The Cascades Forest District is made up of the Lillooet and Merritt Timber Supply Areas (TSA). The District is comprised of many communities including Lillooet, Merritt, Princeton, Lower Nicola, Tulameen, Lytton, Goldbridge, Seton Portage and Pavilion.

The Lillooet Timber Supply Area covers an area of 1 125 025 hectares of land of which 48 000 hectares are Federal reserve lands. The District of Lillooet and the Village of Lytton are the two main population centres. Smaller communities are located at Shalath, Goldbridge, Seton Portage and Pavilion. Seasonal communities exist on Pavilion, Anderson, Gun, Marshall and Tyaughton Lakes. Forestry, ranching and mining are the natural resources industries of the area. B.C. Hydro operates three hydroelectric facilities within the area of Lillooet TSA: Terzaghi Dam, the generating station at Seton Portage and Walden North Generating station.

The Lillooet Timber Supply Area has a large First Nations population. The area’s First Nations – Stl’atl’imx, Nlaka’pamux, Shuswap (Secwepmc) and Ts’ilhqot’in First Nations – have utilized the land base for hundreds of years leaving a significant archaeological legacy. At present there are 13 First Nations communities who reside within the TSA and 15 other communities have interests in the land base.

The Sea to Sky highway, which links the interior plateau to Whistler and Vancouver, is a popular scenic travel route for tourists. Hiking, fishing, hunting and horse-guided tours are popular past times with tourists and residents. There are also plenty of opportunities for mountain bikers, rock climbers and prospectors. In the 1850’s Lillooet was known as Mile "0" of the Cariboo Wagon Trail to Barkerville and boasts a colourful history. Evidence of old mining camps and gold dredging operations are present today and form tourist attractions. The area is popular with foreign tourists, many of them from Germany, who find the cultural history and bed and breakfast accommodations an ideal vacation. Tourists can make the round trip through Canada’s hotspot – Lytton – back to the Trans Canada Highway and the coast in a day.

The Geophysical transition from interior plateau to rugged coastal mountains provides a variety of challenges to forestry operations. It also provides a unique opportunity to showcase the diversity in forestry operations, which address environmental issues such as salmon bearing streams, slope stability and visual impacts.

The Merritt Timber Supply Area area covers an area of 1 115 716 hectares of land surrounding the population centres of Merritt and Princeton. The economy of the area has historically been based upon natural resources, with forestry and ranching being two of the primary industries. The population demographics of the TSA include a large First Nation’s population. There are 6 native bands residing within the TSA and another 4 bands residing outside which have historical areas of interest within the TSA.

Another characteristic of the Merritt TSA is its popularity as a destination for outdoor recreation enthusiasts. With the easy access provided by the Coquihalla Highway system, recreationalists from the Okanagan and Lower Mainland can experience a variety of outdoor recreation opportunities in just a few hours. These characteristics lay the grounds for an important communications role for the TSA.

The location of the TSA in relation to the interior highway systems is of great importance to its role in public communications. There are 8 major transportation routes, including the Coquihalla and the Hope-Princeton highways, which traverse the TSA.  A large number of people (approx. 140,000/yr) visit the Merritt Tourist Information Centre (along the Coquihalla highway) on their way to the interior of the province.

Additionally, the Princeton forestry information kiosk (located on the Chamber of Commerce site) attracts the travelling public from Hope-Princeton. Not only does the TSA have the opportunity to communicate with the local public, but also the travelling public from out of town, out of province and out of the country. The central location of the Merritt TSA provides a prime opportunity for showcasing current interior forestry information to the entire province.