Closing Letter – Meadow Valley Range
Meadow Valley Range
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.
Range Planning under the Forest and Range Practices Act
Range Planning under the Forest and Range Practices Act
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.
Audit of Forest Planning and Practices within the Penticton and Mission Creek Community Watersheds
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.
Penticton and Mission Creek Community Watersheds
Salvage Logging after a Wildfire at Sitkum Creek
Fire Hazard Assessment and Abatement
Fire Hazard Assessment and Abatement
In this special investigation, the Board examined 111 cutblocks to determine, in part, whether or not licensees assessed and abated fire hazard as required by the Wildfire Act. The Act requires that both the fuel hazard and the risk of a fire starting or spreading on a site be assessed. Fuel hazard was assessed on 41 percent of the cutblocks, but the risk of a fire starting or spreading on a site was not assessed on any cutblock sampled. The result is that none of the licensees complied with the fire hazard assessment requirements of the Act.
Despite complete non-compliance with assessment requirements, fire hazard was often abated satisfactorily through routine practices such as piling and burning roadside debris. However, in some cases, licensees did not recognize higher risk situations such as the fuel hazard created by processing trees at the stump.
