Whereas the Province initiated a review of Private Managed Forest Lands in 2019 to in part encourage sustainable forest management practices including protection of environmental values; And whereas forest management practices on privately managed forest lands effect downstream communities and can negatively impact the quality and quantity of water and affect ecosystem resilience to the impacts of climate change: Therefore be it resolved that the Province partner with local governments to review taxation and cost recovery options from private managed forest lands to support local governments in watershed management and stewardship to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Ministry of Forests The Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship is currently working to complete the Watershed Security Strategy WSS, which aims to address issues such as concerns about impacts on drinking water from timber harvesting in watersheds. Once complete, the WSS will be applicable to both private and Crown land and will proactively help to manage water quality and quantity issues. Following the completion of the WSS, the Ministry of Forests intends to begin Phase II of the Private Managed Forest Land Review. The review will examine how well the Program meets its goals of encouraging participating private landowners to manage their lands for long-term forest production, to encourage sustainable management practices and protect shared public environmental values and will include opportunities for improvement in the future so that environmental impacts are minimized. Local governments currently have the authority to set tax rates as they see appropriate to meet local goals.