The Okanagan Shuswap Forest District is soliciting the public for ideas on innovative uses of wood fibre, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell announced Monday.

"Improving utilization means getting more value from our forests," says Bell. "British Columbia continues to lead the country in bioenergy, but what about the untapped, non- traditional markets? If we can tap into and pursue new and innovative markets for fibre usage, we can diversify the local forest economy."

The forest district's goal is to potentially advance new forest economies by improving the utilization of fibre, which includes any or all parts of a tree and/or wood waste. The focus is getting the highest-value product from each log, and looking for opportunities to expand the local forest economy.

Part of the Government of British Columbia's Wood First Initiative is to facilitate the right fibre to the right process, allowing different manufacturers access to the dimensions, species and grades of fibre they need. The ultimate goal is to maximize fibre utilization while balancing the diverse ecological and social values of the land-base.

Since this is a Request for Information, there is no guarantee that any submission will result in a tenure being issued.

Current fibre availability would typically be most suitable for terms less than 10 years and smaller (less than 100,000 cubic metres) tenures. However, this availability may change over time and should not preclude other submissions.

The Okanagan Timber Supply Area is a large, ecologically diverse area covering approximately 2.25 million hectares. It stretches from the headwaters of the Seymour River in the north to the U.S. border in the south, the Monashee Mountains in the east and the Okanagan Mountains in the west.

The productive forest land covers approximately 1.4 million hectares with a healthy mix of species and provides for diverse opportunities for forest fibre utilization.