Whereas work is underway throughout the Province of BC to reduce wildfire risk to communities through prescribed fuel treatment on Crown land forests; And whereas much of this work involves shared fuel break of fuel reduction in areas that are commonly restricted from a timber harvesting perspective; And whereas agroforestry practices can maintain a state of low flammability in these areas and allow for economic benefit to area residents: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province of BC develop an Agroforest Specific Tenure License.
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Increased resiliency to wildfires is certainly an interest to government and Government appreciates the suggestion that agroforestry options may support this objective while providing opportunity for local communities. Community forests are already engaged in hazard reduction treatments and also have the freedom to manage for botanical forest products. Community forests are an important part of that discussion, as they strike a balance between the diverse values and interests of the local communities that come from our forests. The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development will engage with our colleagues at Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries MAFF to explore opportunities within agroforestry to evaluate opportunities. There are 60 issued community forest agreements CFAs, managing an allowable annual cut AAC of 2 million m per year. CFAs and First Nations Woodland Licences FNWLs have the ability to manage and charge a fee for botanical forest products. Botanical forest products are to date, unregulated in British Columbia and Forest Tenures Branch currently manages this file. BC Lands provides tenure options for bare land and has established policy around pricing regimes for agricultural lands. MAFF may be able to provide expertise around economies of scale for agroforestry and recommend how a lands tenure could be developed to support this initiative, potentially at nominal rent. To date, CFAs and FNWLs have not shown any significant interest in managing for botanicals, likely due to lack of financial return. Incremental land management activities like agroforestry may need to be incentivized if government wishes to proceed.