Appendix 1: Legislation

The main statutes for which the Forest Service has responsibility are as follows:

Forest and Range Practices Act and Forest Practices Code Act of BC

In January 2004, the Forest and Range Practices Act and its regulations were brought into force. The Act provides for a transition period in which operations under the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations are allowed to continue in accordance with that Act and its regulations. By January 2005, all forestry operations will be solely under the Forest and Range Practices Act.

The Forest and Range Practices Act is less process oriented and more results specific, and it will enable the Forest Service to:

• Establish stewardship standards for forest and range practices;
• Ensure that the legislated requirements for sustainable forest practices are followed;
• Meet the requirements for higher level plan objectives established through strategic planning; and
• Carry out compliance and enforcement activities to ensure stewardship standards are met.

Forest Act

The Forest Act provides the Forest Service with the authority to:

• Determine an allowable annual cut for Crown land in each timber supply area and for each tree farm licence, woodlot licence and community forest agreement area,
• Enter into and administer agreements that authorize timber harvesting,
• Establish requirements for timber marking, scaling and marine log salvage,
• Determine the amount of stumpage to be paid on Crown timber and levy waste assessments for merchantable Crown timber that a licensee chooses not to harvest,
• Levy annual rents,
• Require Crown timber to be used or manufactured in the province unless exempted by order in council, and
• Undertake or authorize road construction, maintenance or use.

Major changes to the Forest Act during 2003/04 included:

• Enabling a move to defined forest area management;
• Implementing a market-based pricing system to generate appropriate revenues to the government;
• Removing restrictions on transfers and consolidation and subdivision of tenures;
• Removal of appurtenancy and processing requirements from replaceable licences, and from non-replaceable licences which have been issued for more than 10 years;
• Reforming the cut control provisions to eliminate annual harvest requirements, five-year minimum harvest requirements and the ability to carry forward unharvested volumes; and
• Establishing BC Timber Sales on a commercial footing.

Ministry of Forests Act

The Ministry of Forests Act continues the Forest Service and provides it with a broad and general mandate to:

• Encourage maximum resource productivity;
• Manage resources responsibly to achieve the greatest short and long-term social benefits;
• Practice planned, integrated resource management and use;
• Encourage a globally competitive forest industry; and
• Assert the financial interest of the government.

Range Act

The Range Act authorizes the Forest Service to allocate and administer the use of range resources by the livestock industry through grazing and hay-cutting agreements that provide revenue to the government.

Wildfire Act

In November 2003 a new Wildfire Act was introduced to replace the protection provisions currently in the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. The Act only received first reading and will be reintroduced in the spring 2004 legislative session. The new Act and its regulations will be fully in place for the 2005 fire season.

The new Act will continue the government's right to carry out fire control operations in order to protect public safety and to act in the public interest, including continued support and assistance to local governments, and to enter onto any land, public or private, to carry out fire control operations in that role. The Act will also enable government to enter into cost-sharing arrangements and to have the monies received contribute to fire suppression activities.

Forestry Revitalization Act

The Forestry Revitalization Act is an integral part of government's forestry revitalization plan. The Act takes back allowable annual cut from companies with total holdings of tree farm licences, replaceable forest licences, and replaceable timber sale licences in excess of 200,000 cubic metres, and enables government to identify where this volume will come from. The forestry revitalization plan will open up opportunities for new participants in both forest management and wood processing sectors, communities, First Nations, woodlot owners and entrepreneurs, creating a more diversified and innovative forest sector that is better able to provide employment and wealth.

The Forestry Revitalization Act provides for one-time funding of $275 million for the transition from the old to the new, stronger forest economy. Forest companies will be fairly compensated for the legal harvesting rights removed from their allowable annual cuts; $200 million has been allocated for this purpose. Forest workers and contractors will have access to a $75 million trust fund for transition assistance.