FAQ
Q. Where do I go if I have an environmental concern related to private forest land?
We encourage you to contact the landowner first. If the landowner is unable to address your concerns, contact the Private Managed Forest Land Council (PMFLC) with your queries. The Council measures the performance of landowners through monitoring, auditing and handling public enquiries to ensure they meet required forest practice standards. Keep in mind that less than half of private forest land in BC is in the Managed Forest (MF) program and therefore regulated under the Private Managed Forest Land Act.
Q. Must a MF owner ensure reforestation after harvesting trees ? Will landowners manage their forests sustainably?
Yes. The purpose of the MF classification is to recognize the landowner's commitment to reforestation and ensure that BC has plenty of trees for tomorrow. Landowners are required to reforest and successfully regenerate within fixed time frames to defined stocking standards with ecologically-suitable species.
Forest management is a dynamic process. The challenge in defining sustainable forest management is to determine what elements are common to all types of forests, and what factors are unique to individual landowners and communities.
Sustainability means different things to different people. But as MF owners, we are leading the way as we protect soils, water quality, fish habitat, critical wildlife habitat. Legislation protects those key public environmental values important for the next generations, while allowing landowners the flexibility to maintain economic and social sustainability in their communities and investments.
Q. What guarantee does the public have that key public environmental values - fish habitat, water quality, soil productivity, critical wildlife habitat, reforestation - are protected?
Forest practices on all lands in the Managed Forest program are subject to the Private Managed Forest Land Act. The Regulation is administered by the Private Managed Forest Land Council (PMFLC).
The PMFLC is responsible for ensuring that practices on private lands meet the standards set out for protecting these key public environmental values. Those that fail will be penalized. An effective and efficient system incorporates monitoring, independent audits and public reporting of results.
The PFLA also takes an active role in promoting good forest management through the Best Management Practices program, as well as monitoring and auditing their members.
Q. Do private forest landowners manage for biodiversity, cut block size, visual quality considerations or rate of harvest?
This is a question of priorities. The MF program is a provincial resource classification for commercial forestry on private land. The focus of private MF owners is on growing a commercial crop of trees while ensuring the protection of key public environmental values such as fish habitat, water quality, soil productivity, critical wildlife habitat.
Social values -- such as visual quality and biodiversity are more appropriately protected on the public lands that make up over 95% of BC. That said, PFLA members and other private landowners often go out of their way to manage their lands with consideration for these social values.
Q. Can the public dictate logging practices on private forest land?
Landowners have the freedom to manage their lands. Private MF owners in BC are responsible and accountable for protecting public environmental values, as well as meeting reforestation requirements as defined under BC legislation. However, they are able to choose and employ the site specific innovations and methods for delivering the necessary level of protection.
Q. How are fish and water protected on private forest land ?
MF owners must comply with BC's Private Managed Forest Land Act and associated regulations. They are responsible and accountable for protecting fish and water. However, they have freedom to employ site specific innovations and methods for delivering the necessary level of protection.
MF owners conduct their harvesting, silviculture and road building so as not to harm water quality and fish habitat. Enough streamside vegetation, including mature trees, are retained to manage some important elements of fish habitat, such as nutrient contribution, large woody debris and streambank stability. These results are achieved through a variety of approaches, such as establishing and maintaining riparian management zones, building secure and stable roads with appropriate drainage structures, as well as respecting natural surface drainage patterns.
In addition, private lands are already covered by numerous Acts and regulations at both the federal and provincial levels -- including the Forest Act, Water Act, Wildlife Act, Environmental Management Act, Integrated Pest Management Act, Soil Conservation Act, Waste Management Act, Fisheries Act and Species at Risk Act.