VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation beginning next week.

The audit will look at the corporation’s operations on Tree Farm Licence 56, about one hour north of Revelstoke. TFL 56 consists of about 120,000 hectares in the Downie Creek and Goldstream River drainages, in the Columbia Forest District.

The Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation was formed by the City of Revelstoke in 1993 to manage and operate TFL 56. This form of corporation allows the city to take some control over the local forest resources for social and economic reasons, as well as to ensure a high standard of forest management and environmental protection in the area. Auditors will examine a wide range of forest practices carried out over the past year, including logging; road construction, maintenance and deactivation; forest protection; silviculture; and planning.

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. Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation’s forest licence was chosen randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The five-member audit team is composed of three professional foresters, a professional engineer and one certified management accountant. They will be in the licence area examining plans, cutblocks and roads for about one week, beginning July 14. Once the fieldwork is done, the audit team will report its findings to the board. 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 the government.

The Forest Practices Board is an independent public watchdog that reports to the public about compliance with forest practices legislation 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 the code.
• Investigating public complaints.
• Undertaking special investigations of code-related forestry issues.
• Participating in administrative reviews and appeals.
• Providing reports on board activities, findings and recommendations.

Jacqueline Waldorf
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 356-1586 / 1 800 994-5899