VICTORIA – Forestry operators are carrying out good forest practices in the Quesnel area, but government’s enforcement of the Forest Practices Code could be improved, the Forest Practices Board reported today.
The board examined the forestry activities of Slocan Forest Products Ltd., Tolko Industries Ltd., West Fraser Mills Ltd., four woodlot licensees and the Quesnel Forest District’s small business forest enterprise program and district-manager obligations. All forestry activities carried out between May 1, 2001, and June 1, 2002, in the Pantage and Snaking draft landscape units were assessed for compliance with the Forest Practices Code. The board also audited the appropriateness of government’s enforcement of the code in the audit area.
“The licensees had additional requirements because this area has been hit hard by the mountain pine beetle, so the high level of compliance with the code is commendable,” said acting board chair Liz Osborn. “We were mostly satisfied with the Ministry of Forests’ enforcement of the code, but found once again that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection should be more involved in code compliance and enforcement.”
The audit found a lack of inspections by forest ministry staff for district-manager responsibilities and for cattle-grazing activities. The ministry is currently reorganizing its compliance and enforcement program and the board anticipates these weaknesses will be corrected.
The board was more concerned that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is not involved in planning, conducting and reporting inspections of code practices, or investigating and making determinations on code non-compliance in the audit area. This is the fourth area-based audit completed by the board, and in each the board has raised concerns that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is not fulfilling its commitment to enforce the code.
The audit area covers the Pantage and Snaking draft landscape units in the central part of the Quesnel forest district. It extends south from the Blackwater River and Boot Lake, and east of the Nazko River, to Wentworth Creek.
The audit area was selected randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance. The audit examined operational planning; harvesting; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; silviculture; fire preparedness activities; consistency with requirements of the Cariboo Chilcotin Higher Level Plan; and government enforcement of the code.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog established in 1995 that publishes reports about compliance with forest-practices legislation and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles are:
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that reports to the public about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
Darlene Dahl
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1340 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Forestry operators and ranchers are carrying out good forest practices in an area near Merritt, but government’s enforcement of the Forest Practices Code could be improved, the Forest Practices Board reported today.
The board examined the forestry activities of six forest companies, three woodlot licensees, 15 range tenure holders and the Ministry of Forests’ small business forest enterprise program, as well as government’s enforcement of the Forest Practices Code in a portion of the former Merritt forest district (now part of the Cascades forest district). The forest companies audited were Ardew Wood Products Ltd., Aspen Planers Ltd., Nicola Pacific Forest Products Ltd., Princeton Forest Products Ltd., Tolko Industries Ltd. and Weyerhaeuser Co. Ltd.
“We are encouraged by the good forest practices we saw, especially considering the large number of licensees that operate and were audited in the area,” said acting board chair Liz Osborn. “We were mostly satisfied with the Ministry of Forests’ enforcement of the code, but found once again that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection should be more involved in code enforcement.”
While the Ministry of Forests’ performance in board audits has seen steady improvement, this audit found two gaps in the ministry’s enforcement of the code. Those gaps were the lack of inspections for district manager responsibilities and for lower-risk operations. Neither of these weaknesses caused environmental harm, but the board made suggestions to the ministry to carry out a minimum number of inspections of those activities.
The board was more concerned that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is not enforcing the code in the audit area. This is the third area-based audit completed by the board, and in each the board has raised concerns that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is not fulfilling its commitment to enforce the code.
The audit area is the Allison-Missezula draft landscape unit in the south-central portion of the former Merritt forest district. The 67,300-hectares area makes up just over six per cent of the former district.
The audit area was selected at random and not on the basis of location or level of performance. The audit examined operational planning; harvesting; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; silviculture; fire preparedness activities; and government enforcement of the code, all carried out between July 1, 2001 and July 18, 2002.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog established in 1995 that publishes reports about compliance with forest practices legislation and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles are:
Darlene Dahl
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1340 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will conduct its third annual audit of forest practices and second audit of government enforcement of the Forest Practices Code on Nisga’a lands, beginning next week.
The Nisga’a lands cover about 2,000 square kilometres in the Nass River Valley on both sides of the river about 90 kilometres north of Terrace. The operating areas for the auditees are in various parts of the Nisga’a lands.
The Nisga’a audits will examine compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the Nisga’a Final Agreement by licensees who are winding down their operations on Nisga’a lands. The Nisga’a Final Agreement requires the board to undertake a compliance audit of all existing forest licences in each year of the five-year transition period, as well as audits of government enforcement.
The audits will look at operational planning; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; silviculture; fire protection activities; and district manager obligations for the one-year period from July 2002 to July 2003. The purpose is to determine whether the following auditees complied with the code and with forestry-related Nisga’a Final Agreement requirements:
New Skeena Forest Products Incorporated, Forest Licence A64298
Sim Gan Forest Corp., Forest Licence A64299
West Fraser Mills Ltd., Forest Licence A16882
BC Timber Sales - Skeena
Forestry Transition Committee
Kalum forest district (compliance with district manager obligations)
The audit will also examine the appropriateness of government enforcement of the code for the two-year period, from July 2001 to July 2003. The audit will cover:
Kalum forest district
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Skeena region
Ministry of Energy and Mines, Northwest region
The four-member audit team is comprised of three professional foresters, one of whom is also an engineer, and a professional biologist. The team will be in the licence areas for five days beginning July 14. Once the fieldwork is done, the audit team will report its findings to the board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will be given 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 an independent public watchdog that reports to the public about compliance with forest practices legislation and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles are:
Jacqueline Waldorf
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit report released today concludes that Pope and Talbot’s forest planning and practices on Tree Farm Licence 23 in the West Kootenay complied with the Forest Practices Code.
In its report, the Forest Practices Board commends Pope and Talbot for its thoughtful approach to environmental objectives outlined in the Kootenay-Boundary Higher Level Plan.
“Pope & Talbot have completed extensive work to address mountain caribou habitat needs, as well as forest health issues in the TFL,” said acting board chair, John Cuthbert. “The auditors found that the company is harvesting targeted pine trees susceptible to mountain pine beetle attack, while also meeting biodiversity objectives.”
The audit does raise concerns, however, that government has not identified and mapped certain habitat for grizzly bears. The Kootenay-Boundary Higher Level Plan includes an objective for maintaining important grizzly bear habitat in old-growth forests next to avalanche tracks.
“Until government completes the identification and mapping of this habitat, forestry companies cannot address this objective,” said Cuthbert. The report recommends that government complete the identification and mapping of grizzly-bear habitat associated with avalanche tracks.
Pope and Talbot is certified under the sustainable forestry initiative program and the International Organization for Standardization 14001. For the first time, the Forest Practices Board has incorporated results from an independent forest certification audit into its own audit of Forest Practices Code compliance.
However, the board did not simply accept that these certification programs achieve the public interest. Board auditors examined the certifier’s audit of Pope and Talbot’s systems and procedures and re-performed some of their audit tests. In this case, the auditors found that the certification audit work met the board’s audit standards, and they were able to integrate the independent certifier’s work into the audit. This resulted in cost savings and provided the public with a high level of assurance about Pope and Talbot’s forest planning and practices. The board intends to use this approach with other certified forest companies in future audits.
The audit examined Pope and Talbot’s operational planning; timber harvesting; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; silviculture; and fire-protection activities carried out between September 2001 and October 2002. TFL 23 is an area-based tenure that extends south from Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks and along the Upper and Lower Arrow Lakes toward Castlegar. TFL 23 was chosen randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that publishes reports about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that reports to the public about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
Jacqueline Waldorf
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – Forest companies and government are carrying out good forest practices on Crown lands on southeast Vancouver Island, the Forest Practices Board reported today.
The board examined the forestry activities of Steeves Forest Consulting Ltd., TFL Forest Ltd., Coast Mountain Hardwoods Inc., five woodlot licensees and the Ministry of Forests’ small business forest enterprise program, as well as government’s enforcement of the Forest Practices Code in a portion of the South Island forest district.
The audit area covers 481,000 hectares—about one-tenth of Vancouver Island—extending south along the eastern coast of the island south of Courtenay to Victoria, and including areas around Cowichan Lake, Shawnigan Lake and the Sooke Basin. The audit covered only Crown land, and most of the harvesting in the audit area is carried out on private lands.
The audit found that all audited activities complied with the code, except for one issue involving the South Island forest district. The district was responsible for ensuring proper road maintenance, but had not done so on one section of forest service road, which created an environmental risk to the Shawnigan Lake community watershed. The road was repaired in October 2002, following the audit.
Except for the road maintenance issue, the audit found the South Island forest district is enforcing the code appropriately. The board is concerned, however, that the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is not as involved in code enforcement as it should be.
“Overall, we’re encouraged by the high level of performance by all the auditees, and by the South Island forest district, in this area,” said acting board chair John Cuthbert. “Considering the size of the area audited, it’s commendable that the only issue is one 900-metre section of road.”
The board audited the South Island forest district’s small business program in 1997. Problems with harvesting and road construction were found at that time. This audit found good performance in those areas during the second audit, demonstrating improved practices by the district.
The audit area was selected randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance. The audit examined operational planning; harvesting; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; silviculture; and fire preparedness activities carried out between May 2001 and May 2002.
The activities audited included:
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that reports to the public about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
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Jacqueline Waldorf
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA - A Forest Practices Board special report released today says potential habitat for threatened species is being lost to forest development while the process for defining habitat areas drags on.
The Forest Practices Code does not protect habitat for threatened species from logging until wildlife habitat areas are established. Road building and other forest development is continuing while these candidate areas proceed through a lengthy process.
“It’s not practical to wait until we learn exactly what forest habitat marbled murrelets need for nesting, or exactly where their nests are, to implement an effective strategy to protect this species,” said board chair Bill Cafferata. “Government should designate interim wildlife habitat areas quickly, using the best available information, before the needed habitat is lost.”
The loss of potential habitat can happen quickly. The board examined the rate at which potential marbled murrelet habitat in the Sunshine Coast forest district was lost between 1995 and 2001, and found that somewhere between 25 and 44 per cent of the potential habitat for marbled murrelet that had been available in 1995 was gone only six years later.
The report, Marbled Murrelet Habitat Management – Considerations for the new Forest and Range Practices Act, looks at how effective the Forest Practices Code has been in conserving a species whose habitat is particularly vulnerable to loss or damage from forest practices. The report also makes suggestions for such conservation under the new Forest and Range Practices Act. The board chose to issue this special report because it has dealt with several cases concerning marbled murrelet habitat, although the findings would also apply to other species whose habitat is at risk.
Marbled murrelets are small seabirds that live along the Pacific coast of North America. Being poor fliers, this species has very specific habitat needs. They nest in old-growth forests within 50 kilometres of the ocean, below 1,000 metres above sea level. Marbled murrelets are still relatively abundant, but they are considered threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada because populations are declining.
In addition to establishing interim wildlife habitat areas more quickly, the board says it is equally important not to set aside large areas of coastal forest unnecessarily. Therefore, wildlife habitat area boundaries should be refined as soon as possible so that areas not needed by marbled murrelets can be developed.
The report also encourages licensees and government to explore incentives and innovative approaches to collecting information, so interim habitat areas can be refined and areas that are not suitable nesting habitat can be removed from habitat reserves.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that publishes reports about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
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Darlene Dahl
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1340
1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The second round of Forest Practices Board audits on Nisga’a lands found forest planning and practices complied in all significant respects with the Forest Practices Code and the Nisga’a Final Agreement.
The audit examined the forestry activities of Skeena Cellulose Inc., West Fraser Mills Ltd., the Sim Gan Forest Corp., the Kalum forest district’s small business forest enterprise program and the Kalum forest district manager, on lands being transferred to the Nisga’a people. These audits fall under Chapter 5, Section 55 of the Nisga’a Final Agreement, which requires the board to perform annual audits of forest agreements and licences for compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the Nisga’a agreement during a five-year transition period ending May 10, 2005.
The Nisga’a lands are in and around the Nass Valley, about 100 kilometres northwest of Terrace, and cover about 2,000 square kilometres.
The board reports a high level of performance for all of those who were audited. “We’d particularly like to commend Skeena and Sim Gan for their efforts to address problems identified in our previous audit on Nisga’a lands,” said board chair Bill Cafferata.
Since the 2001 audit, Skeena has amended its silviculture prescriptions to meet code standards. The auditors closely examined Skeena’s planning and practices around streams, and identified strong performance in this area.
Sim Gan has improved its road maintenance and bridge inspection activities by preparing a road and bridge maintenance ledger, conducting site-specific assessments of drainage structures and performing road maintenance activities.
The audit examined operational planning; harvesting; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; silviculture and fire-preparedness activities carried out between July 2001 and August 2002.
The audit also examined the Kalum forest district manager’s responsibilities for forest health, forest service road maintenance and reforestation obligations for backlog areas.
This was the second of five annual audits. In addition to compliance, future board audits on Nisga’a lands will address emerging issues, such as the increasing incidence of dothistroma needle blight—a disease that could have serious forest health and economic impacts — and the status of old roads that are required to be deactivated.
The Nisga’a Agreement requires the board to conduct annual audits of the appropriateness of government enforcement on Nisga’a lands during the transition period. The board audited government’s enforcement on Nisga’a lands in 2001 and will audit a two-year period of enforcement in 2003.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that publishes reports about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
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Nicky Cain
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 952-6965
1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA - Good overall results are reported in a series of Forest Practices Board audits released today, which cover all forestry activities in a section of the Fort Nelson forest district, the first such comprehensive review.
However, the board has some concerns about regeneration of trees after logging, potential erosion and stream damage from pipeline construction, inconsistent standards for oil and gas activities and gaps in Forest Practices Code enforcement.
"The board is satisfied that the outcome of this audit confirms that there is good forest stewardship in the audit area," said board chair Bill Cafferata. "However, there is a confusing array of legislation for oil and gas activities with different standards applied to that industry than those that apply to the forest industry for the same activities."
The board undertook a series of audits of activities governed by the Forest Practices Code. Forestry practices of major forestry and oil and gas operators and government enforcement of the code were the main activities audited. This is the first examination of how well forestry activities of all operators in a specific area are adhering to the code.
The audit found that within the audit area, Slocan Forest Products had not replaced harvested cottonwood trees with free-growing stands within the specified time in most of the valley bottoms examined. This was the most serious non-compliance encountered; however, the board notes that Slocan is addressing this problem.
The significant non-compliance found in the oil and gas sector was pipeline construction that had potential to cause erosion and damage to streams. There was too little evidence to determine how much the sedimentation from oil and gas activities had affected fish habitat.
Within the audit area, the board found a lack of inspections of oil and gas activities by the Ministry of Forests and the Oil and Gas Commission and an overall lack of code enforcement by the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. However, the board commends these government agencies, as well as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the former B.C. Assets and Lands Corp., for conducting a joint audit of oil and gas activities elsewhere in the Peace region.
The board recommends that the Oil and Gas Commission review legislative inconsistencies to streamline and simplify the regulations governing road construction, while ensuring appropriate environmental standards are in place.
The audit examined Slocan Forest Products' operational planning; timber harvesting; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; silviculture practices and obligations; and fire protection practices.
The major oil and gas activities considered in the audit were construction of well sites and access roads by Anadarko Canada Corp. and Anadarko Canada Energy Ltd., as well as the construction of pipelines and access roads by both companies and by Petro-Canada. The audit looked at clearing forestland and certain road construction and maintenance activities undertaken in connection with oil and gas exploration and development.
All code-related compliance and enforcement activities of the responsible government organizations were also subject to audit. Included were the Ministry of Forests, the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection and the Oil and Gas Commission.
This report overviews the effectiveness of the stewardship of the land in an area of about 385,000 hectares. The intent of this audit was to examine all activities related to the Forest Practices Code within a selected geographic area. The audit area was chosen randomly and extends from Fort Nelson southwest along the Prophet River and southeast along the Fort Nelson River to the Fort Nelson forest district boundary.
Cathi Piazza
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 387-7964
1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA - The Forest Practices Board will try a new approach this month when it audits some of Pope & Talbot's forest operations in the West Kootenays, incorporating results from an earlier independent forest certification audit in an effort to save time and costs.
The audit of Tree Farm Licence 23, operated out of Pope & Talbot's Arrow Lakes timber division, starts this month, and is the first time the auditors are integrating work done for forest certification when they assesses compliance with the Forest Practices Code.
"Provided the certification audit work is consistent with our standards, this approach should minimize duplication of efforts, and reduce costs for the public and the company," said board chair Bill Cafferata. "Our intent in testing this new approach is to increase efficiency while maintaining our high audit standards and providing the public with independent and credible information about forest practices."
The audit will look at Pope & Talbot's planning and practices on Tree Farm Licence 23, which extends south from Revelstoke and Glacier National Park, along the Upper and Lower Arrow lakes, to Gladstone Park near the U.S. border. Pope & Talbot's tree farm licence was chosen randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance.
Board auditors will examine a wide range of forest practices carried out over the past year, including logging; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; forest protection; silviculture; and planning. If board auditors find they can rely on the certification auditors' work, they can reduce the number of cutblocks and roads they will have to examine in the field.
Pope & Talbot and their auditors have been co-operative in accommodating the board's efforts. "This is a test run," said Cafferata. "If we find that it reduces time and effort without compromising our audit standards, we will spend the winter refining our audit procedures to let us use this approach with other companies that have independent forest certification. We can also determine whether the certification audit is meeting expected standards in assessing compliance with the Forest Practices Code."
The four-member audit team, composed of chartered accountants and professional foresters, will be in the licence area examining plans, cutblocks and roads during the week of Oct. 7. Once the fieldwork is done, the audit team will report its findings to the board. 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 the government.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that publishes reports about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.
The board's main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
Jacqueline Waldorf
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1586
1 800 994-5899
Nicky Cain
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 387-2678
1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA -The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of The Pas Lumber Co. Ltd. near Bear Lake this fall.
The audit will look at The Pas Lumber's operations on Forest Licence A18171, north of Prince George along Highway 97 from Summit Lake to the vicinity of Kerry Lake. From Bear Lake, the licence extends east to the headwaters of the Parsnip River and west for approximately 50 kilometres onto the Nechako Plateau.
Auditors will examine a wide range of forest practices carried out over the past year, including logging; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; forest protection; silviculture; and planning.
The Forest Practices Board carries out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with B.C.'s Forest Practices Code. The Pas Lumber's forest licence was chosen randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance.
The eight-member audit team, composed of professional foresters, a certified management accountant and a professional biologist, will be in the licence area examining plans, cutblocks and roads for up to two weeks beginning Sept. 9. Once the fieldwork is done, the audit team will report its findings to the board. 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 the government.
The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog, established in 1995, that reports to the public about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.
The board's main roles under the Forest Practices Code are:
Nicky Cain
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 387-2678
1 800 994-5899
