RESULTS: a key business tool for integrated MOFR and licensee operations

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RESULTS a key business tool for integrated MOFR
and licensee operations
RESULTSREporting Silviculture Updates Land
Status Tracking System

Presented by Ralph WinterThanks to Paul
Rehsler, Mei Ching Tsoi, Christine McClarnon and
Tim Salkeld
June 2007
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Objectives

• How the new Electronic Submission Framework (ESF)
  and RESULTS is integral to streamlining the MOFR
  and silviculture business
• Scope of RESULTS and who uses the system
• Illustrations of business questions the system
  addresses
• The future

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Prior to Dec 2002 FPC and FRPA changes, companies
were using or building comprehensive silviculture
information systems

• To electronically report on harvesting,
  silviculture accomplishments and forest cover
  information to MOFR
• Efficiently and consistently track their
  reforestation obligations
• Keep track of information for certification and
  forest management plan commitments

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RESULTS was an integral part of the redesign and
streamlining of government

• Ministry and industry negotiated significant
  changes to silviculture in the transition from
  the Code to FRPA
• 80 reduction in regulatory elements for
  silviculture
• Changes were contingent on industry
  electronically submitting to government key
  silviculture reports to document obligations and
  stewardship information
• BCTS and industry no longer required to send to
  the ministry 75,000 pages/year of silviculture
  prescriptions for review and approval
  (transactional cost savings 10 million/yr)
• As of March 2007, a significant saving in not
  having to submit, review and approve
• 300,000 SP pages
• 60,000 pages of amendments and declarations

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RESULTS was an integral part of the redesign and
streamlining of government

• MOFR was required to find 3 million/year in
  savings by moving major systems applications to
  an Oracle platform
• RESULTS is part of that major conversion
• Remove duplications, rationalize business process
  and and streamline with FTA system
• MSRM and MOFR carried out significant
  reorganization of databases and software to
  provide industry and MOF users with more and
  quicker access to 1 billion in information
• New design was to provide industry and other key
  users with unprecedented access to both textual
  and spatial information contained in the LRDW

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Background Reduced MOF Staff

• With FRPA, staffing dropped during implementation
• Staffing drops occurred during learning curve
  periods associated with implementation of new and
  complex legislation
• Only 10 of the silviculture staff left in MOFR

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Background Reduced MOF Staff

• Government direction was not to reduce
  environmental standards, yet maintain stewardship
  of the forest resource
• Ministry downsizing initiatives have increased
  reliance on electronic processing systems
• Paper processing no longer possible with reduced
  staff levels in the ministry
• Over the past 4 years there have been major
  changes in companies, practices and standards
• Electronic processing of key silviculture
  information was the only way that government
  could handle these changes
• Avoid duplication and triplication of data entry
  and information management

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Background need for timely info

• With the dramatic expansion of the MPB epidemic
  came the need for clarity on what was harvested
  and to quickly update the forest inventory.
• 5 years ago a joint MOF-Industry task force
  recognized the opportunity to provide more timely
  info by linking RESULTS and the inventory update
  process
• Major investments were carried out to achieve
  this electronic linkage

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Provincial Coverage of RESULTS

• THLB1 23 million hectares
• As of Feb 2007
• Number of Openings 206,000
• Represented area 9.2 million hectares
• (40 THLB)
• Annual additions 7,800 openings per year
• 220,000 hectares per year
• 1 Timber Harvesting Land Base - Just the Facts

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RESULTS is used to track

• What are the current obligations on logged areas
• Who owns the obligations
• What is the status of the obligations
• Achievement of end results milestones
• Silviculture accomplishments
• Forest cover conditions

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RESULTS Who submits data to it ?

• 3000 users (72 industry)
• Licensees and BCTS are required to report to
  Ministry on basic silviculture obligations on
  83,000 cutblocks
• These cutblocks contain 139,000 standards units,
  with an estimated 1.3 billion in accrued
  silviculture liabilities
• Key tool used by industry to make streamlined
  free growing declarations on 15-25,000 standards
  units/yr
• Used to approve 1100-2200 amendments/month
• 150,000 webhits per week

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RESULTS Who uses it ?

• Licensees, BCTS and the ministry run 17,000
  reports run per year to answer key business
  questions
• BC International marketing campaigns
• External agencies COFI, ENGOs, researchers,
  educational institutions,
• Links to other program areas
• Vegetation Resource Updates,
• Timber Supply Analysis,
• National Forestry Database and Council of
  Canadian Forest Ministers

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Service Plan
• Net Area Reforested to Area Harvested Ratio

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Internal Performance Measures
• achievement of ministry regeneration
  obligations under FSMF (P040)
• of catastrophic event hectares within FFT
  strategic plan assessed for reforestation (New)
• achievement of monitoring targets completed by
  district (P202)
• of FFT Fire Impacted areas treated compared to
  area planned for treatment in the fiscal year
  (P205)
• of FFT Pest impacted areas treated compared to
  area planned for treatment in the fiscal year
  (P206)
• of cutblocks in FTA that are reported into
  RESULTS

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Ministrys Uses
• Tracking of Non-Replaceable Forest Licences
  managed by District Manager (Forest Stand
  Management Fund)
• Compliance enforcement on basic silviculture
  obligations
• Tracking silviculture field delivery of Forest
  For Tomorrow Forest Investment Account
• FPRA Section108 Relief of Obligations
  Applications
• Information on current past field practices to
  support legislation policy-development

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• TSR Process - building assumptions
• total not satisfactorily restocked land
• average regeneration delay
• regenerated species composition
• young stands growth and yield
• forest cover (VRIMS)
• species shifts
• planted seedlings with reference on improved seed
  sources
• comparison of regenerated profile against
  harvested profile

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Vegetation Resource Inventory Management System
  (VRIMS)
• It is a cut-in tool which will use forest cover
  update information from RESULTS to incorporate
  into vegetation inventory coverage.
• Information is used extensively in TSR and key
  planning initiatives

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In September the ministry will be turning on the
automated transfer of RESULTS info to VRIMS
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VRIMS will take RESULTS info and automate the
update of the provincial forest cover inventory
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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Forest Tenure and Administration System (FTA)
• RESULTS is fully integrated with FTA, to record
  what is logged by whom and who owns the
  obligations over time
• Forest Stewardship Plan Tracker (FSP Tracker)
• All new FSP stocking standards will come from
  this tool and linked to RESULTS
• Integrated Land and Resource Registry (ILRR)
• June 2007 RESULTS will link to ILRR to display
  basic silviculture openings
• Helps provide public access to key layers of
  commonly used information via a wide range of
  users including Agriculture and Range, Oil and
  Gas, First Nations, Land use planning, Real
  Estate etc

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Ministry-Business Linkages

• Forest Resource Evaluation Program (FREP) uses
  RESULTS to generate sampling lists on harvested
  cutblocks for their field assessment processes
  for four values
• Stand Level Biodiversity
• Riparian
• Soils
• Forest Health
• Forest Practices Board RESULTS serve as
  baseline information to support any audits
  reviews on basic silviculture obligations.
• Free Growing Assessment Review (2006)
• Species Composition and Regeneration in Cutblocks
  in Mountain Pine Beetle Areas (2006)

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RESULTS Other Uses

• The State of BCs Forests
• National Forestry Reporting Criteria and
  Indicator Reporting
• Generate key information for Climate change
• Consolidated stocking standard data in
  standardised format to assist with Forest
  Stewardship Plan development (multi-licensee,
  potentially spanning districts)
• First Nations Consultation (Cost Sharing)
• Forest Appeals Commission
• Information to support Legal Cases
• International Challenges (US Countervail,
  Softwood Lumber)
• Environmental Non-Government Organizations
• Research

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Diminishing Silos Leads to Greater
Cross-Business Data Usage to Represent
Land-based Management
Tenure
Silviculture
Billing
Inventory
Other MOF Applications

• Prior to Transformation
• Data not standardized
• Stored in different locations
• Data issues

MoFR ORACLE
Land Resource Data Warehouse

• Centralized Applications
• Data rationalization
• Centralized location
• Easy access
• Ability to share information

Inventory
Silviculture
Other Spatial Data
textual
spatial
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RESULTS - Current Status

• Companies have done an excellent job in meeting
  the annual May 31st legislated information
  submission deadline
• on June 1, 2006 - 93 of key silviculture
  information was in the day after the deadline
• on May 31, 2007 105 of key silviculture
  information was in the day of the deadline
• Companies are doing an excellent job of updating
  and improving the accuracy of information within
  their systems and in RESULTS
• 40 of licensees providing 90 of the data via
  ESF
• Smaller licensees and woodlots are stepping up to
  the challenge this year

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RESULTS Training

• Currently available using online computerized
  training via LearnLinc
• Over 1,650 participants and 174 training sessions
  so far
• Many industry participants have been happy with
  the distance education approach and 1.5 hour long
  training modules
• We will be continue to deliver and build new
  modules over the coming year
• Carry out face to face training sessions where
  there is sufficient demand

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The future

• Integrating and leveraging the wealth of
  information that we have in the 1 billion dollar
  warehouse
• Building tools that provide real-time knowledge
  for day to day business questions (ie Walmart)
• Answering the key questions we dont have answers
  on todayie what is the inventory, what is the
  sales and what we doing to maintain those sales
• Clarifying key business questions ensuring we
  dont loose sight of the core business questions
  with too much minutia
• Producing tools that are simple to use and that
  produce graphical and map based business answers
• Expand the number of users who can take the
  systems to really make better stewardship
  decisions for both the short and long term

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RESULTS success is dueto a dedicated team
including
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Summary

• RESULTS is a key to the streamlining initiatives
  of government under FRPA. Significant long term
  business efficiencies and savings will be
  realized
• It provides key stewardship information to
  address important business questions for a large
  audience
• It will provide key information to ensure public
  confidence in the new deregulated environment
• Because of profound business benefits industry is
  doing a great job in the new electronic business
  world
• RESULTS has been a success because of great team
  work
• Thanks to CGI for doing a great job in helping
  move us into the brave new electronic information
  age

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THANK YOU!

• For more information
• RESULTS Website
• http//www.for.gov.bc.ca/his/results/
• One time reports
• Mei-Ching Tsoi, mtsoi_at_shaw.ca
• Training in advanced use of RESULTS
• Darren Bonar, dbonar_at_forsite.ca
• Business documentation for RESULTS
• Christine Mcclarnon, cmcclarnon_at_shaw.ca