Safe drinking water is a critically important resource to the people of British Columbia. This audit set out to assess forest and range practices in relation to water quality and fish habitat in two Okanagan community watersheds – Vernon and Oyama Creek. To do this, auditors assessed compliance of forest and range practices with applicable legislated requirements, and the effectiveness of practices in protecting these values, from September 2008 through October 2010.
Auditors noted the efforts made by MFLNRO to address water quality concerns during the audit period. New and replacement range developments were being established but had not yet been completed. However, some problems with the new developments were identified, and auditors were not able to predict the efficacy of developments to be completed after the audit fieldwork.
Overall, the audit showed that range practices need continued improvement to meet legislative requirements and further reduce risks to water quality.
On October 13, 2009, the Forest Practices Board received a complaint that some range tenure holders were not respecting an agreement about a no-grazing buffer zone in the Meadow Valley and that government’s enforcement of that agreement had not been effective. The Board consulted with the complainant and the Ministry of Forests and Range (MFR) to try to settle the complaint. This is the resulting resolution report.
In British Columbia, use of Crown range is regulated by the Range Act and the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). The Range Act provides the authority to grant range agreements, including permits and licences. These agreements include things like the tenure area and the amount of forage that can be consumed by livestock on Crown land. Similar to the former Forest Practices Code, FRPA provides the necessary authority for government to manage the Crown land resource. This includes authority to require the agreement holder to prepare a range plan and follow practice requirements.
The investigation found that the current framework for range planning under FRPA is not working well for agreement holders, MFR range staff or for management of the range resource. First, there is widespread uncertainty about what the objectives for range mean and what is required to achieve them. Second, agreement holders are expected to write measurable and enforceable plans, yet may not have the necessary qualifications and experience to do so. Finally, the preparation and approval of RUPs is a time consuming and challenging task for agreement holders and the MFR, and it is not clear if range planning is achieving any measurable benefit in managing the range resource.
As part of its 2008 compliance audit program, the Forest Practices Board selected the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District as the location for a full scope compliance audit with a focus on water resources in community watersheds.
The Okanagan Shuswap Forest District covers a large geographical area (approximately 2.25 million hectares) and stretches from the US border in the south to Seymour River/Shuswap Lake in the north.
