VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest practices of International Forest Products (Interfor), Terminal Forest Products, Northwest Hardwoods, F.A.B. Logging Co. Ltd., and 9096 Investments Ltd. in the Sunshine Coast Forest District.

The companies’ operations are located throughout the Sunshine Coast Forest District—from north of Powell River to south of Sechelt on the mainland coast, and various islands between the mainland and Vancouver Island.

Auditors will examine forest roads (construction, maintenance and deactivation) and timber harvesting carried out between Sept. 1, 2005 and Oct. 31, 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. The audit area was chosen randomly, and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The audit work will be carried out over four weeks, beginning Oct. 10, 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.