WHEREAS forest stewardship plans approved under the Forest Range Practices Act FRPA contain forest development units as large as 760 square kilometres that are much too large for fair assessment by the public and stakeholders to determine possible impacts; AND WHEREAS consultation processes for forest stewardship plans rely on vague newspaper ads and short comment periods that make it difficult for the public to become aware of forest stewardship plans and the locations of proposed forest development units and hard pressed to respond within designated comment periods: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request that the provincial government provide direction to forest licensees through regulation under the FRPA or other means to achieve smaller, more targeted forest development units in forest stewardship plans; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that UBCM request that the provincial government improve public consultation processes associated with forest stewardship plans, including extending the period for public consultation for a reasonable period of time before the stewardship plans are approved.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Mines Ministry of Natural Resource Operations Under law, forest licensees are required to subject their forest stewardship plans to public review and comment for a minimum of 60 days. Before submitting plans to government for approval, licensees must show how theyve addressed public concerns. As well, many forest companies operating in B.C. have achieved sustainable forest management certification under one of three internationally-recognized standards. Public involvement in forestry operations is a key component of each of these certification standards. As forest professionals, both industry licensees and Ministry staff are exploring options to improve public understanding of, and input to forestry.