B.C. forests minister introduces bill to overhaul forest practices
British Columbia's forests minister has introduced a bill to amend the Forest and Range Practices Act, saying it would “reshape” forest management in the province.
Katrine Conroy told the legislature on Wednesday the proposed changes align forestry legislation with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act passed in late 2019 and introduce “new tools to establish resilient forests.”
“The vision is for a forest sector that delivers higher value from our forests, with secure, long-term jobs and healthier ecosystems,” she later told a news conference.
Past policies “left too much control of the forest operations in the hands of the private sector” and limited the province's ability to fight climate change, protect old-growth forests and share benefits with Indigenous and local communities, she said.
“We'll put government back in the driver's seat of land-management decisions in partnership with First Nations, including where forest roads are built,” Conroy said.
“The ability for the public and communities to view and have input on harvesting plans has been limited. It's time to increase transparency,” she added.
Conroy said the proposed changes were “long overdue.”
A new forest landscape planning framework is expected to be implemented over time, fully replacing the current forest stewardship planning system, she said.
The new system of 10-year forest landscape plans developed in partnership with First Nations, local communities and other stakeholders will prioritize forest health, replacing the stewardship plans developed largely by the forest industry, she said.
With the proposed changes, companies with harvesting licences would be required to develop and submit their operational plans for the minister's approval, and they must meet the requirements of the broader landscape-level plans, Conroy said.
The landscape and operations plans would be posted publicly, she added.
The province has been working with the forest industry on the changes, which are expected to come into effect through regulation over the next year, Conroy said.
The B.C. Council of Forest Industries supports “modernizing and further strengthening forest policy to ensure we have a strong, sustainable, and competitive forest sector,” president Susan Yurkovich said in a statement.
“This includes continuously enhancing frameworks for engagement and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, communities, labour and industry.”
John Betts, the executive director of the Western Forestry Contractor's Association, said in the government statement announcing the changes that the legislation will allow the province to better manage forest resources for both climate change and the cumulative effects of resource development.
“For our reforestation sector, it means we will be managing stands and implementing forest practices more sensitive to the complexities and dynamics of how our forest and range ecosystems connect over the landscape and time.”
The province previously released a series of far-ranging forest “policy intentions,” including diversifying the ownership of harvesting rights and establishing a framework for compensation in the event those rights are redistributed.
About half of B.C.'s forest tenures are held by five major companies, and the plan released in June included the goal to increase the tenures for Indigenous Peoples, local communities and smaller operators.
Conroy said the province has been working to implement recommendations from an independent review of B.C.'s old-growth forest management released last year, including the deferral of logging in ecosystems at risk of irreversible loss.
B.C. announced the temporary deferral of harvesting across 196,000 hectares of old-growth forests in nine different areas in fall 2020. In June, the government approved a request from three Vancouver Island First Nations to defer old-growth logging across about 2,000 hectares of the Fairy Creek and central Walbran areas.
The province is in talks with Indigenous rights and titleholders over old-growth management and additional deferrals are expected soon, Conroy said.
Further changes to the Forest Act are expected later, she added. That act, separate from the Forest and Range Practices Act, governs the annual allowable cut.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.