Forestry Roads & COMS

In BC at least it is a bit of a mess, technically non deactivated FSR's are part of the provincial highway & road system. The problem is they are largely unpoliced and unmaintained, although the resource companies do maintain them when they are actively doing resource extraction, also the resource companies a largely create the roads.

Add to that some of the land is privately held but right away to public space must be provided, if there is no alternate.

Figuring out if you can use a road, and what frequencies are in use can be a little nuts. Then of course the commercial frequencies require a second radio and license ( it should be easy but the license page is just beyond stupid), which makes calling your markers difficult.
Just knowing the frequency in use on a given road might allow a recreational user to at least monitor for oncoming truck traffic.
 

rgallant

Adventurer
@Bill Ruttan they moved everything to RR 1, etc and some of the signs do not show the actual freq. I carry a list but there has been a lot of stupid all round as far a road use, signage and radio frequencies go. But when I transmit to on a coming logging truck that I am pulled over between markers l always get wave as they go by.

Had to reverse for a kilometer on day when a tractor trailer flatbed with a big cat on it came around the corner on very narrow road, he was going slow. I just stopped popped into reverse and kept going untiI I could clear of the road, same deal a wave and shrug from him. No radio then but he was not moving very fast it was a bad junk of road.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
technically non deactivated FSR's are part of the provincial highway
No they are not. They exist between logging operations to give fire crews access. To manage watersheds. To monitor wildlife activoty. FSRs in BC are not public provincial highways, they exist to manage resources and protect resources. We are lucky and privileged to be using them.

30 years ago a FSR was deacivated and a bridge removed. A fellow had built a 2000 square foot "cabin" on the far side. ..... without any permits, he was a squatter with money. He was livid. He demanded the bridge be put back in..... In the end he lost and his "shang ra la cabin" was torched. FSRs exist only to manage resources. Or when Joe public starts squawking and claiming it is unsafe without grading. Be vocal about that, say you are going to sue because you cracked your oil pan...... and it'll be decommissioned real fast.
 
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rgallant

Adventurer
@billiebob I will acknowledge I do not know how exactly it all integrates as it is a typical bureaucratic mess.

As it turns out we are both wrong or partly right:
  • FSR's are Provincial and managed by the province with maintenance priority to remote communities
  • Resource roads are industry under built under permit to a Forestry /mining company or other operator
  • Roads created by Hydro or watershed authorities which may be temporary and never maintained or as in most cases permanently blocked
  • And my favorite Non-status roads - they may have been there for decades and be regularly used but non one has a "claim" to them or the original a user has long vanished
And of course there is no signage in general to tell you what kind road you are using. The Pavilion-Clinton Rd between Clinton and Lillooet is a very nice dirt road through the trees, with actual speed limit signs.
 

rgallant

Adventurer
Just to give those who are not in this part of the world an idea of the size of some these trucks, my Discovery looks a bit tiny next to that. They go down that same tiny FSR as every one else.

IMJKIFD.jpg
 

Alloy

Well-known member
Just knowing the frequency in use on a given road might allow a recreational user to at least monitor for oncoming truck traffic.

@Bill Ruttan they moved everything to RR 1, etc and some of the signs do not show the actual freq. I carry a list but there has been a lot of stupid all round as far a road use, signage and radio frequencies go. But when I transmit to on a coming logging truck that I am pulled over between markers l always get wave as they go by.

Had to reverse for a kilometer on day when a tractor trailer flatbed with a big cat on it came around the corner on very narrow road, he was going slow. I just stopped popped into reverse and kept going untiI I could clear of the road, same deal a wave and shrug from him. No radio then but he was not moving very fast it was a bad junk of road.

Below are the maps of RR channels in BC that can be downloaded and kept on a phone. **Signs on the roads always take percent though.


When on an active road it helps to call vehicles that are not using radios.
 

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