Section 5 - Strategic Forest Management Issues

Question 1

What changes are expected to happen to our forests due to climate change?

Answer 1

• Changes to forest productivity and timber supply
• Challenges with maladaptation of tree species (natural regen and planted)
• Road and bridge failures (i.e. changes to hydrology, storms increasing, etc.)
• Shorter seasons for planting
• Loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat
• Loss or movement of jobs

Question 2

What is the principle cause of climate change in BC?

Answer 2

The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Question 3

Give some forestry based examples of how carbon is released into the amotsphere

Answer 3

Carbon returns to the atmosphere primarily through respiration of the living vegetation and decay of dead biomass.
- burning of the forest quickly transfers carbon from the living biomass to the atmosphere, deadwood and soils
- carbon is taken out of the ecosystem through harvesting or fuel wood collection
- replacing buildings, buying disposable furniture, and burning can accelerate carbon cycling
- forested land converted to other types of land use, release of carbon to the atmosphere due to decay is greater than the uptake of carbon by plants that are part of the new land use (deforested sites becomes carbon sources to the atmosphere for years)

Question 4

What are the goals of the MFLNR Climate Change Strategy 2015-2020

Answer 4

• Manage climate change as a core part of MFLNRO’s business
• MFLRNO will increase the use of climate relevant science, data and knowledge to better understand the environmental, social and economic implications of climate change on core business
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation is integrated into program areas, operations, resource management decisions and actions

Question 5

What is the BC Government’s GHG emissions target?

Answer 5

Reduce the province’s GHG emissions by at least 33% below 2007 levels by 2020 and 80% below by 2050

Question 6

What are the goals of the MFLRNO Forest Carbon Strategy 2016-2020?

Answer 6

• Enhance the capacity of BC’s public forests as net carbon sinks
• Increase the contribution of forest products to mitigating climate change
• Increase collaboration with FN, communities and stakeholders
• Research to inform policy development

Question 7

Name some forestry activities that aim to contribute to the Province’s GHG reduction targets

Answer 7

• post disturbance forest stand rehabilitation
• increasing residual fibre utilization
• fertilization and high density planting

Question 8

What is BC’s Wood First initiative?

Answer 8

Designed to create a culture of wood in buildings. Using more wood will help strengthen the province’s forest-dependent communities and assist in meeting climate change goals.
- wood building materials have smaller carbon-footprints than concrete, plastic or metal alternatives

Question 9

How has the forest industry made strides in reducing emissions?

Answer 9

Through:
- increasing energy efficiency in milling operations
- the use of biomass to substitute for fossil fuels
- expansion of combined heat and power for example

Question 10

What is the Forest Carbon Offset Methodology?

Answer 10

Developed by the Government of BC to guide the design, development, quantification and verification of BC forest carbon offsets.
- the protocol ensures that forest carbon offsets developed in BC meet domestic and international quality standards

Question 11

How is legislation, regulations and standards adapting to climate change?

Answer 11

• Under FRPA the Chief Forester’s Standards for Seed Use (April 2004) were amended to support seed use decision that move suitable seed sources in the direction of climate change
• Various sections of FPPR enables practitioners to propose innovative stocking standards that address climate change

Question 12

When planning, what can forest and natural resource professionals do in regards to climate change?

Answer 12

• avoid unduly simplifying stands and landscapes
• use best available science, policy, guidance and tools to inform your management practices
• become familiar with projected changes in climate and ecosystem shifts in the areas where you practice
• incorporate climate change adaptation and mitigation into forest planning at the stand, landscape and management unit level

Question 13

When harvesting, what can forest and natural resource professionals do in regards to climate change?

Answer 13

• include climate based stocking standards in FSPs
• promote or demote tree species in accordance with climate based stocking standards
• develop forest harvest patterns and use silvicultural systems that generate, maintain or enhance a diversity of stand ages, species and genetic compositions over landscapes
• vary the shape and size of clearcuts, and leave patches and stream buffers

Question 14

When regenerating, what can forest and natural resource professionals do in regards to climate change?

Answer 14

• include climate based stocking standards in FSPs
• Promote or demote tree species in accordance with climate based stocking standards
• Reduce regeneration delays
• Avoid practices that generate uniform post-disturbance stands that may be highly vulnerable to future disturbances
• Plant resistant species and genotypes

Question 15

When is come to forest health and productivity, what can forest and natural resource professionals do in regards to climate change?

Answer 15

• Prevent the introduction, remove or control undesirable invasive plants
• Undertake sanitation cutting in stands already infected
• Control root disease by removing infected stumps

Question 16

What is the BC Forest Safety Council (BCFSC)? What do they believe?

Answer 16

• A not-for-profit society, was created as a direct result of the findings of the provincial government’s Forest Safety Task Force in 2004.
• They work at the direction of industry to identify, develop, implement and continually improve initiatives that will secure improved safety performance in forest operations** (RG16.4)

They believe:
- all forestry fatalities and injuries are preventable
- safety of forestry workers is an overriding priority
- safety excellence is key to long term success
- safety is good business

Question 17

Which recommendations from the Auditor General’s report would be of interest to forest professionals (BC Forest Safety Council Report on Safety)?

Answer 17

• Recommendation 8: robust safety planning in all aspects of forest operations should be made mandatory by the Ministry of Forests and Range
• Recommendation 11: The ministry of Forests and Range use its powers to enforce safe use of resource roads
• Recommendation 9: The ministry of forests and range seekk two amendments to the Forest Act (1. make forest worker safety and explicit objective of the ABCFP, 2. include in the definition of “Practice of Professional Forestry” explicit mention of competence in forest worker protection

Question 18

What is the role of forest professionals with regards to safety?

Answer 18

• Have proper regard in all work for the safety of others (Bylaw 11.3.10 the Code of Ethics)

Question 19

What are the responsibilities of forest professionals with regards to safety?

Answer 19

• start safety at the planning stage (is the plan safe to implement)
• should clearly understand their responsibilities if functioning as supervisor or on behalf of the employer or owner (make workers aware of known hazards)
• always be aware of the WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation 26.2 (generally states that we are all responsible for ensuring forestry operations are planned and conducted in a manner that ensures the health and safety of workers
• members maintain safe work practices and consider the safety of workers and the others in the practice of professional forestry (Bylaw 12.7.1)

Question 20

Where is safety mentioned in the legislation governing forestry in BC?

Answer 20

• Code of Ethics and Bylaws of the ABCFP
• Occupational Health and Safety Regulation - Part 26 - Forestry Operations and Similar Activities
• Bill C-45 (Section 217.1 in the Criminal Code)

Question 21

What types of forest tenures and sources of wood fibre exists in BC for non-sawlog purposes? **(RG 16.5)

Answer 21

• Licence acquisition - purchase a forest tenure from an existing tenure holder
• Partnership agreement - partner with existing tenure holder in the newly proposed non-sawlog venture
• Partnership with FN - FN have numerous harvest opportunities throughout BC
• Fibre supply agreement - the agreement specifies the terms upon which the parties agree to supply and purchase wood fibre from each other
• New licence offerings - license opportunities are offered competitively through BCTS

Question 22

What types of fibre are available for wood fibre recovery in BC?

Answer 22

• mountain pine beetle stands (viable source for non-sawlog purposes, up to 20 years)
• mill residue (hog fuel consisting of bark and damaged pieces of wood, chips ground wood, etc)
• roadside accumulations
• healthy stands of timber (tenure offering targeting low quality stand)

Question 23

Name the types of tenures available for non-sawlog purposes

Answer 23

• Direct award NRFL for bioenergy supply contracts (20 year term, non replaceable, non extendable, targets poor quality stands with hauling distance from bioenergy facility)
• Restricted Forest Licence (nonreplaceable, competitively offered)
• Supplemental Forest Licence (form of restricted forest licence that is designed for operators of timber processing facilities that may only need to harvest timber occasionally if their normal source of fibre is interrupted - all other existing sources of fibre must have first been exhausted)
• Fibre Recovery Process (component of the Forest Fibre Action Plan, outlines various protocols that will lead to increased utilization of lower quality fibre that remains on a bock after primary harvesting is complete)** (RG16.5)
• Fibre Recovery Tenures (Fibre Supply Licence to Cut and Fibre Forestry Licence to Cut, to help ensure better flow of roadside and landing debris, authorize processing on site)
• Wood Pellet Industry

Question 24

What is the difference between a Fibre Supply LTC and a Fibre Forestry LTC?

Answer 24

Fibre Supply LTC
- area based licence covering a large geographic area which will enable operators to remove and process felled timber left behind by the primary harvester
- no AAC or volume guaranteed
- simply granting right of first refusal if fibre is available in the area

Fibre Forestry LTC
- gives holder similar rights to Fibre Supply LTC, but for specific areas only
- usually short term when demand is sporadic and not for large geographic areas

Question 25

What are non timber forest resources (NTFRs)?

Answer 25

A term describing forest plants (including fungi) harvested for a variety of uses, other than for timber.
- include wild edibles (mushrooms, berries, roots, etc), floral greenery (salal, boxwood, cedar), natural health products, restoration and landscaping, arts and crafts

Question 26

What is challenging about developing effective NTFR policy?

Answer 26

• refers to hundreds of species in various locations
• some may attract many numbers of harvesters, some are found in specific areas, or some are harvested much less
• difficult to track/manage access to the forest and associated cost
• lack of quality, long term data outlining the volumes harvested, the values, and sustainable harvest levels
• lack of trust between government and NTFR harvesters

Question 27

Where are NTFRs found in legislation?

Answer 27

• FRPA sec. 168 provides for the creation of regulations respecting NFTRs
• FRPA sec. 60 allows an official or peace officer to inspect any vehicle transporting botanical forest products
• no regulations have been enabled through this legislation, no active direct management
• maintaining habitat indirectly benefits NTFRs
• also may be included under FRPA through cultural heritage values

Question 28

Which tenures allow for the inclusion of NFTRs?

Answer 28

FN Woodland tenures and Community Forest Agreement tenures are the only forest tenure that legislatively allows the inclusion of NFTRs within the tenure document.
- The right to manage and charge fees for NFTRs
- not exclusive rights and not automatically included in a licence agreement