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.