As part of Council’s function to enforce forest practices standards, an annual inspection program is carried out to measure owner performance in relation to compliance requirements. Owner compliance rate is 99%.
The Managed Forest Council (Council) is the independent provincial agency responsible for administering the forest practices component of the Managed Forest Program, which includes the protection of key public environmental values:
- Soil conservation
- Water quality
- Fish habitat
- Reforestation
- Critical wildlife habitat
The Private Managed Forest Land Council Regulation (Council Regulation) provides clear requirements for owners, contractors, employees and agents with respect to the key public environmental values. The legislation is a results-based regulatory model that allows forest owners to develop and use management strategies most appropriate to the scale and location of their operations. Council monitors and enforces those requirements.
One of the mechanisms used to measure performance in relation to the compliance requirements is Council’s annual inspection program. Council has a policy to inspect all managed forests at least once every five years, as well as to inspect new managed forests within three years of entrance to the program. Managed forests may be inspected on a more frequent basis where potential environmental risk has been identified, such as higher levels of operations in proximity to water intakes or fish habitat.
623 inspections have been completed as part of the regular inspection program since 2007. As part of these inspections, 18 potential issues were identified by inspectors for follow-up:
- Nine of the 18 potential issues were followed up with field reviews. The forest practices were confirmed to be in compliance with the Council Regulation.
- Council entered into Consent Agreements with three owners for non-compliance with reforestation obligations; penalties and remediation orders were part of the agreements.
- Council determined three owners contravened reforestation obligations; penalties and remediation orders were levied accordingly.
- Council determined one owner and the owner’s contractor contravened riparian retention requirements and caused material adverse effect to fish habitat. Penalties and remediation orders were levied.
- One potential issue is in the determination stage. The determination will be posted on the Compliance Decisions webpage when available.
- One potential issue will be followed up with a field review and investigated further if warranted.
In addition to the regular inspection program, other field reviews and site inspections are carried out in response to reported landslides and public inquiries. The Compliance Decisions webpage includes three non-compliance determinations made between 2006 and 2013 that resulted from forest practices compliance issues identified outside the regular inspection program.
RESOURCES
- 2019 Inspection Report
- Field Practices Assessments web page
- Compliance Decisions web page
- May 2019 Compliance Decisions blog post
- Private Managed Forest Land legislation, including the Private Managed Forest Land Act and Council Regulation