Board to Audit BCTS in Rocky Mountain Forest District

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of the British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) program in the Rocky Mountain Forest District.

The audit will examine BCTS’s operations located throughout the Cranbrook and Invermere timber supply areas, and including portions of the Rocky Mountain Trench, Purcell Mountains, and Rocky Mountains.

The audit will examine forest practices carried out over the past year (June 1, 2004 to June 12, 2005), including operational planning, harvesting, road construction, maintenance and deactivation, silviculture, and fire protection, to assess compliance with forest practices legislation.

The Forest Practices Board carries out periodic independent audits to see if government and forest companies are complying with the province’s forest practices legislation. The BCTS program was chosen randomly from all the BCTS programs in the province, and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The audit team is made up of three registered professional foresters, one professional engineer, and one chartered accountant. They will be in the area for between four and six days, beginning June 13, 2005. Once the fieldwork is done, the audit report is drafted, 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 Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the achievement of its intent. The board’s main roles under FRPA 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.

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Erik Kaye
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250-356-1586 or 1-800-994-5899