Section A: Forests and Range

Core Business Areas and Structure

Core Business Areas

1. Protection Against Fire and Pests

The ministry manages wildfire to protect natural resource inventories and investments in the forest land-base. Our forest fire response is primarily focused on protecting lives and government forest assets, particularly timber. Without fire protection, some 500 000 hectares of productive forest could be lost annually costing the province billions of dollars in potential direct revenue.

Forest Protection also includes the detection and management of insect pest outbreaks on areas under the responsibility of the province. Of key significance are bark beetles and gypsy moth infestations. Other defoliators, endemic pests and outbreaks of local significance are also managed.

2. Forest Stewardship

The functions in this core business area are fundamental to ensuring sound environmental stewardship of forest resources to ensure that they are used in a sustainable way. This in turn supports global recognition of environmental stewardship for British Columbia and British Columbia companies by ensuring that an appropriate regulatory framework is in place. This can also provide a foundation for forest certification of company operations.

Forest stewardship includes the regulation of forest practices, timber supply planning and AAC determination, applied research, and forest gene resource management.

3. Range Stewardship and Grazing

Focuses on ensuring sound environmental stewardship of the range resource through the regulation of range practices and forage supply management. Primary activities include allocating, administering and managing range use, evaluating rangeland health and effectiveness of range practices, restoring degraded rangeland ecosystems, and promoting and fostering rangeland use and management. The ministry champions integrated provincial responses or strategies to address serious threats such as invasive plants, land alienations, recreational use, forest encroachment on grasslands, in-growth/infilling in dry forest ecosystems, Mountain Pine Beetle impacts on natural range barriers and other range related epidemics. All of these activities are aimed at maintaining or improving the health of the beef cattle industry in the province.

4. Compliance and Enforcement

This core business includes all activities related to upholding BC's laws for protecting the province's forest and range resources under MOF's jurisdiction including:

• enforcing environmental practices, results and strategies for forest and range management carried out both by the government and by forest and range tenure holders under the Forest Practices Code until December 31, 2005 and under the new Forest and Range Practices Act starting January 2004;
• enforcing regulations to minimize fire, pests, and unauthorized activities that threaten the province's forest and range resources;
• enforcing rules governing the use of forest recreation sites and trails;
• enforcing the revenue and pricing legislation that govern removal and transportation of timber, marking, scaling, marine log salvage, etc.; and
• combating "forest crimes" (theft, arson, mischief) which are a significant drain on provincial revenue and a significant risk to other environmental, social and economic values.

5. Forest Investment

The Forest Investment Account (FIA) is a forest-sector investment model, led by government, established to deliver the province's forest investment in an accountable, efficient manner and to assist government in developing a globally recognized, sustainably managed forest industry. Investment dollars have been directed to activities on public land — enhanced forestry, watershed restoration and resource inventories — and marketing and research that supports sustainable forest management and increased allowable annual cuts. Administration of most FIA activities is provided by private-sector firms rather than by government staff. Private sector firms:

• accept investment schedule proposals and confirm that they constitute an optimum mix of expenditures to promote sustainable forest management;
• ensure that each proposed activity is eligible for FIA funding;
• provide funds to successful proponents and track project delivery; and
• are responsible for performance and financial auditing. Table 1 lists these programs with their administrators.

FIA Programs that support the Ministry's Sustainable Forest Resources goal at the provincial level include the Forest Science and Crown Land Use Planning programs. At a more local level funding is allocated to tree farm license holders and certain tenure holders in each timber supply area under the Land Base Investment Program, and to woodlot license holders and holders of a community forest agreement under the Small Tenures program. Activities under the latter two programs include resource inventories, stand establishment and treatment, and restoration and rehabilitation.

Table 1. Administration, Planning and Reporting Responsibilities for FIA Programs

Under the goal of Sustainable Forest Benefits, the FIA promotes investment in product development and international marketing activities. Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd. (FII) administers both of these programs at the provincial level.

The Forest Investment Core Business addresses overall coordination and administration of the funding and agreements with third party administrators, as part of achieving the goal of being an Effective and Responsive Forest Manager.

6. Pricing and Selling Timber

The Forest Service has a major role in ensuring that the citizens of British Columbia benefit from commercial use of their forests. This relies on a strong forest economy and a competitive forest sector, which in turn is dependent on a fair pricing system, effective allocation and administration of timber harvesting rights, and a safe and cost effective road infrastructure to access timber.

Core business activities to achieve this goal include timber tenure administration, timber pricing (tied to BCTS activities), scaling, market access activities, maintaining a forest road infrastructure and First Nations consultation.

7. BC Timber Sales

The Forest Service has a core responsibility to provide British Columbians with benefits from the commercial use of public forests. The BC Timber Sales organization operating independently from the field services division contributes to this responsibility by developing and offering through auction a significant portion of the provincial allowable annual cut. In doing so the division generates pricing and cost data to drive market-based pricing on the Coast, earns substantial net revenue for the Crown, and provides competitive access to timber for industry. BC Timber Sales meets all requirements of the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Forest Practices Code, including achievement of reforestation obligations.

8. Executive and Support Services

Focuses on corporate governance and service delivery activities in support of all ministry functions. Activities are structured within key frameworks for policy and legislation development, performance management, and internal audit and evaluation. Executive, regional and district management, and staff in the Corporate Services Division play a key role in delivery of these functions.

Support service activities include finance and administration, human resources, central infrastructure management, Freedom-of-Information, records management, continuous improvement and the application of information technology. These services are delivered at all levels of the organization — branch, region and district. While focused at supporting internal management and employees, they also serve industry and the general public.