Forest Act
The Forest Act is one of
two main pieces of legislation that govern logging on BC’s publicly owned
forest lands (the other being the Forest Practices Code).
The Act was written in a time
when BC’s forests seemed limitless and the primary concern of government was
making sure that they were logged in a manner that gave the best return to
government and to society. To achieve
this goal, the Forest Act:
·
Allocates logging rights on
public lands to different “tenure holders”, subject to conditions designed to
ensure that the public receives some value from the logging;
·
Sets a level of timber which the tenure holders are
required to cut, known as Annual Allowable Cut;
and
·
Creates a series of land-use
designations related to areas where logging can or should occur.
The Forest Act is
administered by the Ministry
of Forests. The Forest
Act focuses on timber production, and balancing the economic and social
interests of logging companies and the province, with little regard for
environmental values, and most environmentalists view it skeptically.
The key focus of the Forest Act
is to ensure that logging happens, so as to benefit the provincial economy,
while at the same time making sure that the logging companies don’t log
everything and run – that the cut continues over time. This goal is achieved in part through
long-term licence agreements, but also through the setting of Annual Allowable
Cut, or AAC.
Under the Forest Act the Chief
Forester, an official with the Ministry of Forests, is required to set the
AAC for each “Timber Supply Area” or “Tree Farm License” (areas in which logging rights are
granted under the Act). The factors the
Chief Forester should consider in setting the AAC are set out in section 8 of the Act.
The term Allowable Annual Cut
is somewhat misleading, because while the AAC does determine the maximum that a
logging company can log, the logging company is also required to log
close to that amount (Section 64 of the Forest
Act). This was originally intended to
ensure that revenue for government and jobs for loggers were relatively
stable. However, if the Allowable
Annual Cut is set at a level that is unsustainable, or which does not recognize
the value of non-timber components of the ecosystem, the logging companies will
both be able and required to log at a level that harms environmental resources
in the long-term.
The Allowable Annual Cut is set
by the Chief Forester. For many years
it has been set at a level above what can ultimately be sustained, on the
grounds that a higher level of cut will allow the province to convert
“decadent” old growth forest into younger, timber-producing stands. These levels have put huge pressures on
non-timber resources, many of which depend on the characteristics of the
old-growth forests that the AAC presumes will be eliminated. The current government has pledged to
further increase the AAC.
The AAC is determined after a
“timber supply review”, usually conducted once every 5 years for each timber
supply area or tree farm licence. In a
timber supply review the Chief Forester’s staff compile information about the
factors that could require a reduction or an increase of the AAC, and make a
recommendation for what the AAC should be.
The public is then given the opportunity to comment on the information
and recommendations before the Chief Forester makes a final decision. For more information on this process see the
BCEN’s Citizen’s Guide to Allowable Annual Cut.
Related Guide Pages:
·
Forestry.
·
Forestry – Timber Tenure.
·
Forestry – Provincial Forest Lands.
·
Forest Practices Code.
For more information about the Forest Act:
·
Electronic Version of the Forest
Act.
·
Ministry of Forests
website.
For More Information on Allowable Annual Cut:
·
Electronic version of relevant portions of the
legislation: Section 8 & Section 64.
·
Ministry of Forests Timber Supply Branch – http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tsb/
·
BCEN’s Citizen’s Guide to Allowable Annual Cut.
·
David Suzuki Foundation’s Publication “Fall Down” (Executive Summary only)
·
Sierra Club’s critique of how the Chief Forester sets
the AAC in Accounting for the Forests.
