Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices on Tree Farm Licence 55 held by Evans Forest Products Ltd., a division of Louisiana-Pacific Canada Engineered Wood Products Ltd. The operating area for this licence is in the Columbia timber supply area, 90 kilometres north of Revelstoke, on the east side of the Columbia River.

This is a limited-scope audit that will look at construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; and associated operational plans, to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the Forest Practices Code. The tree farm licence was selected randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The five-member audit team of forestry, biology, engineering, geoscience and audit professionals will be in the licence area during the next two to three weeks to do office and field examinations of Evans Forest Products' timber harvest areas and logging roads.

Once the field work is done, the audit team will report its findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given a chance to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations for release to the public and the government.

The board is undertaking 10 compliance audits this year. To date, the board has completed audits of 25 forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of Skeena Cellulose Inc. on Forest Licence A16829. The operating area for this licence is the Bulkley timber supply area, north of Smithers.

This is a limited-scope audit that will look at construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; and associated operational plans in order to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the Forest Practices Code. The Skeena Cellulose licence was selected randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The six-member audit team of forestry and accounting professionals will be in the licence area during the next two to three weeks to do office and field examinations of Skeena Cellulose's timber harvest areas and logging roads.

Once the field work is done, the audit team will report its findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given a chance to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations for release to the public and the government.

The board is undertaking 10 compliance audits this year. To date, the board has completed audits of 25 forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads. The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - Klaus Offermann was reappointed to the Forest Practices Board yesterday.

Klaus, a Nelson resident, has more than 20 years of forestry-related experience and has held positions in organized labour, the forest industry and government. He has been involved in forest worker advocacy, forest policy development, land use planning, and consensus building, much of it in the West Kootenays.

"Klaus's perspectives on forest practice issues have been valuable to the board," said Bill Cafferata, board chair. "We are happy to receive confirmation of his re-appointment by order-in-council."

Offermann will continue to work with current board members John Cuthbert from Summerland; Liz Osborn from Telkwa; Mark Haddock from Port Moody; Ingrid Davis from Merritt and Fred Parker from Castlegar.

"I have enjoyed being a member of the board for the past three years and I am looking forward to the coming term," said Offermann. "I've seen the board make progress in serving the public's interest through its audits, investigations and other work."

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

The board's main roles, established under the Forest Practices Code, are investigating public complaints, auditing government enforcement of the code, auditing forest practices on public lands, undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues, participating in administrative reviews and appeals, and providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices on Forest Licence A16827 held by West Fraser Mills Ltd.

The operating areas for this licence are in the northern and southern parts of the Morice timber supply area, which surround Houston, B.C. The licence is co-managed by West Fraser and the Houston Forest Products Co., which is a joint venture between West Fraser and Weldwood of Canada Ltd.

This is a limited-scope audit that will look at construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; and associated operational planning in order to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the Forest Practices Code. This licence was chosen randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance. The six-member audit team of forestry, engineering and audit professionals will be in the Morice Forest District during the next three weeks to do office and field examinations of the licence's timber harvest areas and logging roads.

Once the field work is done, the audit team will report its findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given a chance to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations for release to the public and the government.

The board is undertaking 10 compliance audits this year. To date, the board has completed audits of 25 forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - In a report released today, the Forest Practices Board found that the Ministry of Forests' approval of logging on Mount Elphinstone was reasonable and met Forest Practices Code requirements.

The report concludes the investigation of a complaint from two Sunshine Coast residents who were concerned that an approved road and cutblock between Sechelt and Gibsons would eliminate mature forest habitat that supports many species of mushrooms. The residents also complained that road construction and timber harvesting would remove dead trees and stump snags important to small mammals and cavity-nesting birds.

The Mount Elphinstone area has a reputation for its unusual variety and abundance of forest mushrooms. However, since mushrooms grow underground and appear on the surface only when conditions are right, there is no complete inventory of mushrooms. The report notes that the district manager considered all available information about managing and conserving mushroom resources in the complaint area and followed recommendations in Forest Practices Code guidebooks, which advised against managing biodiversity on the basis of individual species. He also consulted a proposed landscape unit plan that rated the complaint area as "low biodiversity emphasis."

The board found that the district manager considered enough information to determine that the proposed operations would adequately conserve biological diversity, including forest mushroom habitat.

"The operational plans say that wildlife snags will be kept where possible in the cutblock, and stump snags and standing dead trees are plentiful in adjacent areas," said panel chair John Cuthbert. "The proposed harvesting would have no significant impact on wildlife diversity."

The report concludes that the approval of those plans was reasonable. The report also notes that the district manager tried to accommodate the complainants' concerns and to explain his decisions. Offers were made to:

Accelerate the landscape unit planning process to address maintaining biodiversity.
Protect all remaining old-growth trees.
Forgo traditional clearcutting.
Continue to make forestry plans available for public review.
Demonstrate "holistic" forest management in a research area chosen by the complainants.

However, the complainants remained opposed to any forest practices within a 1,500-hectare area.

In the report, the board recommends that the district manager re-examine whether a low biodiversity emphasis is appropriate in the proposed landscape unit that includes the complaint area. The board also recommends that the district manager follow through on his offers to accelerate landscape unit planning and to continue to make operational plans available for public review.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

The board's main roles, established under the Forest Practices Code, are investigating public complaints, auditing government enforcement of the code, auditing forest practices on public lands, undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues, participating in administrative reviews and appeals, and providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of Atco Lumber Ltd. in Forest Licence A20218. The operating area for this licence is in the Kootenay Lake timber supply area south of Nelson.

This is a full-scope audit that will look at operational planning; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; silviculture; and protection activities in order to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the Forest Practices Code. The Atco licence was selected randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The six-member audit team of forestry, engineering and audit professionals will be in the licence area next week to do office and field examinations of the company's timber harvest areas and logging roads.

Once the field work is done, the audit team will report its findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given a chance to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations for release to the public and the government.

The board is undertaking nine compliance audits this year. To date, the board has completed audits of 25 forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - Royal Oak Mines Inc. failed to comply with the Forest Practices Code and caused significant harm to the environment along a 380-kilometre power line to its Kemess South mine site, according to a Forest Practices Board report released today.

The special investigation report is highly critical of the three ministries responsible for enforcing the Forest Practices Code. It contends that the ministries of Forests; Environment, Lands and Parks; and Energy and Mines were unco-ordinated and ineffective in their efforts to enforce the code.

Approval for the Kemess mine project, near Mackenzie in northern B.C., required compliance with the code. At the project's outset, the three ministries agreed to a division of labour with respect to code enforcement along the power line. However, the collaboration of the three ministries led to confusion about their individual responsibilities.

The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks chose to assume a minor enforcement role, leaving most of the responsibility to the other two ministries. It maintained a low level of involvement even after the board reported significant breaches of the code and noted significant environmental harm was occurring along the power line corridor. The Ministry of Forests did not enforce requirements of the logging plans. When the Ministry of Energy and Mines found non-compliance, it issued corrective orders under the Mines Act and then failed to enforce those orders. This allowed the licensee to continue to delay corrective actions for extended periods.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Forests were aware of the non-compliance with the Code but, except for some minor situations, failed to enforce the Code. That failure allowed conditions to persist that caused or began to cause significant harm to the environment. There was a significant breach by government of its enforcement duties under the Forest Practices Code," states the report.

Along the 380-kilometre transmission line corridor, 300,000 cubic metres of timber (10,000 logging truckloads) were removed and over 1,400 transmission towers were erected. The board's report cites numerous instances of non-compliance. When board staff inspected the power line in June 1999, they saw that more than 169 skid bridges had been left in place that should have been removed, presenting a threat to water quality and fisheries.

Code requirements for fish-bearing streams were not adequately followed. More than 50 streams had debris and slash deposited in them and had not been cleared. Over a year after construction was completed, soil was eroding from unstabilized banks and silt was draining off improperly constructed roads into streams.

Maintaining natural drainage patterns during road construction is an important code requirement to prevent landslides. Along the power line corridor, failure to control surface drainage has resulted in a number of slumps and landslides. Some of these have dumped debris through planted areas and on access roads, affecting productive forest land, creating significant environmental harm and a public safety risk.

Since the board first notified the three ministers and the licensee of the significant breaches a year ago, the licensee has hired a contractor to repair the specific areas identified by the board. However, much of the remedial work, especially relating to road maintenance, deactivation and environmental protection remains to be done to meet code obligations and address environmental harm.

The licensee has continually failed to fulfill commitments to correct all the non-compliance and environmental harm that occurred during the power line construction. A thorough assessment of the full extent of the remedial work required and a co-ordinated action plan by the licensee or government to address the non-compliance are still needed.

Government has not pursued any of the administrative remedies provided in the code. The government has not issued remediation orders, levied penalties or attempted to use bonds posted for the project to complete the required work.

In a written submission to the board, the Ministry of Forests stated, "…The 'effectiveness' of enforcement is largely dependent on the ability and willingness of the licensee to respond to enforcement actions in a timely manner."

"The board finds this view of enforcement alarming," says board chair Bill Cafferata. "The Forest Practices Code applies not just to forestry operations, but to mining operations and all other licensed operations that involve forest practices. Enforcement is not dictated by the willingness or ability of the licensee to comply. The board insists on a fair and equitable application of the code. We want a commitment from government that the Kemess damage will be dealt with this summer and that future enforcement will uphold the requirements of the code."

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent. The board's main roles are auditing forest practices, investigating public complaints, undertaking special investigations of any code-related forestry issues, participating in administrative reviews and appeals and providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of Tanizul Timber Ltd. in Tree Farm Licence 42. The operating area for this licence is 56 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James, along the north end of Stuart Lake.

This is a limited-scope audit that will look at construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads, timber harvesting and operational planning in order to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to determine government and forest company compliance with the Forest Practices Code. The Tanizul Tree Farm Licence was selected randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The five-member audit team of forestry, engineering and audit professionals will be in the licence area next week to do office and field examinations of the area's timber harvest areas and hundreds of kilometres of roads. Once the field work is done, the audit team will report its findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given a chance to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations for release to the public and the government.

The board will undertake nine compliance audits in 2000. To date, the board has audited 25 forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is BC's independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of Forest Licence A20017, held by Weldwood of Canada Ltd. The operating area for this licence is located in the Williams Lake timber supply area, between 150 Mile House and McCleese Lake and bordered on the east by Likely and Horsefly.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as timber harvesting activities to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to determine government and forest company compliance with the Forest Practices Code. The Weldwood licence was chosen randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The five-member audit team will be in the licence area over the next several weeks to perform office and field examinations of the area's timber harvest areas and hundred's of kilometers of logging roads.

Once the field work has been completed, the audit team will provide a report on the findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given an opportunity to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations and releases it to the public and the government.

The board will undertake nine compliance audits in 2000. To date, the board has completed 25 audits of forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest practices of International Forest Products Ltd. (Interfor) in Tree Farm Licence #54. The operating locations for this licence are in and around Clayoquot Sound on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as timber harvesting activities to determine levels of compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Interfor licence was chosen randomly, not on the basis of location or level of past performance. The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to determine government and forest company compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The four-member audit team of forestry, engineering, biology and audit professionals will be in the licence area over the next week to 10 days to perform office and field examinations of numerous timber harvest areas and many kilometres of roads.

Once the field work has been completed, the audit team will provide a report on the findings to the members of the Forest Practices Board. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings must be given an opportunity to respond before the board prepares its final report and recommendations and releases it to the public and the government.

The board will undertake nine compliance audits in 2000. To date, the board has completed 25 audits of forest companies and Ministry of Forests small business forest enterprise programs. Ten were clean audits, meaning the forest planning and practices met code requirements in all significant respects. Fifteen were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board reports to the public and to government about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.