Forest Stewardship Plans

Forest law in British Columbia is currently in a state of flux.  The Forest Practices Code (the “Code”) has for almost a decade set out what planning has to be done before logging takes place.  However, the current government has introduced new legislation, the Forest and Range Practices Act (the “FRPA”), which, once the regulations are developed, will replace the Forest Practices Code.  The two pieces of legislation are significantly different in the detail of planning required under each. 

Very generally, both Acts require two types of “operational plan” – plans setting out how the on-the-ground operations will take place:

·                      Landscape level plans – Landscape level plans, known under the Code as a Forest Development Plan (FDP) and under the FRPA as a Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP), set out where logging and road building will occur across the landscape.  The FDP requires a much more detailed quantity of information; indeed, the FSP will not require even the location of logging or roadbuilding, but rather a general identification of an “area of interest” in which roadbuilding or logging may occur;

·                      Site level plans – Site level plans set out how logging will occur in a specific cutblock or road site.  They are called silviculture prescriptions under the Forest Practices Code and Site Plans under the FRPA.  Thanks to the FRPA, government approval is not required for silviculture prescriptions, and will not be required for Site Plans.

This page will be rewritten, along with other Guide pages about forest legislation and planning, as the regulations for the FRPA become available and come into force.  In the final version of the Guide there will be an additional page on Forest Planning which will point out what to look for in a Forest Stewardship Plan.  In the meantime, please consult West Coast Environmental Law’s Guide to Forest Land Use and Planning for information about plans required under the Code. 

Related Guide Pages:

·          Forest Practices Code and Forest and Range Practices Act

For more information about the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Forest Practices Code:

·          West Coast Environmental Law’s Guide to Forest Land Use and Planning (1999)

·          West Coast Environmental Law’s Deregulation Backgrounder on the Forest and Range Practices Act

·          Ministry of Forests website.