VICTORIA – An audit of Downie Street Sawmills on forest licence A31102, near Revelstoke, found compliance with most legal requirements, with the exception of some steep sections of road that were not properly constructed and were considered unsafe for industrial use. Other than this issue, Downie’s forestry activities complied with the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
The audit examined timber harvesting, road construction, road and bridge maintenance, road deactivation, silviculture practices, fire preparedness, and related planning activities carried out between October 2015 and October 2017.
Downie’s operations are located on both sides of Revelstoke Lake and the Columbia River between Revelstoke and the Mica Dam, and in an operating area just south of Mount Revelstoke National Park and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Several of Downie’s cutblocks are located in scenic areas along the Trans-Canada Highway where special visual quality objectives apply. Auditors found that Downie did a good job of meeting those objectives when harvesting timber.
While building some steep roads, the recommended construction methods were not followed on some short sections of road. Following the audit field work, Downie rebuilt some of these road sections and advised the Board it will have a qualified specialist inspect and prepare remediation plans for the remaining ones.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact: Darlene Oman, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An investigation of a complaint about logging near Mt. Elphinstone Park has found that BC Timber Sales met all of its obligations in developing the cutblocks, but concludes that some at-risk plant communities are not adequately protected by current legislation or policy.
The complaint was submitted by Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF), an environmental group located in Roberts Creek, BC. The group was concerned that logging would remove forest stands containing at-risk plant communities and threaten the representation of those plant communities in the area.
The investigation confirmed that representative examples of the western hemlock – flat moss plant community and the western red cedar – sword fern plant community were present in the two cutblocks that were logged. However, BC’s current forest practices legislation does not require protection of these plant communities from logging, even though they are recognized as at-risk by the BC Conservation Data Centre.
The report includes recommendations to the provincial government to update the list of species at risk that can be protected from logging activities and for BC Timber Sales to take steps to improve the conservation of at-risk plant communities when planning for logging in mature forest stands.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board investigates public complaints about forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman, Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Lakeside Pacific Forest Products Limited on Forest Licence A19207 has found Lakeside met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a Forest Practices Board report released today, Dec. 19, 2017.
Lakeside’s operations are on the east and west sides of Harrison Lake, near Chilliwack.
“Lakeside operates in an area with significant recreation values and high public use. With that comes high public expectations and they must conduct their operations with care,” said board chair Tim Ryan. “The board is pleased to see that Lakeside is meeting all of its legal obligations for planning, harvesting, road construction and maintenance, reforestation and fire protection.”
Lakeside harvested 45 cutblocks and replanted 50 cutblocks during the two-year audit period of October 2015 to October 2017. It also built 148 kilometres of road and two bridges, and maintained over 550 kilometres of road and 24 bridges. A team of board auditors spent three days in the field examining roads, harvesting and replanted cutblocks in October of this year. The area also experienced two forest fires over the summer, but the sites audited were not impacted by the fires.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of the South Island District portion of the B.C. Timber Sales (BCTS) Strait of Georgia Business Area has found compliance with most, but not all, requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a report released today.
“While BCTS met most of its obligations, the audit did find one steep section of road that did not comply with requirements for safe road construction,” said board chair Tim Ryan. “Following the audit fieldwork, BCTS immediately hired a qualified professional to address the issue and that section of road has since been rebuilt.”
“Auditors also found one timber-sale licence holder who did not maintain natural drainage patterns and caused disturbance to streams on one cutblock,” added Ryan. “Again, following the audit fieldwork, the licence holder restored natural drainage patterns and amended its procedures to prevent similar issues in the future.”
“The board is pleased with the quick actions of BCTS and the timber-sale licence holder in correcting these issues. BCTS is demonstrating continuous improvement, which is one of the benefits of board audits,” continued Ryan.
The audit area covers the southern third of Vancouver Island. Most of the activities audited were in the Port Alberni, Port Renfrew, Bowser and Lake Cowichan areas. During the two-year audit period of June 2015 to June 2017, timber-sale licensees harvested approximately 260,000 cubic metres of timber from 45 cutblocks.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – In a new report released today, the Forest Practices Board is recommending that government make a number of improvements to the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). These improvements all have been recommended in previous board reports, but government has never implemented the recommendations.
“The board believes these changes are necessary to improve stewardship of B.C.’s forest and range resources and to maintain public confidence in their management,” said board chair Tim Ryan. “We urge government to move quickly to address these priorities.”
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board can investigate and report on current forestry and range issues and make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board has released a new report on monitoring of forest practices: A Special Report on the Forest and Range Evaluation Program.
The board examined the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development’s program, created as part of the implementation of the 2004 Forest and Range Practices Act, and finds the program is not yet meeting its intended outcomes.
When the act was established in 2004, the public expected that effectiveness monitoring would examine how well the practices carried out by forest licensees were achieving government’s
objectives for the forest values specified in the legislation. This information was intended to lead to improvement of both practices and the legislation itself.
“Our review found that a great deal of monitoring and some good evaluation work has been done for some forest values, but others like wildlife habitat and soils still do not have effectiveness monitoring protocols or data collection in place - the program was never fully implemented,” said board chair Tim Ryan.
The review also found that data collected by the program are not necessarily being used to improve practices or adjust the legislation and regulations. Industry expressed concerns with some of the data, which led to reluctance to make changes based on the data. Government decision-makers said they do not always get the information they need from the program to support the types of decisions with which they are faced.
“In the complex, fast-paced resource management environment of today, decision-makers require the best science-based evidence to support and inform their decisions,” said Ryan. “Effectiveness monitoring is a fundamental part of forest management and continuous improvement.”
The board has made five recommendations to government, including reviewing the design of the program and implementing effectiveness monitoring for all the forest values included in the act.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board can investigate and report on current forestry and range issues and make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – An audit of Winton Global Lumber Ltd.'s activities on forest licence A18171, in the Fort St. James Natural Resource District, found compliance with the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act, according to a report released today.
All activities carried out by Winton Global between June 2015 and June 2017 were included in the audit. The audited activities included harvesting timber, constructing, maintaining and deactivating forestry roads, reforesting logged sites, wildfire protection and associated planning.
The audit did find two cutblocks where soil disturbance was excessive. "What happened is that the equipment operators skidded felled trees through moist ground and caused excessive rutting of the soil," said board chair Tim Ryan. "This type of disturbance can reduce soil productivity and impact growing conditions for new trees."
Winton Global recognized it might have a soil disturbance issue and had a soil disturbance survey completed. The survey found that the disturbance was within the limits allowed in the legislation. "Although the soil disturbance was in compliance, it's not a sound forest practice and could have been avoided," said Ryan.
Winton Global's forestry activities were located around the community of Fort St. James. Harvesting was focused on salvaging timber damaged by the mountain pine beetle.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.'s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices on public lands and appropriateness of government of enforcement. It can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of 0866740 B.C. Ltd., held by Aspen Planers Ltd., on forest licence A18700 during the week of Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, 2017.
Originally scheduled for early July, the audit was postponed due to the forest fire situation at that time.
Auditors will examine whether harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning, carried out between July 2015 and October 2017, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
0866740 B.C. Ltd. is in the Cascades Natural Resource District. The area of the audit is located west of Lillooet and includes Carpenter Lake and the Bridge River. Some of the nearby communities are Bralorne and Gold Bridge.
Once the audit work is complete, a report will be prepared. Any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations then will be released to the public and government.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government.
The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of West Fraser Mills Ltd. on tree farm licence 52, near Quesnel, during the week of Oct. 30, 2017.
Auditors will examine whether harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning, carried out between July 2016 and October 2017, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
Tree farm licence 52 consists of two blocks: one is located east of Quesnel toward Bowron Lake Provincial Park and one northwest of Quesnel along the Fraser River. The operating area is 293,485 hectares and consists of mainly spruce and lodgepole pine trees.
Once the audit work is complete, a report will be prepared and any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations then will be released to the public and government.
The Forest Practices Board is British Columbia’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government.
The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will examine the activities of Lakeside Pacific Forest Products Ltd. (Lakeside) on forest licence A19207, near Harrison Lake, during the week of Oct. 16, 2017.
Auditors will examine whether harvesting, roads, silviculture, fire protection and associated planning, carried out between October 2015 and October 2017, met the requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Wildfire Act.
Lakeside’s forestry operations are located on the east and west sides of Harrison Lake, about 25 kilometres north of Harrison Hot Springs, in the Chilliwack Resource District. This summer, two wildfires occurred on the east side of Harrison Lake. The fires disrupted operations but Lakeside’s crews are now back at work.
Once the audit work is complete, a report will be prepared, and any party that may be adversely affected by the audit findings will have a chance to respond. The board’s final report and recommendations then will be released to the public and government.
The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government.
The board audits forest and range practices on public land, as well as appropriateness of government enforcement.
Contact:
Darlene Oman
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 213-4705 / 1 800 994-5899
