Victoria - The Forest Practices Code has produced good results in improving site-specific forest practices, particularly those dealing with roads and cutblocks around the province. But important Forest Practices Code provisions intended to protect wildlife, biodiversity, recreation and scenery have still not been implemented. This is the main message of the 1999 Annual Report of the Forest Practices Board, tabled last week in the B.C. legislature.

Outgoing board chair Keith Moore, in his statement from the chair, said: "[P]lanning and practices do not yet protect many of the important environmental forest resources. Implementation of the Code is still incomplete and unfinished four and one-half years after it became law." He warned that: "British Columbia faces serious repercussions if it is unable to demonstrate that wildlife, scenic and recreational values, and biodiversity are protected in forestry operations."

In 1999 the board faced the first legal challenge to its mandate. The British Columbia supreme court firmly upheld the board's responsibility to report field observations and make recommendations to improve code legislation. Not only does the Board have legal jurisdiction to report findings of non-compliance with the Forest Practices Code, but the court has supported the Board's right to make public those practices that comply with the code but are not considered by the Board to be sound forest practices.

The board also completed its first audit of government's enforcement of the Forest Practices Code in 1999. This audit provided a critical assessment of the B.C. government's framework for code enforcement and identified the need for improvement to ensure the code is adequately and effectively enforced.

"The end of 1999 marks the fifth anniversary of the Forest Practices Board," Moore said, "We have established ourselves as an effective and credible organization whose mandate is to protect the public's interest in effective forest management. We have clearly demonstrated our independence from government and industry."

Current government policy direction and interpretation of the code are not always consistent with code objectives to protect environmental values. The code provides for measures to protect non-timber resources like winter ranges and areas managed for wildlife, visual quality, recreation and biodiversity. However, code provisions dealing with these resource values cannot be enforced until government implements these provisions.

These values must be managed at a higher "landscape" or "watershed" level rather than at a site-specific cutblock level, the report says. In most parts of the province, this has not yet happened. For example, in most areas of the province, government has not identified old growth management areas. As a result, there is no legal requirement for forest development plans to specify measures to protect old growth.
The year 2000 sees the arrival of new board chair Bill Cafferata. "The board plans to continue to deliver its core programs but we must remain relevant to evolving forest practices," says Cafferata. "That means that the regulation of forest practices must also continue to evolve as we move towards a more results-based code."

Furthermore, the board expects certification of forestry operations in B.C. will continue to expand. International scrutiny and pressure to obtain certification mean B.C. must take steps to demonstrate that it is managing all forest resources in a sustainable manner.

"The board is committed to continue to encourage government to implement higher-level provisions under the code to make sure that B.C. forest practices also manage and conserve important non-timber forest resources," said Cafferata. "The public expects the establishment of winter ranges for wildlife, wildlife management areas, scenic areas for visual quality, and old-growth management areas for biological diversity at the landscape level."

Victoria - The Ministry of Forests' decision to identify scenic areas and establish visual quality objectives for areas visible from Williston Lake was reasonable and met Forest Practices Code requirements, said the Forest Practices Board in a report released today.

In its report, the board recommends the district manager start a process for public participation. Public input is needed to identify scenic areas and visual quality objectives to be included in the landscape unit plan being developed for the Williston Lake area. In the interim, the board recommends the district manager make sure any interested individuals or groups are given an opportunity to comment before any blocks visible from Williston Lake are approved for logging.

This report concludes the investigation of a complaint to the board from a resident of Hudson's Hope who complained that the visual quality objectives in Carbon Inlet and Peace Reach were not restrictive enough. The complainant was also concerned that public consultation was inadequate.

"The board found that the district manager followed code requirements when he decided to establish the visual quality objectives," said panel chair Keith Moore. "He decided to establish these objectives to guide logging activities until the Dawson Creek Land and Resource Management Plan was complete. In setting the objectives, local public concerns, the land and resource management plan, Canadian Forest Product's inventory of visually sensitive areas, and provincial government objectives were considered. The range of objectives he set were within the standards in the ministry recreation manual."

The report notes the public had several opportunities to provide comments and make their concerns known to the district before the visual quality objectives were established in 1997. At that time, the district manager also made a commitment that the public would be involved in future decisions about objectives in a landscape planning process.

The board's report also notes that the existing scenic areas inventory is incomplete. The district has asked Canfor to update this information. In the meantime, logging approved in any scenic areas that are not included in the inventory will be restricted to meeting the objectives of adjacent scenic areas. 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, established under the Forest Practices Code, 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 - A clean audit of Riverside Forest Products, Lumby Division was released today by the Forest Practices Board.

"The instances of non-compliance with the Forest Practices Code identified in this audit were few in number and minor in nature," said board vice-chair Keith Moore. "Riverside's harvesting practices close to very small streams provided more protection than the code requires and resulted in relatively little disturbance to those areas."

The board noted that maintaining natural drainage patterns during road construction is an important part of preventing landslides. The board encouraged Riverside to ensure natural surface drainage patterns are maintained.

The audit examined Riverside's timber harvesting and road construction, maintenance and deactivation and the related operational plans, for the period Sept. 1, 1998, to Sept. 20, 1999, on Riverside's Forest Licence A20191.

The licence was selected for audit randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance. Riverside's operating areas are located about 50 kilometres southeast of Vernon, to the west of Lower Arrow Lake and northwest of the community of Edgewood.

Riverside is one of nine audits undertaken by the board in 1999. The board has completed 25 audits to date - 20 forest companies and five 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. The remainder were qualified audits, meaning that there was some significant non-compliance with the code. Most of this non-compliance was related to logging practices near streams and the construction, maintenance and deactivation of logging roads.

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:

• Investigating public complaints.
• Auditing government enforcement of the code.
• Auditing forest practices of government and licence holders on public lands.
• Undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative reviews and appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - West Fraser Mills Ltd.'s forest practices in Tree Farm Licence 41 generally complied with the Forest Practices Code, according to a Forest Practices Board audit released today.

Only one instance of significant non-compliance with the code was identified. The tree farm licence is managed by the Skeena Sawmills Division of West Fraser and is south of Terrace, with operations in the Kitimat Valley, around the Douglas Channel and near Kemano. "This is a high degree of compliance, considering the difficult conditions in TFL 41," said board chair Keith Moore. "West Fraser operates in remote areas with steep terrain and many streams and rivers, most of which contain fish. There was a problem with two fish streams in one cutblock that were incorrectly classified, but overall, West Fraser did a good job of meeting code requirements."

The audit identified two other forest management concerns. These are not considered non-compliance with code requirements by West Fraser, but are important forest planning and practice issues.

West Fraser's forest development plan did not specify ways to protect important non-timber resources from the effects of forestry activities. "The board has recommended West Fraser specify measures to protect non-timber forest resources, such as wildlife habitat, in its forest development plans," said Moore. "And we recommend that government move quickly to legally establish higher-level plans under the code. This will assist West Fraser and other forest companies to address these important resources in their forest development plans." The audit also identified four old road systems with the potential to harm the environment. The roads are in unstable terrain and may cause landslides. The roads were built before the code was enacted in 1995, and therefore West Fraser is not legally responsible under the code for maintaining or deactivating them. The board has recommended that the government and West Fraser address the stability of these road systems.

The audit examined the activities of West Fraser, carried out between September 1997 and September 1998, in operational planning (including forest development plans, silviculture prescriptions and logging plans), timber harvesting, silviculture, fire protection and construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads.

Tree Farm Licence 41 was selected for audit randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance. Since 1996, the board has undertaken 31 forest practices compliance audits. This is the 24th audit report to be published.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board provides British Columbians with objective and independent assessments of the state of forest planning and practices in the province, compliance with the code, and the achievement of its intent.

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

• Investigating public complaints.
• Auditing government enforcement of the code.
• Auditing forest practices of government and licence holders on public lands.
• Undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative reviews and appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

VICTORIA - Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd.'s Houston Division did not comply with the Forest Practices Code in maintaining and deactivating roads. Northwood also caused excessive soil disturbance by logging during wet weather, although this complied with the code, according to a Forest Practices Board audit released today following a court ruling.

A B.C. Court of Appeal judge ruled today that the board can release the report without waiting for the results of Northwood's appeal of a B.C. Supreme Court decision. That decision confirmed the board's right to make the comments about excessive soil disturbance thast appear in the audit report.

Northwood's timber harvesting and road construction complied with the code in all significant respects. "However, the audit found rutting and excessive soil compaction had occurred in ten cutblocks," said board chair Keith Moore. "This was caused by logging equipment operating during wet conditions, and could have been prevented. The frequency and extent of this problem will affect soil productivity and will have long-term impacts on tree establishment and growth. The board found that although these practices complied with the code, they were not consistent with sound forest practices."

The board has recommended that Northwood implement several measures to prevent these problems during future harvesting operations. The board also recommended that government change the code to prevent forest practices that cause concentrated rutting and excessive soil compaction and reduce soil productivity.

The audit also identified instances of non-compliance involving inadequate road maintenance on many of the roads examined. This included crushed or blocked culverts and disrupted natural drainage patterns. The impact of each instance was not significant on its own because of the gentle terrain involved, but the frequency of the non-compliance was considered significant. "Deficient road maintenance creates the potential for safety hazards that could affect anyone using these roads," said Moore.

Northwood's road deactivation work did not comply with code requirements. While there wasn't a problem with the actual work, the audit found that it was not carried out as shown in the approved plans. Roads that were supposed to be deactivated weren't. Active roads were reported as deactivated, while other roads were deactivated that were not identified in the plan.

"The lack of consistency between what was planned and what was actually carried out makes it impossible for government agencies or the public to know which roads are accessible. This could create a loss of public access and a safety issue," said Moore.

The board also made a number of recommendations to Northwood, concerning the maintenance and deactivation problems identified in the audit. These include reviewing, developing and implementing operating procedures for inspecting roads and carrying out maintenance work, as well as ensuring that all planned and completed road deactivation is identified in forest development plans and carried out.

The release of this report was delayed as the Forest Practices Board faced its first court challenge on what it can report publicly in a compliance audit. Northwood obtained a court order halting publication of the audit report in June 1999 and challenged the board's reporting rights in B.C. Supreme Court. A Nov. 30, 1999, judgement, based on a hearing held in October, rejected Northwood's argument. Northwood has appealed that decision. However, a Court of Appeal judge ruled today the Board could release the report without waiting for Northwood's appeal to be decided. The appeal is not expected to proceed for several months.

Forest Licence A16828 includes operating areas north and south of Houston, B.C. The audit examined the forest planning and field activities related to timber harvesting and road construction, maintenance and deactivation carried out between July 1996 and July 1997. The forest licence has since been taken over by Canfor as part of its buyout of Northwood Inc.

The licence was selected for audit from the population of major forest licences within the Prince Rupert forest region. It was selected randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance. The area of operations covers about 600,000 hectares from the northeast side of Babine Lake to the Tahtsa Reach on Ootsa Lake.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board provides British Columbians with objective and independent assessments of the state of forest planning and practices in the province, compliance with the code, and the achievement of its intent.

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

• Investigating public complaints.
• Auditing government enforcement of the code.
• Auditing forest practices of government and licence holders on public lands.
• Undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative reviews and appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - The Forest Practices Board released an investigation report today involving Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd.'s forest development plan for an area near McGregor River, 120 kilometres east of Prince George. The board found that the Ministry of Forests district manager should not have approved Northwood's 1997-2001 Forest Development Plan.

In January 1998, Prince George Forest Watch complained to the board that Northwood's forest development plan, provided to the public for review and comment, was missing key information. The group claimed that streams and lakes were not classified and that the plan failed to identify terrain stability, heritage resources, watershed assessments, visual impacts and wildlife resources. Forest Watch maintained the plan should not have been approved by the district manager.

"The board's investigation found the complainant's concerns were valid. Licensees must ensure that forest development plans provided for public review contain sufficient, accurate information that meets the content requirements of the Forest Practices Code. In this case, the opportunity for public review was not adequate because essential information was missing," said Keith Moore, board chair.

The district manager required the licensee to include missing information in the plan before he approved it. However, the board found that the final approved plan did not classify some large streams next to proposed cutblocks.

The board concluded that the district manager made an error when he approved a plan that had been inadequate for public review and still did not have all the required information when he approved it.

Forest Watch also claimed that the district manager had approved the forest development plan even though it did not meet code requirements for cutblock size.

The board found that many cutblocks in the plan exceeded 60 hectares, the maximum normally allowed in the Prince George Forest Region under the code. There was little analysis or justification provided by Northwood and limited explanation for the approval given by the district manager. The board found his explanation was inadequate, given the number of large cutblocks approved.

The board made several recommendations to address the problems identified in the investigation.

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, established under the Forest Practices Code, 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 announced today that it will oppose an application to prevent it from issuing its audit report about Northwood Inc.'s forest practices near Houston, B.C.

On Dec.21, Northwood will ask the Court of Appeal to prohibit release of the board report until the court decides the company's appeal of a Supreme Court ruling. This decision upheld the board's right to publish the report.

"The board is taking the position that publication of this audit report should not be delayed any longer. We are vigorously opposing Northwood's application," said Keith Moore, board chair. "We believe it is time for this audit to be made public."

On Nov. 30, the B.C. Supreme Court issued a decision supporting the board's right to fully report its audit findings to the public. In the first court challenge to the board's reporting rights, Northwood had argued that the Board could not comment on practices that comply with the Forest Practices Code but cause environmental damage-and make recommendations for change.

The court recognized the key role of the board in improving the code and making it more effective. Many board recommendations are made as a result of its audit findings.

In June of this year, Northwood Inc. obtained a temporary court order to halt publication of a board audit of Forest Licence A16828 near Houston, and challenged the board's reporting rights in B.C. Supreme Court in a hearing on Oct. 25-27.

In the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Donald Brenner upheld the right of the board to issue the report, citing the importance of board reports in fostering an informed public discussion about changes that could improve the code.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest practices. The board provides British Columbians with objective and independent assessments of the state of forest planning and practices in the province, compliance with the code, and the achievement of its intent.

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

VICTORIA - Pacific Inland Resources' operations near Smithers complied with the Forest Practices Code in all significant respects, according to a Forest Practices Board audit released today.

"In addition to the clean audit opinion, there are some notable practices in this audit. Pacific Inland Resources kept more vegetation and trees beside small streams and within cutblocks than the code requires. This provides habitat for wildlife and reduces the visual impact of logging," said Keith Moore, board chair. "Pacific Inland Resources also took a positive step in making a commitment to carry out their operations in ways that would meet the intent of the Bulkley Land and Resource Management Plan. This is a land-use plan for the area developed through a public planning process."

The audit examined all aspects of Pacific Inland Resources' operational planning and forest practices in the field. The activities audited within Forest Licence A16830 were carried out between July 1, 1998, and July 1, 1999.

Pacific Inland Resources' main operating areas are around Smithers, Telkwa, Moricetown and Fort Babine. The primary areas of operation are near Babine Lake, north along the Babine and Nikitkwa rivers and in the Telkwa River Valley. Pacific Inland Resources is a division of West Fraser Mills Ltd.

This licence was selected for audit randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The board has undertaken nine compliance audits this year. Pacific Inland Resources is the third 1999 audit report to be published.

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 - Lignum Ltd.'s operations near 100 Mile House are complying with the Forest Practices Code, according to a Forest Practices Board audit released today.

"Lignum's practices complied with the code in all significant respects," said board chair Keith Moore. "The audit did not identify any non-compliance in timber harvesting, road maintenance and road deactivation. The few instances of non-compliance in road construction had no impact on the environment."

Timber harvesting and road construction, maintenance and deactivation activities between August 1998 and August 1999 were included in the scope of the Board's audit of Forest Licence A20003. This licence was selected for audit randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

Lignum's main operating areas are near 100 Mile House between Clinton and the Fraser River and north to Lac La Hache.

The board has undertaken nine compliance audits this year. Lignum is the second 1999 audit report to be published.

The 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, undertaking investigations in response to 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 - A review panel has upheld a request by the Forest Practices Board to overturn government approval of over 50 cutblocks in the north Coast area. This Forest Practices Code decision affects International Forest Products (Interfor) operations in a forest licence in the Scotia Creek area east of Prince Rupert and around Surf Inlet south of Hartley Bay.

The Board appealed the Ministry of Forests' approval of the Interfor forest development plan because the information presented created public confusion about what was going to be logged. Among other things, misleading information had appeared in the Prince Rupert Daily News in a letter to the editor. This letter was from a local resident who had relied upon inaccurate maps in the proposed plan.

"The review panel ruled that forest development plans need to accurately describe the forest operations planned. This is important for the public so they know exactly what is proposed and are able to respond before plans are approved," said Mike Wyeth, Forest Practices Board executive director. "This case illustrates the public watchdog role of the board." The plan defined over 50 cutblocks as being "for information only" and thus not officially proposed for approval. Despite this, those cutblocks ended up being approved for logging by the Ministry of Forests district manager. Although some documents indicated the true status of these cutblocks, the official maps given to the public and government did not.

Since the requirements for forest development plans had been breached, the panel reversed the approval of the cutblocks, stating, "…the maps cannot be said to be describing the cutblocks proposed for harvesting." The panel ruled that because the plan's maps did not accurately describe the status of the cutblocks, the requirements of the Forest Practices Code had been not been met.

The 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, undertaking investigations in response to 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.