VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board is coming to the Queen Charlotte Islands in early May, to audit British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence (TSL) holders.

The audit will examine BCTS and TSL holders’ operations throughout the Queen Charlotte Islands timber supply area (TSA), including Sewell Inlet, Collison Point, and Massett Inlet.

BCTS is an independent organization, within the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range, created to develop Crown timber for auction. TSL holders bid on the timber and then carry out the harvesting and some road activities.

Auditors will examine operational planning; construction, maintenance and deactivation of roads; timber harvesting; silviculture; and fire protection activities carried out between May 7, 2005, and May 12, 2006, to assess compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act.

The board randomly carries out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the province’s forest practices legislation. This first audit of the 2006 season was chosen randomly from all the BCTS TSA s in the province, and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The five-member audit team will start work on May 8, 2006, at the Ministry of Forests and Range office in Queen Charlotte City. Based on the number of active timber sales in the past year, the team expects to complete all field work within a week.

Once the fieldwork is done, the audit report is 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 will then be released to the public and government.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog that reports to the public about compliance with the FRPA and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles are:

• Auditing forest practices of government and licence holders on public lands.
• Auditing government enforcement of FRPA.
• Investigating public complaints.
• Undertaking special investigations of forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

-30-