On November 2, 1995, the Board received a complaint from an organization about the submission and approval of a forest development plan (FDP) near a provincial park in the Lower Mainland. The complaint involved three cutblocks. Concerns were raised about the clearcutting of areas adjacent to a stream, inaccurate engineering and ecological information, and removal of large trees near a wetland. The complainant also asserted that the Ministry of Forests relied on an inadequate recreational inventory and that neither the Ministry of Forests nor the licensee referred the FDP to BC Parks for review.
Approval of a forest development plan near a provincial park
Consistency of forest development plans with Cariboo-Chilcotin land use plan
Consistency of forest development plans with Cariboo-Chilcotin land use plan
On December 12, 1995, a complaint was filed with the Board by representatives of five organizations. The complaint involved the 1995‐2000 forest development plans for areas within the Quesnel River watershed. This included 15 forest development plans prepared by five agreement holders and the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program in four Forest Districts. These plans had been approved in mid‐December, 1995.
The complaint named five agreement holders and four district managers who prepared and approved the plans as subjects of the complaint, as well as the Cariboo‐Chilcotin Regional Resource Board (RRB) and the Cariboo Mid‐Coast Interagency Management Committee (IAMC). The Board identified the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks and the Land Use Coordination Office (LUCO) as potentially affected by this investigation. The complainants, the subjects of the complaint and the affected parties are listed in Appendix 1. For ease of discussion, these 18 organizations are described as participants.
Harvesting prescribed in Arrow Mountain subunit plan in the Kootenay Lake Forest District
The Board received a complaint from an environmental society concerning a silvicultural prescription that was inconsistent with a local resource use plan. The complaint asserted that:
- The Ministry of Forests failed to adequately address issues raised by the complainant by not providing evidence of root rot in two areas where harvesting was proposed because of disease problems and that the Ministry’s response to this and other concerns were inadequate;
- Silviculture prescriptions were prepared and approved that were not in compliance with a local resource use plan that had been in existence since 1993. Specifically, the approval of the cutblocks resulted in exceeding the maximum allowable five year cumulative volume of wood to be sold for the area as specified in the approval local resource use plan;
- The proposed harvesting for one cutblock is not in compliance with the Code since harvesting methods are inappropriate and are not scientifically proven to address root rot problems;
- That the forest district failed to allocate opportunities for single tree selection sales for horse loggers; and
- That the complainant has been unable to get the Ministry of Forests to respond to repeated requests to obtain permission under the Code to construct a trail.
Harvesting prescribed in Arrow Mountain subunit plan in the Kootenay Lake Forest District
Approval of logging within rare mushroom habitat in the Sunshine Coast Forest District
On November 28, 1995, the Board received a complaint from a member of the public asserting that “logging has been approved within the habitat of an extremely rare, probably endangered, species of mushroom in the genus Tricholoma”. The blocks where logging had been approved are within the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program administered by the Ministry of Forests in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.
The Board decided the complaint was about preparation and approval of silviculture prescriptions for these blocks by the Ministry of Forests. The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks has the opportunity to participate in the preparation of silviculture prescriptions, making it necessary for the Board to examine their role in this complaint.
Approval of logging within rare mushroom habitat in the Sunshine Coast Forest District
SUMMARY REPORT: Forest development plan public review and bark beetle management
Forest development plan public review and bark beetle management
The Board received a complaint from a member of the public concerning an amendment to a licensee’s Five Year Forest Development Plan. The complaint asserted that:
- a licensee amended its forest development plan for a forest licence without providing adequate time for public review and comment.
- a licensee was not practicing healthy forest management, in relation to a bark beetle infestation.
The complainant asserted that the licensee failed to take the opportunity to selectively log the area covered by the plan in 1994, and now proposes to clear-cut the area.
