20 Years of Public Oversight

On December 21, 1994, the BC government established the Forest Practices Board with the proclamation of Part 8 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. On the day of proclamation, Board Chair Keith Moore, and Board members Dr. Gordon Baskerville, Cathy Mumford, Cindy Pearce and Jack Toovey were appointed by Order-in-Council. With just a telephone and a briefcase in hand, Keith Moore’s task of setting up the Forest Practices Board had begun. At the time, government described the Board as “the key to making the Code work. It will be the independent, expert monitor of forest practices in B.C.”

Reaction to Published Reports

Haida Gwaii Visuals

This complaint report found issues with professional assessments of visual quality, issues with government’s inability to decline cutting permits even where problems meeting the established VQOs were anticipated, and a lack of appropriate government enforcement afterwards. The report was well-received by the Haida Nation and the Board is hopeful this case will lead to improvements in managing visual quality in the future and contribute to improvements in professional reliance under FRPA.

In an email from a member of the Solutions Table, the joint Haida-BC government operational decision-making body for resource use on Haida Gwaii:

 “I am quite impressed with the outcome of this process through the Forest Practices Board,” and “I commend you for your fine work, it is not always easy to draw a line in the sand and stand there all alone no matter what.”

 Reported in the Haida Gwaii Observer (Nov 14, 2014)

Trevor Russ, vice-president of the Haida Nation, said he was pleased with the finding. “I think from the Council of the Haida Nation perspective, we’re happy that the Forest Practices Board stepped up,” he said, noting that the CHN has heard additional concerns from citizens about the visual impacts of logging.

Bridge Design and Construction

The ABCFP and APEGBC responded to the Board’s recommendations on bridges at the end of October. They outlined a number of steps the associations have taken to ensure their members are practicing appropriately when it comes to designing and constructing bridges on forest roads. Since the Board report was published, the Joint Practices Board of the two associations revised and released to their members the APEGBC/ABCFP’s Guidelines for Professional Service in the Forest Sector-Crossings (2014). The ABCFP also held a vote on a proposed by-law that would connect professional practice with use of the guidelines. The by-law passed handily, showing that professional foresters believe in and support the importance of ensuring bridges are well-built and safe for use. The association is also pursuing several investigations of members responsible for some of the unsafe bridges, demonstrating that its members are being held accountable for the quality of their professional practice. To see the detailed response to the Board, go here .

Community Watersheds

In our April 2014 report on community watersheds, the Board made a number of recommendations to government to improve how drinking water is protected from forest practices. We recommended government review the current legislation (FRPA), provide clear direction to licensees to help them improve forest stewardship plans and how they propose to protect water, expand monitoring to better assess how well water is being protected from impacts of forest practices, and finally, that government review the status of community watersheds to ensure the appropriate areas receive the appropriate protection.

Government has now responded to the recommendations and has committed to follow them. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNR) is going to conduct a comprehensive review of water quality provisions under FRPA over the next year. The Ministry will provide guidance to forest and range practitioners on preparing forest stewardship plans and the FREP program will improve its water quality sampling procedures to include sites both inside and outside of community watersheds. Finally, the Ministry is going to review its management of community watersheds as a first step in updating the status of these important areas of public land.

The Board also recommended the two professional associations governing foresters and engineers ensure their members are conducting quality hydrological assessments for forest planning. The ABCFP and APEGBC have also responded to the recommendation, and are working on developing joint guidance for their respective members. In addition, the associations have discussed the report with government and both parties have committed to work together in meeting the Board’s recommendations. The responses have been posted on the Board’s website with the original report.

The Board recognizes it will take government time to complete this work and so the Board will monitor progress of implementation and has asked both parties to provide an update in 2015.

New Projects in the Works

Forest and Range Evaluation Program (FREP) Review

This special report will review the effectiveness of the FREP program in implementing continuous improvement and adaptive management as the foundation for the FRPA legislative framework. FREP is led by FLNR in partnership with the Ministry of Environment. The Forest and Range Practices Act and Regulations provide for a results-based, forest and range management framework in British Columbia that includes professional reliance as a foundational principal. Under the results-based model, government evaluates the effectiveness of forest and range practices in achieving management objectives, including sustainable resource management, through this program. FREP is a long-term commitment by government to:

• Assess the effectiveness of forest and range legislation in achieving stewardship objectives
• Determine whether forest and range practices are achieving government’s objectives, with a focus on biological function and social values (visual quality and cultural heritage)
• Identify forest and range resource value status and trends, and
• Identify opportunities for continued improvement of British Columbia’s forest and range practices, policies and legislation.

The purpose of this special report is to determine the effectiveness of the FREP program in implementing continuous improvement and adaptive management as a foundation for the FRPA legislative framework. Specifically, this evaluation will:

• Describe the role and intent for the FREP program within the FRPA framework.
• Describe the program design.
• Evaluate FREP implementation (in its design context) to determine if it is meeting, or likely to meet the expected program outcomes and fulfill its role within the FRPA framework.
• If appropriate, provide recommendations to improve FREP design and/or delivery.

Board staff are gathering information on FREP’s design and implementation, including interviews with those responsible for program administration and implementation, those intended to utilize the products of the program, and those who are responsible for resourcing the program. A special report on the effectiveness of the FREP program will be completed by next summer.

Managing Forest Fuels in the WUI

The Board is investigating how much progress communities have made in reducing forest fuels in the wildland-urban interface, following up on a report published in February 2010.

The earlier report examined fuel reduction treatments at 50 sites across the province, and included interviews with local governments, the First Nations Emergency Services Society, the BC Wildfire Management

Branch, and consultants working on fuel treatment projects. It noted that good progress had been made, but much work remained to be done.

This new investigation is revisiting some of those same sites to assess how effective the fuel treatments were. More recent treatment sites are also being examined and interviews with communities, government staff and fire experts are being conducted to assess fuel reduction progress over the last five years and to identify any new issues or barriers to fuel reduction progress.

The board is seeking input from communities as part of the project, as well as interviewing government staff, municipal government representatives and fuel management specialists.

Timber Removal in the Mountain Caribou Habitat

As part of its 2007 recovery implementation plan, to return mountain caribou populations to pre-1995 levels, the BC government issued nine ungulate winter range orders (Orders), over more than two million hectares of Crown land, under the Government Actions Regulation of FRPA. The Orders contain special restrictions for industrial and commercial recreational activities within mountain caribou habitat.

Despite the recognition and protection provided to caribou habitat by the Orders, industrial and commercial users may need to remove timber to facilitate their operations. These activities may include timber harvesting and road clearing, oil and gas and mineral exploration, hydro projects, heli-pad construction for landing and pick-up zones, and glading of ski runs. The Orders dictate when and how timber can be removed for these activities. Timber removal that cannot comply with the Orders requires an exemption under section 92(1) of the Forest Planning and Practices Regulation.

In cooperation with staff of the FLNR, the Board is assessing the level of timber removal within one of the areas covered by the nine Orders, to determine the extent of timber removal and the level of compliance with the Order.

The final report should be released to the public in late Spring 2015.

Wildfire Act Appeal Hearing

A private citizen was clearing his land in May 2009. Wanting to dispose of a large root wad from a tree he removed, he lit a fire to burn it. Even though it was only May, the fire escaped and quickly spread to nearby grass and brush. By the time provincial firefighting crews were able to put it out, the wildfire had burned 140 hectares. Luckily, mostly grass and brush burned and no buildings were destroyed. There was an investigation of the fire and the forest district manager held a hearing, where Citizen X appeared. A while later, the citizen received a letter from the government ordering him to pay over $850,000—the total costs of fighting the fire. He appealed the order to the Forest Appeals Commission, arguing that the government misinterpreted the Wildfire Act—which allows the minister to order payment of fire-control costs—and that the process in reaching the decision to issue the order was not fair.

The Forest Practices Board participated in the appeal to the Commission as a third party. One of the Board’s fundamental purposes is to encourage fair and equitable application of legislation and it will join appeals if it believes there are issues of broad public interest involved. In this case, the Board was interested in whether or not the minister has discretion in making an order for fire control costs. While the appeal involved a number of issues, it was the discretion in ordering costs that the Board weighed in on.

Fire control costs are calculated based on wages of employees who fight a fire, costs of aircraft, fire retardant and other factors described in the Wildfire Regulation. The Wildfire Act allows the minister, in certain circumstances, to order a person to pay the government’s fire control costs. The Board interprets this to mean that the minister may order someone to pay only part of the costs in some circumstances. For example, if a person does not cause a fire but simply contributes in some way to its spread, or where the government did not exercise appropriate care in fighting the fire. The government, on the other hand, interprets the legislation to mean that the minister can order a person to pay all of the costs, or none of the costs, but nothing in-between.

The Forest Appeals Commission heard the appeal in late November and will issue a written decision once it has decided the matter.

People

Board Membership Changes

Three long time Board members completed 6-year terms at the end of November and stepped down from the Board. Andrea Lyall, Michael Nash and Dave Patterson each left their distinct mark on the Board. Andrea fostered a deepened sense of awareness of aboriginal interests in forest management in the province. Mike Nash brought the public’s interest to bear on many Board discussions, as well as fostering strong connections with fish, wildlife and outdoor recreation interests across the north. Dave’s knowledge and understanding of the roots of the Forest and Range Practices Act and industry’s market and competitiveness concerns will certainly be difficult to replace.

Bill Dumont, RPF, has been reappointed for an additional 2-year term and we are very pleased to have Bill’s continued passion and commitment to forest stewardship at the table. Newly appointed members Marlene Machmer, R.P. Bio, and Angeline Nyce, LLB, RPF, joined the Board as of November 30, 2014, for two-year terms.

Marlene is a resident of Nelson, where she founded Pandion Ecological Research Ltd. (1990), an environmental consulting firm. Marlene is an ecologist with 25 years broad-based experience in ecosystems, habitats, species at risk, environmental impact assessment, management, inventory, restoration and stewardship in BC.

Angeline is a lawyer practicing in the areas of Natural Resources Law and Aboriginal Law and First Nations Legal Issues, with a focus on sustainable resource development, integrated resource management and land use issues. She is also a Registered Professional Forester and has worked in the forestry industry for tenure holders and contractors in the areas of forest resources planning, operations and silviculture.