Victoria - The BC Supreme Court has rejected a legal argument that would have seriously impaired the ability of the Forest Practices Board to report what is going on in the province's forests. The Forest Practices Board's right to fully report its audit findings to the public was upheld in the Nov. 30th decision.

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 BC Supreme Court in a hearing on Oct 25-27.

In the first court challenge to the Board's reporting rights, Northwood had argued that the Board could only comment on issues related to whether a licensee complied with the Forest Practices Code. The Board argued that it must be able to comment about practices that comply with the Code but cause environmental damage—and make recommendations for change. Justice Donald Brenner ruled that in his view "…it is essential that the Board's…powers not be restricted to simply reporting on compliance." The Court also 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.

"We are pleased the Court has confirmed the public's right to know what is taking place in the woods," said Keith Moore, Board Chair. "This decision supports the Board's mandate as a public watchdog that can fully report on the results of practices it finds in the field. This type of reporting allows the Board to clarify its compliance findings and make recommendations to improve forest practices. That is what the Board did in the Northwood audit, and the Court has upheld our mandate to do that."

In addition to reporting on Code compliance, the Board's audit reports normally include comments on problems as well as notable practices. The Board reports its findings to the public and makes recommendations that are based on detailed examinations of practices in the field. Problems are reported even if the auditee is meeting basic Code requirements.

The judge ruled the temporary court order against publishing the audit report will continue for 21 days. This will provide Northwood with an opportunity to file an appeal should it wish. The Court decision will be available at http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/Sc/sc-main.htm  on the Internet.

The Forest Practices Board is BC’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 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.

ICTORIA - A Forest Practices Board audit released today finds that the Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) in the Port McNeill Forest District generally complied with Forest Practices Code requirements. Significant non-compliance was identified in timber harvesting, bridge construction and operational planning.

"Most of the planning and practices in the Port McNeill District complied with Code requirements. However, the number of non-compliance situations is higher than in most of the other audits we have done," said Keith Moore, Board Chair.

The audit found problems with logging activities around streams in 9 of the 15 cutblocks examined. In addition, construction of two bridges over streams did not follow approved plans and impacted coho salmon habitat. The Board also found that plans did not address the potential for wind damage along cutblock boundaries after logging.

"We are starting to observe a pattern of relatively poor performance in the small business program. There have been problems in three out of four SBFEP audits that the Board has released within the past year. The ministry has the responsibility, not only for operational planning in the SBFEP, but also for ensuring that forest practices carried out by the SBFEP licensees comply with the Code. They need to do a better job," said Moore.

The Board report states that the forest development plans for the Port McNeill SBFEP contained little or no information to describe wildlife and other non-timber resources or to explain how those resources would be protected in areas planned for logging.

"These are important forest values, and consistent with the intent of the Code, measures to protect them should be included in forest development plans. However, because of delays in implementing higher level land use plans, there is actually no legal requirement that forest development plans include this information. Government needs to take a leadership role to ensure that measures to protect wildlife, biodiversity and other non-timber values are included in the operational plans for logging and road construction," said Moore.

Since 1996, the Board has released 21 audits of forest planning and practices-16 forest companies and 5 Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs.

The Port McNeill SBFEP was randomly selected for audit from the Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs in each of the 40 forest districts in the province. The audit examined the activities of the Port McNeill SBFEP in the areas of operational planning (such as forest development plans, silviculture prescriptions and logging plans), timber harvesting, silviculture, fire protection, and construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads. The operating area comprises the northern portion of Vancouver Island, numerous islands in Johnstone Strait and the adjacent mainland coast from the vicinity of Knight Inlet north to the vicinity of Seymour Inlet. The Port McNeill Forest District includes the towns of Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Port Alice.

The Forest Practices Board is BC'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 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 - Gorman Bros. Lumber Ltd. operations in the Okanagan Valley is complying with the Forest Practices Code according to a Forest Practices Board audit released today. "Gorman's practices complied with the Code in all significant respects," said Board Chair, Keith Moore. "The company used innovative methods to provide the public with an adequate opportunity to review and comment on the forest development plan. Public review and comment is an important part of the development of plans for forest harvesting and road construction. The Board notes Gorman's efforts to prepare understandable plans, make them available to the public and encourage comments."

The audit examined timber harvesting, construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads, and the associated planning, carried out between June 15, 1998 and June 15, 1999 on Forest Licence A18671. The licence was selected for audit randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance.

Gorman's three main operating areas are around Keremeos, west of Summerland and west of Peachland. There are smaller operating areas on the east side of Okanagan Lake near Naramata and in the vicinity of Monashee Park, northeast of Lumby.

The Board has undertaken nine compliance audits this year. Gorman's is the first of the 1999 audit reports to be published. The Board is BC'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 - Today, the Forest Practices Board began the fieldwork portion of an audit of forest planning and practices of Forest Licence A20191, held by Riverside Forest Products Ltd. Operating areas for this forest licence are located in the lower Arrow Lake area approximately 50 kilometres south-east of Vernon and north-west of the community of Edgewood.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as logging and related operational planning activities for compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Board’s five-person audit team, consisting of professional foresters, engineers and auditors, will be in the licence area over the next week to ten days performing both office and field examinations of numerous timber harvest areas and sections of roads.

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

Once the fieldwork 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 government.

This audit is one of nine the Board will undertake in 1999. The Board has completed 22 audits since 1996 - 17 forest companies and five Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs. Eighteen of these audits have been published. Six 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 the non-compliance related to logging practices near streams and logging road construction and maintenance.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent agency, established in 1995, that provides 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 to the public and government on Board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - Today, the Forest Practices Board began the fieldwork portion of an audit of forest planning and practices of the Ministry of Forests' Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) in the Sunshine Coast Forest District. The program has operations located throughout the Sunshine Coast, from the town of Gibsons at the south end, past Powell River to Toba Inlet at the north end.

This is a full scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as logging, silviculture, protection and operational planning activities for compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Board’s six-person audit team, consisting of professional foresters, engineers and auditors, will be in the area over the next two weeks performing both office and field examinations of numerous timber harvest areas and sections of roads.

The program was selected randomly from the 40 SBFEPs in the province, not on the basis of location or past performance. The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to determine government and forest company compliance with the planning and forest practices requirements of the Forest Practices Code.

Once the fieldwork 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 government.

This audit is one of nine the Board will undertake in 1999. The Board has completed 22 audits since 1996 – 17 forest companies and five Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs. Eighteen of these audits have been published. Six 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 the non-compliance related to logging practices near streams and logging road construction and maintenance.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent agency, established in 1995, that provides 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 to the public and government on Board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - Today, the Forest Practices Board began the fieldwork portion of an audit of Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor) forest planning and practices in Tree Farm Licence 48. Operating areas for this licence are located north, south, east and west of the community of Chetwynd, approximately 100 kilometres west of Dawson Creek.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as logging and related operational planning activities for compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Board’s five-person audit team, consisting of professional foresters, engineers and auditors, will be in the licence area over the next two weeks performing both office and field examinations of numerous timber harvest areas and sections of roads.

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

Once the fieldwork 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 government.

This audit is one of nine the Board will undertake in 1999. The Board has completed 22 audits since 1996 – 17 forest companies and five Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs. Eighteen of these audits have been published. Six 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 the non-compliance related to logging practices near streams and logging road construction and maintenance.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent agency, established in 1995, that provides 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 to the public and government on Board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - In a report released today, the Forest Practices Board criticized the government's approval process for the location of a bridge across the Babine River, near New Hazelton.

Both the Ministry of Forests and Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks knew they had a significant disagreement about the location of the bridge and its potential impact on wildlife. The ministries failed to implement a dispute resolution procedure and the Ministry of Forests approved the bridge before addressing the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks' concerns for wildlife habitat protection.

The location of the bridge had been the topic of public planning meetings and talks among government agencies, First Nations and public organizations for several years. However, the approved location was different from one identified earlier in public planning reports. The Board received a complaint that the Ministry of Forests' process for approval of the bridge was not fair.

The Board found that the approval process was flawed and that there should have been more public input before the approval of the bridge location.

"Although the approval complied with the Forest Practices Code, it created an appearance that the decision-making process was not fair. This has reduced public confidence in the administration of the Code. The Babine Land and Resource Use Plan indicated that further consultation would take place before a decision on the bridge location was made but that did not happen," said Keith Moore, Chair of the Forest Practices Board.

The dispute between the ministries became public knowledge after the Ministry of Forests approved the forest development plan, which included the bridge location, without having addressed the issues and concerns. This dispute and the ministry's decision to not publicly communicate the approval for the location contributed to a perception of an unfair process, particularly when the disagreement between the two ministries became public knowledge.

The Board has recommended that the Ministry of Forests give reasons and notify the public when making decisions that are potentially contentious, or that involve matters where there has been significant public interest and involvement.

The Board also found that the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is not reviewing forest development plans in some districts. The Board is concerned that this presents a risk that a similar situation could occur again, and has made recommendations to both ministries as a result. "Government should explain how it will manage the risk when the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is unable to provide advice on resource management decisions and the potential effects on fish and wildlife," said Moore.

The Babine Bridge was built to provide access to timber on the north side of the river and address Repap Carnaby Inc.'s lack of wood supply. The bridge crosses the lower Babine River close to where it meets the Skeena River. This area is rich in timber, wildlife and recreation resources.

The Forest Practices Board is BC’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 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 - Today, the Forest Practices Board began an audit of the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program (SBFEP) in the Mid-Coast Forest District of the Ministry of Forests. Operating areas for the program are spread throughout the district on many islands and inlets on the central coast. The main community in the district is Bella Coola and operations extend from the Fjordland Recreation Area in the north to Smith Inlet in the south.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as logging and related operational planning activities for compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Board's five-person audit team will be in the district over the next week performing office and field examinations of road construction, maintenance and deactivation work, as well as numerous timber harvest areas.

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

Once the fieldwork 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 to the government.

To date, the Board has completed 22 audits - 17 forest companies and five Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs. Eighteen of these audits have been completed and published. Six 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 the non-compliance related to logging practices near streams and logging road construction and maintenance. The Board is undertaking nine compliance audits in 1999.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent agency, established in 1995, that provides 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 to the public and government on Board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - Today, the Forest Practices Board began the fieldwork portion of an audit of Lignum Ltd.'s Forest Licence A20003. Operating areas for this licence are located west of 100 Mile House adjacent to the Fraser River from Clinton north to Lac La Hache.

This is a limited scope audit that will examine construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads as well as logging and related operational planning activities for compliance with the Forest Practices Code.

The Board's three-person audit team will be in the licence area over the next two weeks performing both office and field examinations of numerous timber harvest areas and many kilometres of roads.

The licence was selected randomly, not on the basis of location or level of performance. The Forest Practices Board is required to carry out periodic independent audits to determine government and forest company compliance with the planning and forest practices requirements of the Forest Practices Code. This audit is one of nine the Board will undertake in 1999.

Once the fieldwork 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 to the government.

To date, the Board has completed 22 audits - 17 forest companies and five Ministry of Forests Small Business Forest Enterprise Programs. Eighteen of these audits have been completed and published. Six 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 the non-compliance related to logging practices near streams and logging road construction and maintenance.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent agency, established in 1995, that provides 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 to the public and government on Board activities, findings and recommendations.

Victoria - Today, the Forest Practices Board released its report concluding an investigation of a complaint concerning an International Forest Products Ltd. (Interfor) logging road located close to a stream on Catface Mountain. The road is located approximately 10 kilometres north of Tofino, in the centre of the Clayoquot Sound designated area.

The Friends of Clayoquot Sound-Forest Watch made the complaint to the Board in March 1998. Construction on the road has been halted twice due to adverse weather conditions and a public blockade. At the time of this news release, road building had not yet reached the stream reserve zone. Resumption of work on the road may be imminent.

"The Board's investigation focused on the plan approval process and on determining if the district manager gave adequate consideration to the road location, which clearly infringed into the 50-metre stream reserve identified in the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel Recommendations," stated John Cuthbert, vice-chair of the Forest Practices Board. "Lack of documentation of the reasons for the approval made our decision difficult."

The Board found that the Scientific Panel recommendations included in Interfor's forest development plan became legally enforceable under the Forest Practices Code when the plan was approved.

The Board found that the district manager's approval of the road location was in compliance with both the Scientific Panel recommendations and the Code. However, the Board indicated that the district manager should have documented his rationale for the approval due to the high level of public interest in the Clayoquot area.

The Board also found that the Ministry of Forests district manager and the Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks regional manager erred in not recognizing the enforceability of the recommendations included in the plan. However, the Board noted that these agencies did intend to enforce the Scientific Panel recommendations through contractual obligations with the licensee.

Interfor included Scientific Panel recommendations in their 1997 forest development plan for TFL 54. This included a 50-metre reserve zone for the stream in question. The plan also showed a road switchback located close to the stream. The Friends of Clayoquot Sound-Forest Watch expressed concerns to the licensee about the impact of the road on the reserve in May 1997. The road location was approved by the district manager in September 1997.

In 1995, the provincial government adopted the Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel Recommendations for the Clayoquot Sound designated area. The Clayoquot Sound Scientific Panel recommends avoiding road construction in stream reserves. And where no practical alternative is available, the panel recommends abandoning the road. If the development does proceed, the panel recommends engineering and constructing the road to minimize disturbance.

The Board made a number of recommendations as a result of the investigation. The Board recommends that government agencies should fulfill their responsibilities in providing written comment, at both the forest development plan review stage and the road permit approval stage, concerning practices that don't follow normal Code requirements. The Board also recommends that district managers should document reasons for approving road locations in riparian management areas. A recommendation was included in the report that reinforced those made by the Scientific Panel, which stated that encroachments into stream reserve areas must be avoided whenever possible. When construction of the roads resumes, the Board recommends that the Scientific Panel's conditions be enforced, and that all future forest development plans for the Catface area provide clear, unambiguous information on riparian zones.

The Forest Practices Board is BC'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 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.

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