I encourage all readers to provide feedback to the Board. Informal comments about a recent report or how the Board carries out its work are welcomed and appreciated.
Whether you prefer to comment on our Facebook page, Tweet us, or use more private means such as email or phone, your perspective is important to us. Although the Forest Practices Board carefully guards its independence, we do value and benefit from what others have to say.
We’re looking forward to a busy fall and winter. As usual, our staff will be compiling findings from summer fieldwork and Board members will be reviewing their reports. We will also be looking at whether the accumulated work of the Board’s last few years’ work reveals any trends that should inform future government forest and range management policy decisions.
The 2012 audit season is well underway, with half the audits done or in the planning stage. This year we are undertaking 10 audits across the province. So far, we have been to the Selkirk, Central Cariboo, Kamloops, North Island-Central Coast and Chilliwack districts.
Our efforts to engage a broader audience through social media is slowly paying off. Our Facebook audience is growing and, following public requests, we have joined Twitter and now send out our announcements through Tweets, in addition to Facebook posts and our e-mail distribution lists.
Look for a new video about the Board to appear on the web soon.
We recently revised and updated our old video and the new version provides a quick and interesting overview of what the Board is and the role it plays in the sustainable management of BC’s forests. Share it with friends, family, acquaintances…anyone who doesn’t know about us yet!
The Board’s September meeting will take place in Prince George from Sept 11-13. The Board will be holding a strategic planning session to set its priorities for the coming year or two, and will also take the opportunity to go out in the field with forestry practitioners. We are looking forward to touching base with the Prince George forestry community.
Recent reports continue to highlight the effects that can accumulate from different activities on the land. For example, our report on Salvage Logging and Water Flows at Cooper Creek, and Aspen Logging: Grazing Conflict in the Dawson Creek TSA.
Staff from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations attended the Board’s March meeting and provided an update on their thinking about the issue of resource objectives and cumulative effects of resource development.
In response to that discussion, the Board wrote a letter to the Ministry to once again draw its attention our 2011 report on cumulative effects management, and the need for a land management framework that is designed to meet the objectives society has for values on the land.
The Board’s audit staff have begun testing an exciting new initiative to manage audit data digitally through mapping and use of iPads.
All of the audit information obtained through the auditee and the government data warehouse can now easily be uploaded to an iPad. This includes maps, site plans, assessments and all our required audit forms. With this information and using the electronic map and the iPad’s internal GPS, navigating to the sites is quick and easy and it enables instant completion of our audit checklists in the field. Pictures and a map of the current location can also be directly attached to the field form and saved as a PDF file. At the end of the day, completed samples are uploaded to the Board’s computer server for review and safekeeping.
This initiative saves time and effort on the part of the licensee being audited and the Board’s audit staff in navigating and completing the paperwork part of an audit. To date the iPads have been used on three audits and there are plans to continue testing this field season.
Farewell to our Executive Director, Fred ParkerAt the end of June, we bid a fond farewell to Fred Parker. For more than 10 years, he competently guided staff, Board members and three different chairs through innumerable challenges, and has left an enduring stamp on the Board’s work.
Perhaps one of Fred’s greatest assets has been the relationships he built and maintained with a wide variety of individuals with an interest in the forest. People from all levels and perspectives have taken him into their confidence and benefited from his thoughtful advice. His straightforward approach to issues and broad knowledge of BC’s forests and forest communities has served the Board and the people of BC extremely well.
We are pleased to welcome Dave Clarke to the Board staff, to provide leadership and management experience for the organization.
Dave has over 30 years experience in the industry and his enthusiasm and expertise are a welcome addition.
Over the next while, Dave will be making the rounds and introducing himself to our stakeholders and we encourage you to give him a call or set up an introductory meeting.
The government-appointed MTTSR committee has been travelling the province this summer gathering community and public input on how to increase the mid-term timber supply. The Board has not made a submission to the committee directly, as this is outside of our mandate. However, we have drawn the committee’s attention to some recent Board work that helped inform their deliberations on this serious issue.
In particular, three of our reports Conserving Old Growth Forests in BC, How Much of British Columbia's Forest is Not Satisfactorily Restocked? and Reporting the Results of Forestry Activities, are relevant to the topic of mid-term timber supply and future forest condition. We are now reading the committee’s report and may share our thoughts on their recommendations, to the extent they affect future forest practices.
