A cancellation hearing on Meadow Creek Cedar’s timber license is set for Thursday. According to a Ministry of Forests spokesman, the meeting will give the company an opportunity to be heard and help the Kootenay Lake district manager decide if there are still grounds to cancel the license.
The license was suspended two years ago for poor forestry practices and failing to meet reforestation requirements. The company, owned by Surrey’s Dale Kooner, was also fined for various infractions.
A three-month notice of cancellation was issued earlier this year after Meadow Creek Cedar’s management agreement with Blue Ridge Timber of South Slocan fell apart. Blue Ridge intended to rehabilitate the company’s license by meeting a long list of outstanding obligations and eventually buy the quota.
The company’s license remains under a partial suspension but the ministry is willing to hold off on cancellation if a buyer can be found.
“The ministry is aware that the Meadow Creek Cedar owner continues to seek a suitable, qualified buyer to purchase the license, including the sawmill,” spokesman Greig Bethell said in an email. “If the new buyer is in a better position to rehabilitate the license, it would mitigate the need for cancellation.”
If the license is cancelled, it would not relieve Meadow Creek Cedar of any legal obligations, including outstanding debts that stand at about $150,000. That does not include the silviculture backlog, which is estimated to be in the millions.