FORT ST. JOHN – An audit of four woodlots in the Peace Natural Resource District found all four met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
"Two of these woodlots suffered major timber losses due to wildfire, which significantly affected their operations," said Kevin Kriese, Forest Practices Board chair. "The woodlot owners were able to effectively manage these challenges and still meet the requirements of legislation for their activities."
Woodlots W1780, W1781, W1950 and W0604 are located along Highway 97, northwest of Fort St. John. The audit examined planning, timber harvesting, road construction and maintenance, reforestation and fire protection activities carried out on the woodlots between September 2016 and September 2018.
Woodlots 1780 and 1781 were both affected by the Beatton Airport Road fire in 2016 and carried out extensive salvage harvesting to recover burned timber.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – A followup report on implementing recommendations to improve forest stewardship plans has found some improvement in the quality of plans but concludes the recommendations have not yet been fully implemented.
In August 2015, the board published a special investigation report called Forest Stewardship Plans: Are They Meeting Expectations? That investigation found the quality of plans needs to improve as the plans did not include adequate content and were not useful to the public in providing input on proposed forestry activities.
In this report, the board looked at the extent to which its recommendations have been implemented and if new forest stewardship plans (FSPs) have improved.
"We looked at 10 recently approved plans and found there is an improving trend in the content of FSPs, especially where targeted training and guidance have been provided, but overall they continue to have a low to moderate degree of conformity with the legal requirements,said Kevin Kriese, chair, Forest Practices Board. "While the plans met the basic legal requirements for public consultation, only two of 10 plan preparers did anything more than the minimum to get public input to the plans.
"We conclude that these plans have not met our expectations for improvement. The board questions whether FSPs are the right tool for the job of informing the public about planned forestry activities and holding forest companies accountable for sound practices."
On May 16, 2019, the B.C. legislature passed Bill 21-2019: Forest and Range Practices Amendment Act, which includes changes that are expected to address the board's recommendations related to the enforceability of the content of FSPs and improved opportunities for public review.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber sale licence holders in the Clearwater Field Unit portion of the BCTS Kamloops Business Area during the week of June 3, 2019.
Auditors will examine whether harvesting, roads, bridges, silviculture, fire protection activities and associated planning carried out from June 1, 2017, to June 7, 2019, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The audit area is in eastern British Columbia in the North Thompson River watershed, between Little Fort and Valemount. The area contains important caribou habitat and scenic areas, which require specific forest management considerations.
This BCTS program was chosen randomly for audit from all BCTS programs in the province. The board normally audits two BCTS programs each year.
Once the audit work is complete, 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 lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s small scale salvage program and salvage licence holders in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Natural Resource District met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a new report.
“Our audit found that salvagers did a good job dealing with trees infested with Douglas-fir bark beetle in the district,” said Board Chair Kevin Kriese. “Auditors saw a couple of practices that need improvement, but nothing significant.”
One salvage licensee harvested some trees just outside the boundary of the licence and several licensees did not document fire hazard assessments following logging. As a result of the audit process, one of the licensees has already improved its boundary marking procedures to prevent a similar error in the future.
The audit examined timber harvesting, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning, carried out between Sept. 2017 and Sept. 2018.
Small scale salvage is the harvest of single trees or small patches of dead or damaged timber. Salvage licences are limited to 2,000 cubic metres or less. In the past year, most salvage activities in the district took place near Williams Lake, Horsefly and McLeese Lake and involved beetle infested trees, with a few areas of burned or wind thrown trees.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
PORT RENFREW – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of Pacheedaht Andersen Timber Holdings Limited Partnership (PATH) on tree farm licence (TFL) 61 in the South Island Natural Resource District during the week of May 13, 2019.
Auditors will examine whether harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning carried out by PATH between May 1, 2017, and May 17, 2019, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The audit area is located on southwestern Vancouver Island, north of Highway 14 between Port Renfrew and Jordan River. PATH purchased TFL 61 from Western Forest Products Ltd. in 2010. PATH is a partnership between Pacheedaht First Nation and Andersen Timber.
Once the audit work is complete, 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 then will 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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – A new report on the compliance and enforcement (C&E) program in the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has been released.
"Sufficient oversight of forestry and range activities is critical to support the environmental, social and economic values that B.C.'s forestry legislation is intended to protect," said Kevin Kriese, Forest Practices Board chair. "We conclude that the public cannot be confident that government's C&E framework is achieving the intended result of promoting licensee compliance with legislation.
"Based on our own audit work, we believe that overall levels of compliance with forest and range legislation are fairly high. However, we found the C&E program does limited proactive monitoring of forest and range activities, or public reporting of compliance levels. Together, this makes it difficult to determine what the level of licensee compliance really is."
The evaluation was based on interviews with program staff, including natural resource officers, ministry staff and industry representatives. The evaluation found a number of weaknesses in the design and implementation of the program to address the complexities of forestry legislation and inadequate public reporting, from a lack of appropriate performance measures and targets, to issues with staffing and training.
"We did find that the C&E framework has a good foundation with its priority setting process, data-tracking system and recent public reporting initiatives," said Kriese. "The ministry has recently initiated changes to the program that we believe will set it on the path to addressing the issues found in our review."
The report makes a number of recommendations for improvement that will require the ministry to review all aspects of the program, from guiding policies and procedures to hiring, training and operational tools.
When the ministry mandate was expanded to include most natural resource legislation in the province, the C&E program was significantly changed. Following on concerns identified in its 2013 report, Monitoring Licensees Compliance with Legislation, the board decided to look at the appropriateness of government's revised compliance and enforcement framework.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence (TSL) holders in the Arrow Field Unit of the Kootenay Business Area found general compliance with B.C.'s forestry legislation, according to a report.
"BCTS complied with requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act; however, auditors found that the TSL holders did not conduct required fire hazard assessments after logging,"said Kevin Kriese, board chair. "They did remove slash that could pose a fire hazard as a standard operating practice, and so the lack of hazard assessments is an area of improvement for the future.
Unfortunately, lack of documented fire hazard assessments has been a recurring issue in our audits. We have previously published information for licensees on hazard assessment requirements. It is important to prepare a hazard assessment because it allows a professional to assess the fuel on-site after logging and make sure the appropriate abatement is carried out."
The board examined forestry activities carried out between June 2017 and June 2018. During this period, BCTS built 37.8 kilometres of road and four bridges, and had maintenance obligations for 734 kilometres of road, 51 bridges and 11 major culverts. TSL holders constructed and maintained 46 kilometres of road and one bridge, and harvested 1,162 hectares of timber. Planting and stand-tending activities were also examined.
The Arrow Field Unit covers the Arrow Lakes and is approximately 1,350,000 hectares, starting at the U.S. border and stretching north toward Revelstoke. Over the past year, timber sale licensees harvested about 260,000 cubic metres from timber sales in the Whatshan Lake, Barnes Creek, Perry Ridge and Beaton Arm areas.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Decked timber and logging debris in the Shovel Lake Wildfire made firefighting more difficult, according to a complaint investigation report.
A member of a wildfire response team complained to the board in 2018 after seeing large amounts of logs and debris on the ground. He was concerned the material contributed to the spread and severity of the fire.
The investigation looked at over a dozen cutblocks within the perimeter of the fire to determine whether the forest licensees had met legal requirements to abate fire hazards. The investigation found that the licensees had either abated the hazards as required or the time period allowed for hazard abatement had not yet passed. In some cases, the licensees were still actively logging when the fire swept through, so the decked logs and debris were consumed by the fire before the licensees had a chance to deal with the hazard.
"We found that the licensees did what they were required to do," said Kevin Kriese, chair of the Forest Practices Board. "In areas like this with very high fuel levels caused by mountain pine beetle, logging will reduce the risk of fire over the long term. However, the investigation found that current requirements could be improved by reducing the time before abatement is required and reducing the amount of fuel that can be left behind.
"The BC Wildfire Service has established a working group to look at the current hazard abatement strategy. The board is recommending that review include the length of time before the hazard has to be treated and the amount of fuels permitted to be left on site after abatement. The review should consider other values, including smoke, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and silviculture requirements."
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 investigates public complaints about forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of five range agreements for grazing cattle in the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District found that the ranchers met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act, according to a report.
"Range practices followed most range-use plan and legal requirements, and protected drinking water quality for downstream water users," said Kevin Kriese, chair, Forest Practices Board. "These ranchers did a good job of protecting resources while grazing their cattle on Crown land."
The audit did find two minor issues involving notification of government when timing of grazing differs from the approved grazing schedule. In one case, the cattle were not put out on the range at all, and in another, they were taken off the range early, so there were no consequences to the land. These are considered areas of improvement.
The district was randomly selected for a range audit and these five tenures were chosen because they all have at least 20 licensed water users within 500 metres of the tenure boundaries. The tenures cover about 70,000 hectares in total and are located near the communities of Fernie, Cranbrook, Invermere and Golden.
The auditors examined range planning and practices for compliance with the act and the range regulation. This included looking at maps and the grazing schedule, which identifies the period of use and number of livestock authorized for grazing. Auditors also examined maintenance of range developments, such as fences, and compliance with requirements to protect riparian areas, upland areas, drinking water quality, licensed waterworks and fish habitat.
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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Forestry activities carried out by BC Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence holders met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, with a few exceptions, according to a report released today.
The audit examined BCTS program activities carried out between June 2016 and June 2018, in the Dawson Creek Timber Supply Area (TSA) portion of BCTS’s Peace-Liard Business Area. The audited activities included harvesting timber, constructing, maintaining and deactivating forestry roads and crossings, reforesting logged sites, wildfire protection and associated planning.
“BCTS and timber sale licence holders are doing a good job of managing most forestry activities in this area,” said board chair Kevin Kriese. “However, the audit did find sites where activities need to be improved in the future - by both BCTS and two timber sale licence holders. BCTS has already taken steps to address the deficiencies related to bridges and the Board expects that improvements will be made by BCTS and timber sale licence holders to address the other findings.”
The issues involve a bridge on a forest service road that was in need of repairs, three cutblocks with isolated areas of excessive soil disturbance, and failure of several timber sale licence holders to complete fire hazard assessments following harvesting.
The activities audited include harvesting of 28 cutblocks, construction of 107 kilometres of road, maintenance of 118 km of road and 4 bridges, silviculture activities on 79 cutblocks, and fire hazard assessment and abatement on 16 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.
Contact:
Darlene Oman, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
