VICTORIA – An audit of the British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber sale licensees near Powell River found timber harvesting and forest road work met all legislative requirements, according to a report released today.
“These operators are carrying out forest practices as the public expects them to, by following the Forest and Range Practices Act,” said board chair Bruce Fraser.
The audit opinion is based on examining more than 30 cutblocks, over 300 kilometres of roads, 89 bridges and operational planning carried out by BCTS and timber sale licence-holders in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.
The audit report also identifies one area of improvement and notes two good practices carried out by BCTS.
BCTS had identified deficiencies on two forest service roads before it took over responsibility for the roads. The deficiencies were located close to important fisheries values, but BCTS did no maintenance because negotiations to secure access through adjacent private property failed. BCTS has since worked out a road access agreement and plans to do the needed maintenance.
The audit report also commends BCTS for good work inventorying a red-listed trailing raspberry for the BC Conservation Data Centre, and for limiting, or compensating for, damage to fish and fish habitat when transferring logs into the ocean at two log dumps.
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: 250 213-4730 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board is auditing forest practices of the BC Timber Sales Program in the North Island-Central Coast Forest District.
The four-day audit, which began June 22, is examining timber harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection activities, and associated planning, conducted by timber sale licence holders and BCTS, for compliance with forest practices legislation.
BCTS’s operating areas are located throughout the mid-coast of B.C., from Knight Inlet, north to Finlayson Channel.
The audit area is subject to the Central and North Coast LRMPs, which provide a framework for ecosystem-based management.
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:
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Helen Davies
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit forest practices of the BC Timber Sales Program in the Skeena Stikine Forest District from June 15 to 20.
The audit will examine timber harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection activities, and associated planning, conducted by timber sale licence holders and BCTS, for compliance with forest practices legislation.
BCTS’s operating areas are located throughout the Kispiox Timber Supply Area (TSA).
The Kispiox TSA contains a broad range of forest land resources, including timber and other forest products such as pine mushrooms, as well as outdoor recreation and tourism amenities, minerals and a variety of fish and wildlife habitats. It is also home to wildlife including the Kermode bear, grizzly bear, moose, mule deer and mountain goat.
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:
-30-
Helen Davies
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Two Forest Practices Board auditors will visit five woodlots in the Quesnel Forest District from June 15 to 19, spending one day on each woodlot. The board carries out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with provincial forest practices legislation.
The audit will examine each woodlot holder’s harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection activities, and associated planning for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act, and the Wildfire Act. The area being examined has been hit heavily by mountain pine beetle, and most harvesting activity is salvage of beetle killed trees.
The five woodlots with the most harvest activity since January 2007 were selected from the 59 woodlots in the Quesnel Forest District. The total volume harvested over the past two and a half years for these five woodlots is approximately 70,000 cubic metres. They are all located within two hours of Quesnel, BC.
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:
Helen Davies
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4708 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of tree farm licence 39, block 6, operated by Western Forest Products Inc., in the Haida Gwaii Forest District, found good forest practices and noted that, in particular, harvesting and road activities near fish habitat and riparian areas were well managed.
The audit was conducted in spring 2008, with a specific focus on fish streams and road crossings. During the audit, more than 140 cutblocks, 1,800 kilometres of roads, 450 bridges and operational planning were examined.
“The licensee has minimized impacts to fish and fish habitat by building new roads to high standards that prevent sedimentation in fish streams,” said board chair, Bruce Fraser. “Western used open bottom crossing structures for virtually all fish streams which ensures fish can pass through the crossing to access habitat. Tree farm licence 39, block 6 contains a large number of high-value fish streams, and the board commends Western on the measures it has taken to protect fish and fish habitat in this area-based licence.”
Prior to Western acquiring the TFL, activity in the area left a legacy of old road systems that are still affecting fish habitat. While maintenance of these roads is not an obligation of Western, the company is using Forest Investment Account funding to remediate and maintain some of them.
A tree farm licence is an area-based tenure that grants the licensee virtually exclusive rights to harvest timber. Western Forest Products has the largest tenure on the islands, with an annual cut for Block 6 of 510,000 cubic metres.
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 – An audit of BC Timber Sales’ operations near Quesnel found most planning and forestry activities complied with forest practices legislation. However, the audit identified eight cutblocks that were planted with seedlings not meant for those areas.
“This contravenes the government’s limits for the transfer of seed between areas,” said board chair Bruce Fraser. “This is significant because when cutblocks are planted with seedlings that are not native to the area, the local climate may affect their ability to survive and grow into a healthy new forest.”
BCTS has since indicated that they will monitor these seedlings and have corrected the issues that led to the problem.
The board also found some situations of excessive soil disturbance caused by timber sale licencees harvesting on wet soils. This can reduce the future productivity of the site. This practice is avoidable.
The board’s audit fieldwork took place in July 2008, examining activities conducted during the period of July 2007 to August 2008. The audit looked at forest planning and practices of BCTS and timber sale licence holders in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Business Area’s Quesnel Field Unit, examining more than 300 cutblocks and 500 kilometres of road.
The audit assessed compliance with the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, the Forest and Range Practices Act, Wildfire Act, and related regulations, as well as consistency with the Cariboo‐Chilcotin Land‐Use Plan.
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: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – A Forest Practices Board audit report released today says that wilderness forest service roads, including bridges and major culverts, in the Bulkley, Kispiox, and Cranberry Timber Supply Areas around Smithers and Hazelton, are being appropriately managed.
The audit was focused on forest service roads managed solely by the Ministry of Forest and Range’s district manager, and looked at road and bridge maintenance, road deactivation, riparian area management and the protection of fish passage at stream crossings.
These activities and obligations were assessed for compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act as well as the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. All activities carried out between July 2006 and July 2008 were included in the audit.
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: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board today released the results of an audit of forest practices carried out by the Creston Valley Forest Corporation between June 2007 and June 2008 in the West Kootenay, near Creston.
Auditors examined planning, harvesting, road construction and road maintenance to verify whether the corporation followed the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, and related regulations. The corporation met most of its legal requirements, but the audit found more than 170 hectares of harvested area that hadn’t yet achieved their planned reforestation targets.
“The cutblocks audited are small and dispersed, consistent with the corporation’s ecosystem-based philosophy of forest management and its efforts to protect drinking water,” said board chair Bruce Fraser. “However, meeting planned targets for regenerating harvested areas in a timely manner is a significant and critical milestone on the road to ensuring that an appropriate new forest will replace the previous stand.”
To address the board’s findings, the corporation has ordered trees for a 2009 spring planting. It also plans to develop new standards for regenerating harvested sites that reflect the natural fire history of the area and are compatible with efforts to reduce forest fire risk to the nearby community of Creston.
The area the board looked at contains five community watersheds, including Arrow Creek which supplies water to Creston and the Columbia Brewery. Twenty-six cutblocks, 4.2 kilometres of new road construction, 77 kilometres of road maintenance, and fire protection were all included in the audit.
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.
VICTORIA – A study of 1,110 road crossings over fish streams in 19 watersheds around B.C. has found that, in total, less than half of the crossings were likely to allow fish to pass through without problems, according to a Forest Practices Board report released today.
The board’s special investigation looked at crossings in two types of habitat and found that in habitat classified as “important or critical,” bridges, or similar crossings that don’t disturb natural stream beds were used for 72 percent of crossings, allowing for successful passage of fish to upstream waters. However, in habitat classified as “marginal,” bridges or similar crossings were used only 12 percent of the time, and the rest of the crossings consisted of pipe culverts or other closed bottom structures, and were unlikely to allow successful fish passage.
“Our research shows that there is a significant risk to fish due to the use of culverts on many fish streams, and that while most of the impeded crossings were in marginal habitat, a substantial number of crossings in valuable fish habitat were compromised as well,” said board chair Bruce Fraser.
“While government is taking steps to maintain and restore fish passage on forestry roads, we also found that there is a legacy of problems created by other types of roads in forested watersheds – highways, railways, and other resource access roads – that also need to be addressed.”
The Forest and Range Practices Act requires forest roads to be constructed and maintained so they do not cause a material adverse effect on fish passage. However, the legislation does not apply to non-forestry roads, or to roads built before 1995.
Government estimates there are nearly 400,000 stream crossings in B.C., and the number increases every year as more roads are developed. Fish require access to a variety of habitats throughout their life cycle and need to be able to swim between different habitats in a stream.
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:
VICTORIA – In a study of recently logged areas, the Forest Practices Board found that fire hazard was reduced satisfactorily in most cases, but no licensees fully met the legal requirement to assess fire hazard as required by the Wildfire Act, according to a report released today.
The study examined 111 randomly selected cutblocks, harvested from 2005 – 2007, in the Okanagan-Shuswap and Central-Cariboo forest districts.
The Wildfire Act requires licensees to assess fuel hazard and the risk of a fire starting as well as spreading, and to abate the fire hazard if necessary.
In many cases, licensees assessed the fuel hazard, but in no case did they assess the risk of a fire starting or spreading. Despite the lack of compliance, fire hazards were often abated by routine practices such as piling and burning slash and debris at the roadside.
"While results were generally good, we are concerned that some licensees are not recognizing high‐risk situations, such as when trees are processed at the stump, increasing the fire hazard due to large amounts of slash left on the site," said board chair Bruce Fraser.
The report makes three recommendations for improvement to fire hazard assessment and abatement practices. The Association of BC Forest Professionals has agreed to work with government and industry to address the recommendations.
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:
