British Columbia's decade-old Forest and Range Practices Act, aimed at reducing cost and complexity for industry while maintaining high environmental standards, is effective in most situations but could be improved, says Forest Practices Board

Aimee Bellah

VICTORIA, British Columbia , May 7, 2014 (press release) – The ten-year-old Forest and Range Practices Act, aimed at reducing cost and complexity for industry while maintaining high environmental standards, 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, according to a Forest Practices Board report issued today.

“Now that 10 years have passed, we felt it was timely to inform the public about how well the act is working, based on our audits and investigations,” said board chair Tim Ryan. “We have published over 250 reports as part of our oversight of industry practices and government enforcement of this legislation. That body of work says a lot about what’s working well and where the issues are.”

“Our work shows that forest practices generally comply with the legislation, subject to the recent increase in non-compliances we have been finding in audits and investigations,” said Ryan. “But the determination of whether those practices achieve government’s objectives is still a work in progress.”

The report provides observations and ratings for the components of the legislative framework concluding that:

Government objectives for forest and range values have not been fully established, and some are unclear.
Forest stewardship plans required under FRPA have limited usefulness for either planning or the public engagement they are supposed to encourage.
Some forest practice requirements are not clear.
Government compliance and enforcement is not as thorough as it once was.
Monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of practices could do more to encourage improvement to the regulations and operational performance.

The report also includes advice on what needs to be done to achieve the intent of the legislation and ensure B.C. has sound forest and range practices that warrant public confidence.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board investigates and reports on current forestry and range issues and makes recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.

The report is available on the board website at: www.fpb.gov.bc.ca