Board to Audit The Pas Lumber

VICTORIA – The Forest Practices Board will audit the forest planning and practices of The Pas Lumber Co. Ltd. near Bear Lake this fall.

The audit will look at The Pas Lumber’s operations on Forest Licence A18171, north of Prince George along Highway 97 from Summit Lake to the vicinity of Kerry Lake. From Bear Lake, the licence extends east to the headwaters of the Parsnip River and west for approximately 50 kilometres onto the Nechako Plateau.

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 B.C.’s Forest Practices Code. The Pas Lumber’s forest licence was chosen randomly and not on the basis of location or level of performance.

The eight-member audit team, composed of professional foresters, a certified management accountant and a professional biologist, will be in the licence area examining plans, cutblocks and roads for up to two weeks beginning Sept. 9. 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, established in 1995, that reports to the public about compliance with the Forest Practices Code and the achievement of its intent.

The board’s main roles under the Forest Practices Code 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.

Nicky Cain
Communications
Forest Practices Board
Phone: 250 387-2678
1 800 994-5899