In its two-part project on conserving fish habitat under FRPA, the Board describes how the effective protection of fish habitat on the forest and range landbase is dependant on detailed planning of forestry and range activities, ensuring that practices on the ground protect fish habitat and that comprehensive monitoring is in place to continually improve practices. The part 1 report, published in 2018, describes government’s role in the protection of fish habitat.
In part 2, Board investigators selected five watersheds across the province known to provide important fish habitat. Investigators looked at planning for the protection of fish habitat, monitoring and how well forest licensees and ranchers are providing for the protection of fish habitat on the ground. Practices examined include maintaining fish passage, sediment management, riparian management and range use.
As a follow-up to the Board’s 2014 Special Investigation of Bridge Planning, Design and Construction, the Board examined 269 newly constructed bridges and 59 wood box culverts in 5 natural resource districts in the summer and fall of 2019.
While safety and protection of the environment improved over the 2014 results, there is still work to do to improve planning and professional assurance of structures.
REPORT SUMMARY
The Forest Practices Board is pleased to provide a submission to the Strategic Review of Old Growth Management in BC. We have done a fair amount of work involving old growth management through our audits, complaint investigations and special investigations. We are providing a selection of observations based on findings from our work, grouped around two themes: what we don’t know and the need for monitoring and research, and observations on the current management approach.
A Proposed Pathway for Improving Wildlife Management and Habitat Conservation in British Columbia
The Forest Practices Board is pleased to provide a submission to Together for Wildlife. At the outset, we wish to recognize the importance of having a long-term vision and plan for stewardship of BC’s wildlife resources, and the importance of this initiative. This submission draws from reports and investigations the Board has undertaken over almost 25 years.
The Forest Practices Board is pleased to provide a submission to the Provincial Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy. Our recommendations are broken into three parts. We suggest that an overarching policy goal guide all actions regarding adaptation. We identify five focus areas where we believe action will have greatest impact, and finally we have provided an appendix with past recommendations from the Board for specific actions that can be taken.
