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Archival description
Public sustained yield unit general files
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Public sustained yield unit general files

  • GR-3703
  • Series
  • 1955-1980

The series consists of general files relating to public sustained yield units. The files were used to calculate the long term sustainable yield in the forests. These records were created between 1955 and 1980 by the Ministry of Forests and its successors. The records were maintained by the Victoria central office in Victoria and relate to all areas of the province.

Public sustained yield units (PSYU) were used by the ministry between 1948 and 1978. They were the method by which the ministry regulated harvest rates. PSYUs were an outgrowth of the 1945 Royal Commission on the Forest Resources of British Columbia. This commission recommended that the ministry should establish forest management units to ensure the long term sustained yield of timber.

The ministry established 88 public sustained yield units in the province and these are reflected in the records of this series. In 1978, the ministry replaced the system of public sustained yield units with timber supply areas. The 88 PSYU’s were reduced to 33 timber supply areas.

Records consist primarily of reports and maps as well as correspondence among ministry staff. The records were used to calculate yield volumes and therefore contain documents used for that purpose including yield calculation reports, forest inventory summaries, mill surveys and statistics, and information about allowable cuts.

Files are arranged alphabetically. There is a file for each of the PSYUs in the province. Each file has been assigned a classification number that begins with the numbers 700-6-1. This classification number was first assigned to the records ca. 1979. Documents in each file that were created prior to 1979 have been assigned a “0” number. The “0” numbers are 7 digit numbers that are part of a filing system that was created by the Dept. of Lands which was a predecessor of Forests.

Ministries responsible for creating these records, and the dates that they were responsible, include:
British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Forests (1955-1962)
British Columbia. Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
British Columbia. Dept. of Forests (1975-1976)
British Columbia. Ministry of Forests (1976-1980)

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Forests