Presentation to the BC Saw Filers Association Conference

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Presentation to the BC Saw Filers Association
Conference

• Jim Snetsinger, RPF
• Chief Forester
• British Columbia Forest ServiceApril 22, 2005

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Presentation Outline

• 1. Role of the Chief Forester
• Context
• Responsibilities
• 2. Mountain Pine Beetle
• Background
• Status of the epidemic
• Actions to date
• Where to from here?
• 3. Conclusions

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• Ensure responsible stewardship of the Provinces
  nearly 60 million hectares of publicly owned
  Crown forest land

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Jurisdiction

• British Columbia 93 million hectares of land
• 60 million hectares forested
• 53 million hectares productive forest
• remainder is alpine/less productive
• BC Government owns 95 percent of the provinces
  forested land
• 90 percent of BCs timber harvesting occurs on
  this Crown land, where provincial laws require
  stewardship of diverse values.

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Protecting and ManagingForest Values

• BCs public forest land (12 major distinct
  ecosystems) is managed to protect and to maintain
  a range of values, both by formal protection and
  by management.
• protection
• Significant areas are reserved from harvesting to
  protect ecological, cultural, or social values.
• Over 6 million hectares of forested land are
  permanently protected in parks,
  ecologicalreserves, etc.
• 6 million hectares of nonforested also
  protected.

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Protecting and ManagingForest Values

• Management objectives are established for
• wildlife habitat areas
• sensitive soils
• oldgrowth management areas
• riparian areas
• recreation areas
• visually sensitive areas
• areas of archaeological significance
• wildlife tree patches.

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Net Harvestable Forest Area
In consideration of the range of management
objectives, from the 45 million hectares of
productive forest outside parks, just about 23
million hectares of Crown forest land are
currently considered suitable and available for
timber harvesting. Four main statutes govern
forest management including timber harvesting on
this land.
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Statutes governing forest and range activities on
public lands in BC

• 1. Forest and Range Practices Act (2004)
• formerly the Forest Practices Code
  of British Columbia Act (1995)
• 2. Forest Act
• 3. Ministry of Forests Act
• 4. Range Act

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Statutory Mandate

• 1. Ministry of Forests Act
• Plan and integrate management of natural
  resource values in consultation with other
  ministries.
• 2. Forest and Range Practices Act
• Develop scienceinformed policy and establish
  and maintain appropriate practices and standards
  for the management of diverse values on public
  forest and range land.
• 3. Forest Act
• (Section 8) Determine Allowable Annual Cuts.

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Chief Foresters Positionin Government

• Appointed by Provincial OrderinCouncil
• Decisions mandated by statute, otherwise
  independent of Legislative Assembly
• reports to Deputy Minister of Forests
• advises Minister directly on issues
• responsible for Forest Stewardship Division

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Ministry of Forests

• Minister
• Executive
• Regions
• Districts
• Headquarters
• Forest Stewardship Division
• Operations Division
• BC Timber Sales
• Corporate Policy and Governance Division
• Tenure and Revenue Division

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Forest Stewardship Division

• 25.5m, 197 staff
• Chief Foresters Office 0.7m, 4.5 staff
• Forest Practices Branch 6.7m, 37.5 staff
• Forest Analysis Branch 1.5m, 16 staff
• Research Branch 9.3m, 85.9 staff
• Ministry of Forests Library
• Tree Improvement Branch 7.3m, 53.3 staff
• Each branch has 1 director, 1 to 4 managers,
  1-4 clerks, remainder are specialists.
  Support services are provided through centralized
  agencies.

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Chief Foresters responsibilities

• Forest Stewardship
• leadership role
• set policy for forest and range practices
• establish standards for practices
• Specific responsibilities under Forest and Range
  Practices Act and Forest Act

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Current responsibilities under FRPA

• (by delegation from Minister) establish sites and
  set objectives for recreation sites, recreation
  trails, interpretive forest sites
• enter into agreements re growing and disposing
  of seeds and re genetic and intellectual
  property
• order a determination to be not stayed to
  maintain good stewardship.

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Chief Forester responsibilities Forest Act

• Section 8 requires the Chief Forester to
  determine Allowable Annual Cuts (AACs)
  periodicallyusually every 5 yearsfor each of
  the provinces
• 37 Timber Supply Areas(TSA, multiple licensees)
  and
• 34 Tree Farm Licence areas(TFL, single licensee)
  Delegated to Deputy Chief

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Timber Supply Review Process
Timber supply analysis
Socio
-
economic analysis
Public review process
Social and economic
Chief Forester
Legislation
objectives of Crown
AAC determination
rationale statement
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Timber supply forecast
AAC (5 years)
Mid-term (30-100 years)
Long-term (100-250 years)
Short-term (0-30 years)
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Chief Foresters AAC determination principles

• AAC is an independent decision, not a
  calculation
• AACs do not drive management objectives
• AAC determinations consider public and First
  Nations concerns
• AAC determination cannot account for
• speculation on landuse decisions or treaties
• licence allocation
• Minister apportions AAC, not Chief Forester

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BC Forest Service website http//www.for.gov.bc.c
a
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Presentation to BC Saw Filers Association
Conference April 22, 2005

An Update of the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in
British Columbia
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Mountain Pine Beetle in BC
Facts

• Endemic in BCs pine forest
• Trees die once infested
• Kills trees by destroying the cambium layer
• Introduces blue stain fungus
• No effective chemical or biological control
  available

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Annual red-attack
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Mountain Pine Beetle in BC
Factors Contributing to Expansion

• Number of hectares with mature pine in BC has
  increased by about three times since 1910.
• In BC, over the last century, the avg. min.
  winter temp. increased by 0.9ºC on the coast,
  2.2 - 2.6ºC in the interior.

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Magnitude of the Epidemic 2004
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So What Does it Mean

• Potentially gt 200 million m3 of unsalvaged beetle
  wood in 10-15 years.
• Harvest levels will decline by over 50 in some
  areas once the beetle wood is either harvested or
  no longer of economic value.
• We need to act now to maximize the forests value
  and prepare for future adjustments.

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Potential Impacts

• Potential Timber Supply Impacts
• 80 of Pli volume attacked by 2013.
• 20-40 AAC reductions in Pli dominated mgmt
  units.
• 700,000 ha will become uneconomic and experience
  30 reduction in future stand volume without
  treatment.

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What Weve Done

• Appointed Pine Beetle Task Force, Advisory
  Committee, Beetle Boss and increased focus on
  economic sustainability.
• Established Emergency Management Zones.
• Increased the AAC in beetle affected areas.
• Premier hosted Beetle Symposium in Quesnel.
• Signed agreements with First Nations for
  harvesting of beetle damaged wood.
• Increased the harvest of beetle wood from 16 in
  2001 to 85 in 2004 .

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Actions to Date Managing Beetle Populations

• So how are we doing?
• Volume directed at the beetle
• 2000/2001 8.1 million m3
• 2003/2004 25.7 million m3
• 2004/2005 prelim est 28-29 million m3
• Percentage directed at greenattack stands
• 2000/2001 65 of available harvest capacity
• 2003/2004 80 of available harvest capacity
• 2004/2005 86 of available harvest capacity

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Looking Forward

• Two types of issues
• Getting the most out of the dead trees before
  they burn or decay.
• Cognisant of other resource values in doing so.
• What do we do in 10 to 15 years when the beetle
  wood is gone or has no economic value.

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Getting the Most Value

• Expressions of interest
• Developing new tenure
• AAC uplifts
• Reviewing LRMPs
• Promoting uses for beetle wood in overseas
  markets, such as China, Japan and Korea
• Exploring value added opportunities
• Consulting with Local governments, First Nations
  and Industry.

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Intensive Silviculture

• 86 million has been approved for the forest for
  tomorrow program.
• The province has received federal support program
  funding (100 million) to respond to the
  catastrophic emergency of the MPB epidemic.
• Additionally, BC and Alberta have signed MOA for
  suppression activities in the Peace.
• Alberta interest specifically in direct control
  program along the BC/Alberta border.

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Summary Points

• Province to continue refining estimates of beetle
  expansion and timber supply implications.
• Licensees are encouraged to
• Focus as much harvesting horse power on
  beetle infested stands.
• Minimize the harvest of other tree species.
• These actions will help mitigate mid-term timber
  supply impacts.