VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of British Columbia Timber Sales (BCTS) and timber sale licence (TSL) holders in a portion of the Peace Forest District.

The audit will examine BCTS and TSL holders’ operations located throughout the Fort  St. John timber supply area (TSA), which extends predominately north and west of the city. These operations fall under the Fort St. John Pilot Project Regulation, and will be the first board audit of operations conducted within a pilot project area.

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 since April 1, 2005, to assess compliance with the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Wildfire 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 BCTS operation was chosen randomly from all the BCTS TSAs in the province, and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The audit team will be in the area for approximately one week, beginning Sept. 5, 2006. 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.

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