Presentation by the Private Managed Forest Land Council (PMFLC)—Stuart Macpherson (Executive Director) and Rod Davis (Chair)—to the Private Forest Landowners Association at their 18th annual conference in Nanaimo, BC on June 20th, 2013.

1. 1
Program Update
Rod Davis, Chair
&
Stuart Macpherson, Executive Director
Presentation to the Private Forest Landowners Association
June 20, 2013

2. Council’s Mandate
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 Independent provincial agency established under the
Private Managed Forest Land Act
 Protect key public environmental values on private
Managed Forest land in British Columbia
• soil conservation, drinking water quality, fish habitat,
and reforestation
• regulating forest practices
• conducting inspections, audits, investigations
• administrating penalties, remediation orders, stop
work orders

3. Council Membership
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Chair:
Rod Davis
Owner
Representatives:
Government
Representatives:
Will Pryhitko Michael Alexander
Blair Robertson Rod Visser

4. Regulations
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Private Managed Forest Land Act is the Authority for
three regulations:
 Private Managed Forest Land Council Regulation
(Council’s regulation)
 Private Managed Forest Land Regulation (Gov’t
regulation)
 Private Managed Forest Land Council Matter’s
Regulation (Gov’t regulation)

5. 2013 Fee Increases
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 Fees increased 33% from 2012 [increase of 4% from
2011]
 In 2012 a one-time 18% rebate was provided as a result
surpluses accumulated over previous years
 Council has increased expenditures 18% to address
communications priorities, legal counsel, and office
operations
 The general administration fee was increased to $120

6. Effectiveness of Current Model
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 Results-based regulatory model
 High rate of compliance (99.5% based on 15%
inspection rate)
 Cost-effective - funded by land owners
 Council cost is $0.85/ m3
 Private managed forest land located province-
wide on both the coast and interior

7. Issues
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Conversations with local governments
and public have highlighted some
common concerns:
 Urban interface issues
 Viewscapes, habitat
 Watershed management and
domestic water quality
 Species at risk
 Noise
 Governance

8. Program Overview
 823,200 ha (259 MFs) in program
• 640,000 ha coast; 183,200 ha interior
• 179 MFs coast; 80 MFs interior
 <1% decrease in area from 2012
 6 new owners
 2 MF withdrawals
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9. 2012 Program Activity
 Harvest volume - 3.94 million m3
 Harvest area - 8570 ha
 Road construction - 414 km
 Restocked - 9980 ha
 Regenerated - 8970 ha
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10. Investigations
2012/13:
 12 self-reported slides, 2 into fish
streams
 Slides were not associated with
operations; some were associated
with old roads
 2 underwent formal investigation
 Overall stream and water quality
impacts were judged to be
temporary
 Compliance continues to be high
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11. Effectiveness Audit 2012
Objective: Determine whether the forest management objectives in the
Private Managed Forest Land Act are being achieved.
Soil conservation – protect soil productivity by minimizing the area occupied by roads,
landings & trails
Water quality – protect human drinking water
Fish habitat – retain sufficient streamside trees & understory vegetation to protect habitat
conditions
Critical wildlife habitat – to facilitate the long-term protection of that habitat
Reforestation – regenerate areas with healthy & commercially valuable stand of trees
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12. Effectiveness Audit 2012 (con’t)
 Purpose to verify whether the regulatory regime
achieves the desired environmental outcomes
 Sampled 14 MFs reporting operations, ie harvesting,
reforestation etc in 2006/2008
 Mix of MFs both < & > 1000 hectares
 Field work completed last fall; report is pending
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13. Effectiveness Audit Results
On balance a positive outcome
 Forest stewardship practices align with industry standards
 Owners self – motivated to manage
 However some room for improvements in practices noted
Soil conservation
 Site loss from roads etc < 7%
 Low ground disturbance from harvesting
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14. Effectiveness Audit Results
Water Quality
 Minor siltation issues - low harm to fish
habitat
 Good awareness & communication with
LWI holders
 Regs don’t include protection of Water
Licence intakes issued for domestic water
consumption
 An MF may be only part of LWI catchment
 Unable to provide assurance that water
quality objective for human drinking water
can be achieved
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LWI dam & intake

15. Effectiveness Audit Results
Fish Habitat
 Well constructed stream crossings and
maintenance of ditches – few siltation
problems
 Older roads main source of siltation
 Riparian management requirement
mostly being exceeded but windthrow is
an issue, particularly Class C streams
 Windthrow means that objective for LWD
and bank stability riparian may not be
achieved
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68% blowdown adjacent
to Class C Stream

16. Effectiveness Audit Results
Critical Wildlife Habitat
 No areas designated - not auditable
 However evidence of voluntary measures - locally important
habitat recognized and reserved
Reforestation
 Performance is outstanding
 Reforestation within 2 years
 Stocking levels greatly exceed requirements
 Successful regeneration on track
 Some local issues with brush competition and ungulate
browsing, root disease
 Self - interested in maintaining forest productivity
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17. Inspection Program
Objective: Inspect all MFs at least once every 5
years, new MFs within 3 years
2012 Program:
 27 MFs inspected: 21 on Coast; 6 in Interior
 Assessed performance re MCs & legislation
 Good performance overall; operations with “soft
footprint”
 Areas for Improvement
 Update MCs & maps
 Monitor plantations / regen up to SR
 Opportunity to discuss management practices with a
professional as well
2013 Program:
 Targeting 32 MFs (25/7) includes 10 new MFs
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18. Contacts:
Stuart Macpherson, Executive Director
Tel: (250) 386-5737
Email: execdirec@pmflc.ca
Rod Davis, Chair
Tel: (250) 882-0072
Email: roddavis@shaw.ca
Website: http://www.pmflc.ca/
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