Media Contacts

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource

Operations and Rural Development
Media Relations
250 896-4320

Backgrounders

2021 amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act

Reshaping British Columbia’s forest management framework by repositioning government as the land manager

  • Amendments will give government authority to develop 10-year forest landscape plans with First Nations, local communities and other stakeholders. These plans will be posted publicly and will replace sector-developed forest stewardship plans over the next eight to 10 years.
  • Forest licensees must develop and submit forest operations plans for the minister’s approval, which detail planned harvesting and road building for the next five years. These plans will be posted publicly and must align with the forest landscape plans.
  • Industry-developed site level plans will detail specific harvesting and building activities, and must align with relevant forest landscape plans. They must be approved by government and will be posted publicly.

Reasserting the public interest in forest management

  • Amendments will require that forest landscape plans be developed by government and First Nations, in collaboration with communities and other stakeholders.
  • Forest landscape and forest operations plans will be posted publicly, improving opportunities for First Nations, local governments and members of the public to review and comment.
  • Every five years, the chief forester will publicly report on forest landscape plan outcomes.

Equipping land managers with appropriate tools to establish resilient forests

  • Amendments will give government greater management control over forest roads to protect the public safety and environment.
  • They will support the ability to manage and respond to wildfires and other localized environmental situations by giving the chief forester authority to order specific stocking standards for reforestation and allowing reforesting to be focused on high-priority areas.
  • Amendments allow for wildland urban interface areas to be designated in order to protect the communities they surround from wildfires.

Supporting reconciliation with First Nations

  • Amendments will bring the legislation in alignment with the Declaration Act by creating new opportunities for shared-decision making in the development of forest landscape plans between government and First Nations.