Summary of Recent Reports

The last six months have been unusually busy in terms of reports published by the Board. You may have felt overwhelmed with the pace of our report releases at times and we apologize for that. It was a difficult balance between not holding up completed work, while not losing the important findings in the multitude of publications being released. It just so happened that a number of major projects were wrapping up at the same time as a number of strategic bulletins and reports that came out of our November 2012 strategic plan.

So just in case you missed anything, here is a brief recap.

January

One complaint investigation report was published at the end of January, involving logging and its’ relationship to flooding on private property, finding that legal requirements were met, that planning related to hydrological impacts of logging was appropriate and that it was not possible to determine the extent to which logging activity may have contributed to flooding.

February

Three reports were published. An audit of BCTS operations near Terrace found compliance by the timber sales program and timber sale licence holders, with one exception. An audit of a woodlot on Southern Vancouver Island found all activities in compliance, except for requirements to report to government. A complaint investigation examining concerns about effects of livestock grazing and fencing blocking public access to a watercourse found the concerns were unfounded.

March

Five reports were published. The Board’s special investigation of bridges built between 2010 and 2013 found a surprising amount of non-compliance for bridges, as well as a number of bridges that posed possible safety concerns. The response to that report is discussed in this newsletter. At the same time, an audit of BCTS in Prince George and an audit of a woodlot on Southern Vancouver Island were released, both of which had two non-compliances, one each involving bridges.

The Board published its analysis of how well salvage logging of beetle killed pine trees is following the Chief Forester’s guidance to manage the mid-term timber supply. That investigation found that salvage harvesting is mostly consistent with the guidance, but in a few areas of the province, the salvage is nearly finished and the harvest of green timber is increasing. This represents a significant challenge to government and industry as they manage the transition to the post-salvage era. Finally, a special investigation that looked at how licensees are managing logging around karst features on Vancouver Island was released. This was a complex and difficult topic to examine and the Board hopes this report will lead to greater attention being paid to this important but poorly understood resource. The Board also published a bulletin discussing balancing of risk across resource values in decision-making under the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA).

April

Three reports were published, the most significant being the investigation of forest planning and practices in community watersheds. The investigation identified a number of improvements necessary to help ensure government objectives for drinking water quality and quantity are achieved. The status and management of community watersheds needs to be reviewed by government to ensure this resource is being properly managed in those places where it needs to be managed, in consideration of all types of development activity. Another report was published that summarizes the determinations government has made under FRPA between 2007 and 2013. This report falls under the Board’s mandate to look at appropriateness of government enforcement. This report gives an idea of the types of determinations that are being made and identifies common issues. A follow-up report will examine the actual appropriateness of penalties issued by government officials for failures to comply with FRPA. A complaint investigation involving logging in a community watershed above a residential development on Kootenay Lake was also published. The investigation found that, while the residents’ concerns are understandable, forest professionals had done a thorough job examining risk posed by the logging and that the likelihood of negative impacts is low.

May

The Board published its observations about how well FRPA is working, after nearly 10 years of implementation, concluding the FRPA framework has been partly implemented and is working in most situations. However, some aspects of implementation are not complete or are not working as well as expected and improvement is needed. For example, government objectives for forest and range values have not been fully established, forest stewardship plans have limited usefulness for either planning or the public engagement they are supposed to encourage, some forest practice requirements are not clear, and monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of practices could do more to encourage improvement to the regulations and operational performance.

A summary of the complaints investigated by the Board since its inception was also published. Since 1995, the board has responded to over 1100 concerns and 300 complaints, leading to 181 formal recommendations for improvement to forest and range planning, practices and public consultation. Topics most commonly complained about are conservation of forest values such as water, soundness of forest planning and practices and adequacy of both public involvement processes and government enforcement of the law.

Working with People to Resolve Concerns

Early in June, Board staff held a field trip with participants in a complaint investigation regarding the visual impacts of cutblocks harvested by the BC Timber Sales program in a watershed near Vernon, BC. BCTS staff and local residents attended and discussed the visual concerns of some of the residents and the opportunities for communication and input into harvest plans. Residents viewed the harvested blocks and BCTS staff explained the values and operational constraints that they consider and balance when planning blocks that are sold under the timber sale program. We are hopeful the meeting has led to a good relationship between the parties and that any concerns can be resolved without the need for a formal complaint investigation. This is a good example of the type of work staff often do to try and resolve concerns without having to go through a formal and sometimes lengthy complaint investigation process.

 

 

 

 

 

Strategic Planning Meeting

In early June, the Board held its quarterly meeting, spending 2 ½ days at Loon Lake in the University of British Columbia’s Malcolm Knapp Research Forest in Maple Ridge. The session began with an insightful afternoon discussion of current forestry issues in the province with Professors Gordon Weetman and Bruce Larson of UBC, Professor Ken Lertzman of Simon Fraser University, Ken Day (manager of UBC’s Alex Fraser research forest) and consultant Bruce Blackwell. The next day, the Board enjoyed an excellent tour of the research forest, led by manager Paul Lawson, forester Cheryl Power and Ionut Aron. The tour included stops at research sites, silviculture trial sites, an active logging operation, the onsite lumber mill, which takes trees from the research forest and produces custom value-added products for local customers in the Fraser Valley, and a chat with a student researcher doing work on sediment transfer and stream flows. The last day was the Board’s strategic planning session, where Board members and staff discussed the vision for the next three years and settled on three strategic priorities to guide upcoming work:

• Promote Stewardship
• Demonstrate Value
• Build Broader Expertise

These themes will help direct the work the Board carries out, demonstrate the value of the Board’s role and its work to the forest sector and all British Columbians, and increase the Board’s awareness and understanding of other resource sectors that work in and affect BC’s forest and range lands.

We would like to thank all of the individuals mentioned, and any we forgot to mention, for their generous contribution of time and enthusiasm to make the meeting such a success.

 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events

IUFRO World Congress

The Board will be participating in the IUFRO XXIV World Congress in Salt Lake City, Utah from October 5-12 this year. IUFRO is the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. This congress is also being held with the Canadian Institute of Forestry’s annual general meeting and the Society of American Foresters’ annual general meeting and will bring together thousands of forestry experts from around the world. It’s an excellent opportunity to showcase BC’s approaches to sound forest management and independent oversight.

The Board will be presenting a poster in a session on the Impact of Forest Certification on Sustainable Forest Management, titled “Is Forest Certification Contributing to Sustainable Forest Management in British Columbia?”  This poster will illustrate the scope of certification in British Columbia and summarize the results of Board audits relative to certification status. The Board will also be presenting a paper on the topic of Communities, Forests, Forest Industries and Social Licence to Operate. The paper is titled “Obtaining and Maintaining Social Licence to Operate – BC’s Quality Assurance Model.” It will explore how BC’s quality assurance model fosters public confidence and contributes to the BC forest industry’s social licence to operate.

Newbie in the Field

Have you ever wondered what auditors do when they are out in the field on an audit? Well, our Web & Social Media Manager, Kairry, was curious  so we sent her out with our team of auditors for a day (of course equipped with a camera). Read what her first time experience in the field was like – A DAY IN THE FIELD ON AN AUDIT .