VICTORIA – An investigation of remediation orders issued to forest and range operators who have not complied with legislation has determined that these orders are not as effective as they could be. Rules about how to conduct forest or range activities are set out in British Columbia’s Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and Wildfire Act (WA). If a licensee breaches legislation, government may order remediation.
“Remediation orders are important because they allow government to require a licensee to fix the harm that may have resulted from their contravention,” said Al Gorley, board chair, “They also act as a deterrent to future contraventions.”
The board looked at 55 orders made under FRPA and the WA since 2004, most in response to road construction, timber harvesting, silviculture, fire suppression and range use issues. It found that many orders may not have been enforceable, and that consequences for not carrying orders out have been minimal.
“Orders need to meet certain criteria to have value,” said Gorley. “They should be fair, consistent with other orders, proportionate to harm caused by the contravention, and responsive to the licensee and circumstances. In addition, they should remove any financial gain not already removed by a penalty.”
To improve the effectiveness of orders, the board is recommending that government develop better guidance for government officials about what makes an effective order, standardize the process for gathering and recording information about compliance with orders, publish compliance statistics annually and amend the legislation to encourage voluntary remediation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of three non-renewable forest licences in the Kamloops Forest District found they met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, according to a report released today. The three licences, held by Tk’Emlupsemc Forestry Development Corporation (Tk’Emlups) (A80706), the Ashcroft Indian Band (A81385) and the Neskonlith Indian Band (A83410) operate under the Kamloops Land and Resource Management Plan, which provides direction from government on how to manage public lands and resources within the plan area.
“Most of the harvest was of beetle-attacked lodgepole pine and fire damaged stands, and, the three licensees fully met their obligations,” said board chair Al Gorley.
The board examined activities for compliance with legislation, looking at harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture, fire preparedness, fire protection activities and associated planning.
The three NRFLs have a combined allowable annual cut of 83,575 cubic metres. During the two-year period of this audit, 146,014 cubic metres were harvested under these licences.
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:
Helen Davies
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The board will audit the forest practices of Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd., on Forest Licence A18698, starting Oct. 17, 2011.
Auditors will examine all activities regulated by the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, including planning, roads, harvesting, silviculture, fire preparedness and hazard abatement.
The licence lies within the Merritt Timber Supply Area, in the Cascades District, near the communities of Princeton, Tulameen and Hedley.
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. This is the board’s 10th audit of the 2011 season. Auditors have travelled far and wide, auditing activities near communities including Squamish, Mackenzie, Fort St. James, Kamloops, the Sunshine Coast, Burns Lake, Creston, Tofino and Quesnel.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit BC Timber Sales’ operations in the Mackenzie Forest District, from Sept. 26 to 30, 2011.
The audit will examine timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning activities carried out by BC Timber Sales and timber sale licence holders over the past two years.
BCTS operations are located approximately 160 kilometres north of Prince George, near the town of Mackenzie. In the past two years, BCTS has harvested approximately 800,000 cubic metres of timber, mainly to salvage trees killed by mountain pine beetle.
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:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine activities on woodlot licences W0295, W0657, W1431, W1881, W1888 and W1893, located in the Fort St. James district, during the week of Sept. 19 to 25.
The audit will examine timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning activities carried out by the licence-holders. Auditors may also examine woodlot program activities by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, as well as compliance and enforcement activities.
The Fort St James district was randomly selected for audit, and the board then selected the six woodlots with the largest amount of harvesting in the last two years. These woodlots each harvested between 11,000 and 103,000 cubic metres of wood (that’s approximately 300 to 2,900 truckloads).
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:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of Babine Forest Products Limited’s operations in the Nadina Forest District north of the community of Burns Lake and around Babine Lake during the week of Sept. 12 to 16.
The audit will examine timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning activities carried out by the company.
Heavily affected by mountain pine beetle, the district has traditionally supported a wide range of interests, including fishing, boating and hunting. Eight provincial parks, including Tweedsmuir and Entiako, are wholly or partially within the area, which also encompasses the communities of Burns Lake, Houston and Granisle.
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:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An investigation of soil conservation practices by timber licensees operating in the Quesnel and Vanderhoof forest districts found good planning and practices, according to a Forest Practices Board report released today.
The investigation reviewed the activities of four major forest licensees—Canfor and West Fraser in both districts, Tolko in the Quesnel district, L&M Lumber in the Vanderhoof district—and British Columbia Timber Sales and its timber sale licence-holders in both districts. Forest practices conducted between July 1, 2006, and July 31, 2008 were investigated.
"Conservation of soil has been an issue in some of our past audits,” said board chair, Al Gorley, “but the licensees we looked at in this special investigation were generally found to be careful stewards of the soil resource, and should be acknowledged for that.”
Soil needs to be protected during forestry operations to ensure it can grow a future forest. While it is often not feasible to avoid soil disturbance completely, the amount of disturbance allowed is limited through regulation.
Of the 10,781 hectares examined, 146 had fairly large patches of concentrated soil disturbance. These sites complied with the legislation because the allowable disturbance limit is averaged over a large harvest area, but the disturbance was avoidable and the Board considers this to be a practice that could be improved.
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 can investigate and report on current forestry and range issues and make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of BC Timber Sales’ operations in the Squamish Forest District portion of the Chinook Business Area during the week of Aug. 22 to 26.
The audit will examine timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning activities carried out by BC Timber Sales and timber sale licence-holders.
The Squamish and Whistler area is world-renowned for its outdoor recreation opportunities including camping, hiking, climbing, mountain biking and snow sports. A few of the key industries in the district include tourism, logging, ranching, farming and a deep-sea port.
Because of the variety of activities in the area, forestry operators must take multiple interests into account while conducting forestry operations.
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:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The board will audit the forest practices of Troll Resort Ltd., starting Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011.
Troll Resort, a family-run business since 1971, is located in the Quesnel Forest District, 42 kilometres east of Quesnel, along Highway 26. Troll Resort is an integral part of the Quesnel community, providing summer and winter recreation opportunities. As part of its operations, the company has licences to cut timber for glading and ski run management.
Auditors will examine all activities that are regulated by the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, including planning, roads, harvesting and fire protection.
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 has an interest in any forest practices on public land that may impact forest values, regardless of who carries out the practices. The board audits forest and range practices, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.
More information can be obtained by contacting:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Four community forest licences in the Sunshine Coast Forest District—K3F, held by Sechelt Community Projects Inc.; K3G, held by Powell River Community Forest Ltd.; K4C, held by Klahoose Forestry Limited Partnership; and K3P, held by Tla’Amin Timber Products Ltd.—will be audited starting the week of July 24, 2011.
The audits will examine operational planning, harvesting, roads, silviculture and fire protection activities for compliance with forest practices legislation and will cover an area ranging from Toba Inlet to the community of Sechelt. Of the four community forest licences in the district, two are managed by First Nations — the Klahoose and the Sliammon — and the other two are managed by the City of Powell River and the District of Sechelt.
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.
Community forests are area-based tenures managed by a local government, community group or First Nation for the benefit of the entire community.
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:
Helen Davies, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
