VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the BC Timber Sales program and timber sale licence holders in the Okanagan-Shuswap Resource District, during the week of June 6, 2016.
The auditors will examine all operational planning, harvesting, road, silviculture and wildfire protection practices for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The audit includes all forestry activities carried out in the last year in the area, which stretches from the U.S. border in the south to the Seymour River and Shuswap Lake in the north. The ecology in the district is one of the most complex in the province with seven biogeoclimatic zones, ranging from wet interior hemlock/cedar forests to semi-arid sagebrush. The area is also highly used for recreational purposes and includes numerous community water sources, which make managing forest activities challenging.
Once the audit work is completed, a report will be prepared and any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations will then be released to the public and government.
The Forest Practices Board is British Columbia’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of forestry activities on a woodlot in the Selkirk Natural Resource District concludes that the woodlot licensee complied with B.C.’s forestry legislation for some activities, but had two activities that did not meet legal requirements and one area for improvement, according to a report released today.
“The auditors found that the woodlot licensee did not ensure a bridge was safe for industrial users and did not report its woodlot activities to government by the required date or in the required manner,” said Tim Ryan, board chair. “Both of these instances did not comply with the Forest and Range Practices Act. The woodlot licensee also needs to improve practices in riparian areas to ensure fish habitat is protected. “
The audit examined planning, timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture and fire protection activities conducted between September 2013 and September 2015 in Woodlot 436, just north of Meadow Creek. Since the audit took place, the woodlot licensee has taken steps to correct the issues that were found.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of SN Forestry Operations Ltd. on forestry licence to cut A82551, during the week of May 30, 2016.
The auditors will examine operational planning, harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture and wildfire protection practices for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The operating area for this forest licence is in the Sea to Sky Resource District near the Squamish and Elaho Rivers. In 2015, part of the operating area was affected by a large wildfire in the Elaho Valley.
Once the audit work is completed, a report will be prepared and any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations will then be released to the public and government.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of forestry activities on two woodlots in the Selkirk Natural Resource District concludes that the woodlot licensees complied with B.C.’s forestry legislation, according to a report released today.
“These woodlots are a mix of Crown and privately owned land and the woodlot licensees must comply with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act in carrying out their activities,” said Tim Ryan, board chair. “We are pleased to see that both of them are carrying out good forest practices on the ground.”
The audits examined planning, timber harvesting roads, silviculture and fire protection activities, carried out between September 2013 and September 2015, in Woodlot 438 near Kaslo and Woodlot 1644 near Creston. The auditors identified two areas for improvement, one involving silviculture obligations and reporting of activities to government, and the other documenting fire hazard assessments.
In one case, auditors found that the previous holder of the woodlot licence had met neither regeneration and free growing obligations nor annual reporting requirements. The current woodlot licensee was aware of the problems and now has a plan in place to correct the deficiencies. In the other case, the woodlot licensee did not document fire hazard assessments after logging, although they did treat the fire hazard on the ground
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Community Forest Agreement CFA K1D has found that, while the Fort St. James Community Forest Corporation met many of the requirements of provincial forestry legislation, it also had some problems with operational planning, culvert construction, bridge construction and fire hazard assessments, according to a report released today.
“While the auditors found a number of issues with the activities on the community forest, the board is very pleased that the community forest corporation responded quickly to fix the problems and improve its procedures and training for operational staff,” said Forest Practices Board chair Tim Ryan.
The auditors examined forestry plans, timber harvesting, road and bridge construction and maintenance, planting and regeneration activities, and wildfire protection activities carried out since August 2013.
The community forest is located near Fort St. James and has three operating areas. The Marie operating area is southwest of town and the other two are north of town at Murray Ridge and Witch Lake. The community forest has an allowable annual cut of 23 895 cubic metres of wood, which was increased to 100 000 cubic metres for the last two years to harvest trees killed by the mountain pine beetle.
The Forest Practices Board is British Columbia’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Community Forest Agreement CFA K4B, near Fort St. James, has found that Tanizul Timber Ltd. met the requirements of provincial forestry legislation, according to a report released today.
“The auditors found that Tanizul is meeting the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act on the community forest,” said Forest Practices Board chair Tim Ryan.
“There was one area of improvement noted, which has to do with formally assessing fire hazards after harvesting. Tanizul treated all hazards appropriately, so this was not a significant issue,” Ryan said. “However, it is a frequent issue that comes up in board audits and is something all licensees need to pay more attention to.”
Formerly TFL 42, the Community Forest Agreement is located about 50 kilometres northwest of Fort. St. James and is managed by Tanizul. In addition to road and harvesting activities carried out between September 2013 and September 2015, the auditors also looked at replanting and regeneration obligations and fire preparedness requirements.
The Forest Practices Board is British Columbia’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The holders of five range agreements for livestock grazing generally met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, according to an audit report released today. The audit identified a couple of streamside areas that were being impacted by cattle use, but overall, the range agreement areas are being well managed.
“The board is pleased to see these range agreement holders are working hard to manage their livestock grazing on public land,” said board chair, Tim Ryan. “The board recognizes that this area has been subject to serious drought conditions, reducing the forage available for grazing. In response, some range agreement holders have shown stewardship by voluntarily reducing the number of cattle they are grazing.”
With one exception, auditors found that cattle were kept in designated pastures, so that grasses had appropriate opportunity to recover after grazing, and forage and browse were not over-grazed. Licensed waterworks were protected and fences and other range developments were maintained as required.
Some of the range agreement areas are subject to high recreation and public use and are currently affected by invasive plant species—like knapweed—and agreement holders are working with the provincial government to manage these issues.
Four of the audited range agreement areas are located southeast of Merritt and one is north of Princeton.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Western Forest Products Inc.’s (WFP) operations in the Campbell River district found that planning and practices complied with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a report released today.
“The board is pleased that we have two notable practices to report in this audit. One is WFP’s use of an electronic bridge ledger to track each structure and ensure it has met legal requirements and minimized safety and environmental risks. The other is WFP’s use of a terrain risk-management strategy to avoid potential damage to the environment,” said board chair Tim Ryan. “These two practices are in use across all of WFP’s operations and should be considered by other licensees.“
“Auditors did find one area of improvement involving a wooden box culvert that caused minor impacts to a small fish-bearing stream.”
The audit examined all aspects of operational planning and forest practices of WFP on forest licence A19231, carried out between July 2013 and July 2015. Operations were mainly located on Nootka Island, where they were managed by Nootka Sound Timber Co. Ltd.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence holders (TSL holders) in the Kamloops business area found compliance with B.C.’s forestry legislation, according to a report released today.
“BCTS and 18 out of 19 TSL holders fully complied with requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act,” said Tim Ryan, board chair. “Auditors did find one TSL holder had built one section of road that caused soil erosion near a small fish-bearing stream, a practice considered an area for improvement. We are pleased to see that since the audit, the TSL holder has fixed this issue.”
The board examined the activities carried out between May 1, 2014, and May 29, 2015. During the audit period, BCTS built 7.5 kilometres of road and 1 bridge, and had road maintenance obligations for 1152 kilometres of road and 37 bridges. TSL holders constructed 23 kilometres, maintained 140 kilometres and deactivated 34 kilometres of road, and harvested 1729 hectares of timber.
BCTS is responsible for operational planning, silviculture, and most road and bridge construction, maintenance and deactivation outside cutblocks. TSL holders are responsible for harvesting, fire protection, and most road and bridge construction, maintenance and deactivation within cutblocks.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Kairry Nguyen
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4707 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Venturion Oil Limited, ARC Resources Ltd. and Tervita found the companies complied with requirements of the Wildfire Act in the Lower Beaton landscape unit, within the Peace District. Audited activities included mechanical land clearing for facility sites and right of ways, portable wood chipping, and maintenance of right of ways.
“The board randomly selected the Peace District for an audit and decided to look at oil and gas activities, as they are the primary resource operators on the land in this part of the province,” said board chair Tim Ryan.
“We were pleased to find these operators met most legal requirements related to preventing wildfires. We did note some improvement is required in assessing fire hazards, but since the hazards were all addressed on the ground, it was not considered significant. Following our audit, all three companies committed to document hazard assessments in the future.”
The Lower Beatton landscape unit covers 500,000 hectares around the city of Fort St. John. The area is bounded by the Halfway River to the west, the Blueberry River to the north, the Peace River to the south and the Alberta border to the east. These three companies had the only active operations during the audit period.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
