Manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable. Those are the two key principles in developing a forest strategy for the Kamloops Timber Supply Area, according to information released during a District of Clearwater meeting on Feb. 15.

The project area includes the forests within the district as well as forests in the valley that can be seen from the district. They are the forests that the timber and tourism businesses rely on, and that community members recreate within, noted a document by consulting team member Cindy Pearce.

"Climate and forest changes are already evident in the Clearwater area," she wrote. "The extensive mountain pine beetle outbreak that has created patches of dead pine trees and the recent extreme fire conditions during very dry summers are linked to climate."

The average July temperature in this area is expected to increase by two to six degrees C by 2050. The average temperature in January is expected to go up by two degrees C in the same 40 years.

A small increase in total precipitation (three to four per cent) is expected, with more coming as rain and less snow. Summer precipitation might decline by one to 10 per cent.

"These changes are expected to lower timber productivity and cause significant issues for biodiversity, water, wildlife habitat, fish species and visual quality," Pearce wrote.

One of the first priorities in forest-based communities is to pay greater attention for emergency preparedness for households, businesses and all levels of government. An understanding of future climates might change Official Community Plan decisions related to community wildfire protection, land use in flood prone areas or management of trees on district property.