s commitment to sustainable forestry.
We have been actively practicing conscientious forest stewardship since 1939 in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. Through four generations of family ownership and management, Kalesnikoff has built a reputation for a balanced approach to environmental, social and economic values in its operations.
Our Woodlands Team seeks input from Indigenous peoples and the local community to help guide our planning process for every timber harvesting project we undertake.
We are wholly invested in the land and community, and our team strives for the very best practices with which to ensure our renewable resource flourishes as much today as it will tomorrow. Because we rely on the forest, both at work and in recreation, we understand the need to ensure it is healthy and vigorous for generations to come.
Kalesnikoff is an innovative manufacturer of high-value specialty forest products, offering unparalleled quality and flexible solutions to our customers. Our environmental policy encompasses our integrated management approach from seedling to finished product, which allows us to maximize the benefits of our precious timber resource while respecting the natural landscapes that surround our home and focusing on long-term sustainability.
Since we operate our forest licenses on public land, we have a responsibility to ensure the environment is maintained in a healthy condition for future generations. We operate under the credo “Take care of the land, and the land will take care of you.”
Kalesnikoff’s Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP #875) covers our two Forest Licenses, FL A20194 and FL A30172 in the Arrow and Kootenay Lake Timber Supply Areas respectively. This is an overarching forest management plan, focusing on results and strategies to achieve objectives set by government for sustainable forestry values such as biodiversity, cultural heritage, recreation, soils, wildlife and others in addition to timber.
The Forest Stewardship Plan provides a legal framework for our activities on publicly owned lands in British Columbia, and identifies Forest Development Units (FDU’s) where we are permitted to operate under our licenses. We welcome input from the public and from indigenous peoples of BC, and the FSP provides information that can be used by interested parties to give feedback or raise concerns with respect to our management principles. Formal review and comment periods will occur for amendments and renewals of the FSP, however feedback and comments can be submitted any time, and will be kept on record to ensure they are considered during updates to the FSP and during operational planning.
Accompanying the FSP are our two Forest Development Unit maps, which outline the FDU’s for our two Forest Licenses:
All of the PDF maps available for download from our website are compatible with the Avenza Maps app, which is available for free and works with your phone or tablet to display your real-time location on the map using the GPS receiver in your device. The app is a great backcountry companion, as the offline maps allow full utility even when out of cell or WiFi range. Explore the Avenza website: https://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/
While we are legally permitted to operate within the entire FDU for each license, our focus will only be within our identified Operating Areas. These are shown on the FDU maps, and in greater detail here on our individual Operating Area maps:
Akokli
Apex
Blewett
Campbell
Deer
Gander
Glade
Gray
Grohman
Hall
Merry
Redfish
Rialto
Schroeder
TamOShanter
All of the PDF maps available for download from our website are compatible with the Avenza Maps app, which is available for free and works with your phone or tablet to display your real-time location on the map using the GPS receiver in your device. The app is a great backcountry companion, as the offline maps allow full utility even when out of cell or WiFi range. Explore the Avenza website.
Kalesnikoff is committed to transparent information sharing and engagement with Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, and interested members of the public. We strive to maintain an open-door policy that encourages feedback and meaningful dialogue that will aid in our endeavor to balance cultural, environmental, social, and economic values. In addition to our efforts to reach out to those with a vested interest in our operations, information regarding each project we undertake under our forest licenses will be posted here with opportunities for review and comment. The easiest way to get in touch with our Woodlands Team is to Email Us
Merry Creek Wildfire Risk Reduction – A091
Croasdaile Creek – K096-5
Boswell Face Fire Salvage – K101
Recently Completed Public Engagement Opportunities
McFarlane Creek
We recognize the potential impacts wildfire may have to our communities, and Kalesnikoff is actively engaged in various initiatives to mitigate these risks on both public and private lands. Climate change predictions for our area suggest wildfire will become a more prevalent factor in the future, and we believe that planning and meaningful action can lead to positive outcomes for our forests and communities.
Kalesnikoff has been in collaboration with others for some time now in efforts to reduce the wildfire risk to our local communities. We have been working closely with the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) to identify and treat forested areas on Crown land which have strategic importance for community safety, critical infrastructure, and overall forest resilience to wildfire. Throughout this process, we have learned a lot, and would like to invite the public to take part by learning alongside us, and by having an opportunity to give feedback and suggest where wildfire risk reduction work could benefit your local community.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) has recently created and updated Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP’s)for the District. The CWPPs can be found on their website at the following address:
https://www.rdck.ca/EN/main/services/emergency-management/wildfires/community-wildfire-protection-plans.html
These plans assess community values and risks, include recommendations to enhance community wildfire resilience, and identify specific areas of interest for fuel treatment work on Crown land. Where proposed treatment areas are identified within Kalesnikoff’s operating areas, we work in collaboration with the RDCK and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) to prioritize and plan for potential operational treatments. We believe it’s worth the effort to read the CWPP applicable to your community and raise your awareness of what can be done to help safeguard it against wildfire. If your community is within one of Kalesnikoff’s operating areas (scroll up to see the Operating Area Maps) and your neighborhood has been identified as a priority treatment area in the CWPP, please feel free to get in touch with us to ask questions and learn more. The easiest way to reach us is by email at:
Wildfire risks in the Kootenays are not solely confined to Crown public lands. While we are blessed to live in an environment that is rich in forested landscapes, this needs to come with some level of understanding of the hazards that accompany our small town and rural lifestyle. There is a growing consensus that managing private lands to reduce wildfire hazard is a critical component of the overall wellbeing of our communities.
If you are concerned about wildfire risk to your property and local community you aren’t alone. While significant efforts are now underway to address pressing risks on Crown lands in British Columbia, management of private land is up to the owner. Kalesnikoff staff have been collaborating extensively with local experts regarding this issue for some time now and this experience, combined with our forestry expertise, allows us to offer sound advice to private land owners.
We can assess the vulnerability of your property and give a range of options to mitigate the wildfire risk, often with a net revenue to the owner. Depending on the forest type and complexity of various attributes of the property, we’ll work with you to create a customized plan that meets your goals and is right for your land.
If you’re interested and you own approximately 10 acres or more of forested land, or you and your neighbors collectively own this much adjacent forested land, please email us at to begin the conversation.
For any size of property, we also recommend learning more about the FireSmart program. You can have a free assessment of your home and surrounding area completed by a trained specialist. Find out more here:
https://www.rdck.ca/EN/main/services/emergency-management/wildfires/firesmart.html
Additionally, the Regional District of Central Kootenay has now completed Community Wildfire Protection Plans for most areas throughout the District. Find out more here:
https://www.rdck.ca/EN/main/services/emergency-management/wildfires/community-wildfire-protection-plans.html
Climate change has the potential to affect all of our lives in a number of different ways. As global citizens, and as citizens of the West Kootenays, we recognize our potential to have a positive impact in terms of mitigating the negative effects that are likely to occur over the coming years. One approach we see as potentially beneficial in this regard is to utilize the practice of agroforestry in strategic areas. By applying an integrated forest stewardship approach to this concept, we believe we can achieve multiple benefits to society including wildfire risk reduction, local food security, public education, enhanced recreation opportunities, and advancement of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
As we struggle collectively to understand what challenges we will face locally due to the Earth’s changing climate, a few recurrent themes emerge in the Kootenays. Increased summer droughts will likely exacerbate the wildfire risk. As other parts of the world experience difficult climatic conditions, food production will likely become more challenging. In order to thrive during difficult times, a greater sense of community will be invaluable, allowing people to work together toward common goals. At Kalesnikoff, we believe by working collaboratively we can surmount these challenges, and we would like to begin with a project we think can achieve multiple benefits in the face of an uncertain future. Our proposal is to enhance forest management in strategic areas near our communities using an agroforestry principle that we hope can achieve the following goals:
– Decreased risk from wildfires
– Enhanced local food security, with implications for a reduced carbon footprint
– A reinvigorated sense of community, leveraging collaboration to foster success
– A small step toward reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
– Economic opportunity with environmental benefits rather than environmental costs
At this time Kalesnikoff is working collaboratively with the RDCK and local experts to create conduct fuel reduction treatments near the City of Nelson. A small portion of this area (adjacent to the rail trail, just south of town) is proposed as a pilot project to test the agroforestry approach. This project is tentatively called the ‘Selous in Bloom’ initiative. Kalesnikoff is currently seeking energetic partners and local support to help realize the potential of this concept and in doing so act as leaders in progressive approaches to climate adaptation. If you’re interested and would like to discuss this further, or provide comments regarding the Selous in Bloom project, please email us at
Some further reading and links are provided below:
Government of BC Agroforestry Web Page
Submission Paper to the BC Interior Forest Sector Renewal Program
A research paper investigating the potential for agroforestry to reduce wildfire risk in Europe
If you have any more questions related to our forest stewardship don’t hesitate to reach out.
