Administrative designations may be made for a variety of purposes. Some are made for organizational purposes within a government agency, such as the division of the Ministry of Forests into regions and districts. Some are made for the purposes of resource management, such as timber supply areas which form the basis for allowable annual cut determinations and the rights to harvest timber under Forest Act tenures. Other administrative designations are made where the government chooses to restrict its own management of public land, such as Land Act reserves which prevent Crown land from being granted or leased. Some administrative designations relate to specific land uses, such as the agricultural land reserve and forest land reserve, but are broadly applied across the province. Discussed below are eight administrative designations that are most relevant to forest land use planning.

 

4.1.1 AGRICULTURAL LAND RESERVE

The purpose of the agricultural land reserve is to preserve agricultural land in British Columbia, and to encourage farming and compatible agricultural uses of land within the reserve. 

Lands become designated as part of the agricultural land reserve by the Land Reserve Commission under the Agricultural Land Reserve Act. This requires the prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council (provincial Cabinet). Both private and public (Crown) land may be designated. There are over 4.7 million hectares of land in the reserve in British Columbia. Most of this is private land. 

The majority of land in the reserve was designated in 1973, when the legislation was first passed. At the time of introduction, all land within a municipality or regional district that was zoned for agricultural or farm use under a bylaw passed before December 21, 1972, was automatically included in the reserve if it was over two acres in size. Thereafter, it could be exempted from the reserve only by an act of the Commission.

Land within the reserve must be used for farm purposes, unless permitted by the legislation, regulations or order of the Commission. Some forested land is included in the agricultural land reserve because of its soil type and growing potential. However, growing and harvesting crops of trees is considered a permissible use of agricultural land as well. 

Amendments to the Forest Land Reserve Act which came into force in April 2000, created general forest management requirements for “identified land”. These requirements extend to Agricultural Reserve lands which are designated for tax purposes as “managed forest land.” These requirements are discussed in greater detail below in section 4.1.2. 

Permissible uses of land in the reserve are set out in the Agricultural Land Commission Subdivision and Land Use Regulation and include:

• storage and sale of agricultural products produced on a farm;
• construction of buildings necessary for the above;
• construction of one single family dwelling and outbuildings per parcel;
• harvesting of trees and carrying out of all silvicultural and forest protection practices;
• ecological reserves;
• a reserve or area of land or habitat set apart for wildlife;
• parks and recreation reserves, whether provincial, regional district or municipal, which are left more or less in their natural state;
• fish farms;
• minor highway, road or railway operations and construction;
• expanding pre-existing gravel pits to a certain maximum size;
• dykes and pumphouses; and,
• land development works including clearing, draining, irrigating and reservoirs.

Property owners may apply to the Commission to have their land removed from the agricultural land reserve. Likewise, applications may be made to include land in the reserve. 
Where Cabinet considers it to be in the “Provincial interest,” Cabinet may remove decision-making about a number of matters from the Commission and refer them to the Environmental Assessment Board for the purpose of a public hearing (or, until a board is appointed, to an independent commissioner of inquiry). On receiving the board’s report Cabinet may make a final decision on the application in the place of the Commission.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Agricultural Land Reserve Act. RSBC 1996, c.10.

Regulation: Agricultural Land Commission Subdivision and Land Use Regulation. BC Reg. 7/81.

 

4.1.2 FOREST LAND RESERVE

The Forest Land Reserve Act became law on July 8, 1994. It created a Forest Land Commission, which had the responsibility of administering the newly created forest land reserve. In April 2000 these responsibilities and powers of the Forest Land Reserve Commission were turned over to a new Land Reserve Commission that administers both the forest land reserve and the agricultural land reserve. The forest land reserve concept is similar to the agricultural land reserve, in that land in the reserve may only be used for specified purposes consistent with forestry, unless otherwise approved by the Land Reserve Commission.

The reserve consists of both private and public land. Province wide, there are currently 920 000 hectares of private land and approximately 15 000 000 hectares of public land in the forest land reserve.

The majority of the private lands are on Vancouver Island (70%) and in the Kootenays (25%). Crown lands are often designated after the conclusion of regional land use plans, and presently include the provincial forests of Vancouver Island, the Kootenays and the Cariboo.

There were two primary motivations for creating the reserve. First, there was significant concern in some parts of the province, such as the Gulf islands, that large parcels of private forest land owned by forest companies were being subdivided and sold as residential real estate after years of enjoying preferential property tax rates based on dedication of the land to forest management. Second, the provincial government concluded that formal designation of Crown land as part of a forest land reserve would give increased certainty to forest workers and companies that land use planning could dedicate lands for forestry purposes, in addition to dedicating land to protected areas, notwithstanding the availability of other similar designations such as provincial forests and timber supply areas.

The intent of the Act is to protect the commercial forest land base of British Columbia, and to minimize the impact of urban development and rural area settlement on that land base. Amendments to the Act that will come into force in April 2000 will expand the objects of the Commission to include encouraging responsible forest management practices and promoting "conditions favourable for investment in private land forest management."

 

Who Manages the Forest Land Reserve

Administrative matters under the Forest Land Reserve Act are managed by the Land Reserve Commission. The Commission consists of at least five members appointed by Cabinet, and selected for their expertise in agriculture, forestry, land use planning or local government. 

The sorts of administrative decisions made by the Commission, in relation to the Forest Land Reserve, include ruling on four types of applications:

• designation, or addition of land to the reserve;
• subdivision of land within the reserve;
• special use of land within the reserve; and,
• requests for removal of land from the reserve.

The Commission must work with local governments in the administration of the Act, particularly in the case of applications for the removal of private land from the reserve. Local governments must require the publication of notice of an application to remove land from the reserve, and may require that a public hearing be held. While certain factors must be considered, criteria for determining whether to support an application is left to the local government, but must be communicated to the Commission with the recommendations and comments. Removals of Crown land from the forest land reserve are decisions of the provincial Cabinet, on the advice of the Commission.

The jurisdiction of the Commission is restricted to the powers it has under the Act. The administration of public land and private land within a tree farm licence falls to the responsible government agency, even though it may be within the forest land reserve. For example, forest tenures are administered by the Ministry of Forests, and mineral tenures are administered by the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

 

What Uses Are Permitted Within the Forest Land Reserve

Land within the Forest Land Reserve can be used for:

• timber production;
• forage production and livestock grazing;
• forest or wilderness oriented recreation, scenery and wilderness purposes;
• water, fisheries, wildlife, biological diversity, and cultural heritage purposes;
• approved mineral exploration and mining;
• construction of one single family dwelling;
• botanical forest products harvesting and use;
• portable sawmills;
• research and education related to above purposes;
• uses relating to Crown granted interests to coal or minerals; and,
• other nonconforming uses permitted by the Commission.

All other land uses, subdivision and withdrawal of private land from the reserve must be approved by the Commission.

 

Who Manages Forest Practices in the Forest Land Reserve

The Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and its regulations apply to all public land within the reserve and private land within a tree farm licence, woodlot licence or community forest agreement area. The Code is administered primarily by the Ministry of Forests, but in some matters, is also administered by designated officials from the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks.

Although the Code originally gave Cabinet the authority to enact regulations regarding forest practices on private land, this never occured, and that authority has since been removed. On April 1 2000, a new framework for regulating forest practices on private land came into force. This framework applies to “identified land.” Identified land includes forest reserve land and agricultural reserve land that is classified as managed forest land for tax purposes. However, it does not include forest reserve land in a tree farm licence, woodlot licence, or community forest, which continue to be regulated under the Forest Practices Code.

Owners of identified land must comply with requirements and constraints respecting “(a) soil conservation; (b) management of water quality and fish habitat; (c) management of critical wildlife habitat.” Owners of identified land also have reforestation obligations. These requirements and constraints are set out in the Private Land Forest Practices Regulation. 

The requirements of the Private Land Forest Practices Regulation are much weaker than the Code. For example, even large fish-bearing streams do not receive a “no-harvest” zone along their banks. Instead the regulation requires that a certain number of trees must be left behind every 200 metres on each side of the stream. For fish-bearing streams at least 3.0 metres wide, owners must leave forty trees every 200 metres on either bank, and for fish-bearing streams 1.5 to 3.0 metres wide, only twenty trees. Streams that are smaller than 1.5 metres, outside a community watershed, or are not fish-bearing, do not even receive this protection.
The Land Reserve Commission is responsible for administering the new regulatory framework for private forest land, rather than the usual government Ministries of Forests and Environment, Lands and Parks.

 

There are three ways in which land becomes designated as part of the forest land reserve:

• automatically when the Act came into force;
• by application to the Commission for inclusion; and,
• for public land, by order of Cabinet.

Private land that was classified under the Assessment Act as managed forest land in the 1993 taxation year was automatically included in the reserve when the Forest Land Reserve Act came into force on July 8, 1994. There were some exceptions to this, such as if the managed forest land was already within the agricultural land reserve. In addition to managed forest land, private land which is subject to a tree farm licence under the Forest Act as of July 8, 1994, is also automatically part of the forest land reserve. Tree farm licences are comprised mostly of public Crown land, but also have a component of private land in them. Lands which were automatically included in the forest land reserve are known as the "initial forest reserve land."

The second way in which private land may be included in the forest land reserve is through designation by the Land Reserve Commission after receiving an application for inclusion by a landowner. Applications must be referred by the Commission to local governments, and the landowner must submit a “management commitment” that, among other things, contains the long term forest management objectives for the owner’s land and the strategies to achieve them.

The third component of the forest land reserve involves public Crown land. This land comprises over 90% of the reserve. Cabinet may designate Crown land in a provincial forest as part of the forest land reserve.

 

How Land is Removed from the Forest Land Reserve

How land is removed from the forest land reserve depends on whether it is private land or public land.

Private landowners may apply to the Commission to have land removed from the forest land reserve. Applications must be referred to local government for review and comment. The local government may hold a public hearing on the issue. For land near urban areas, the local government must consider issues relating to the proximity of the property to existing urban development, the availability of public services and whether the land is appropriate for growth under the official community plan of the urban area. For land in rural areas, the local government must consider the significance of its rural or recreational characteristics.

Decision-making lies with the Commission. The Act specifies the criteria which the Commission must consider for removal applications. The Commission must conclude that removal is in the public interest, and in so doing it must consider the input of local government, the suitability of the land for tree growing, and the effect removal might have on adjacent forest reserve land.

Where land is removed from the reserve there is a "recapture" of the tax benefit enjoyed while the land was in forest land reserve status. The recapture amount is paid back to the government, based on a formula described in the Act. The charge is based on the difference of the property value before and after removal, multiplied by a rate determined by the Commission in the regulations. The charge is intended to recapture the benefit received by the owner over the previous six years, in which the landowner would have enjoyed a lower rate of taxation on the forest reserve lands.

For public or Crown lands, removal is by order of the provincial Cabinet, after receiving the comments and recommendations of the Commission.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Forest Land Reserve Act. RSBC 1996, c.158.

Regulation: Forest Land Reserve Use Regulation. BC Reg. 222/96.

Private Land Forest Practices Regulation, BC Reg. 318/99.

Other: Annual Reports of the Land Reserve Commission.

Land Reserve Commission Strategic Plan.

Land Reserve Commission Governance Policy, February 2000.

Website: Land Reserve Commission website: www.lrc.gov.bc.ca

 

4.1.3 FOREST REGIONS AND DISTRICTS

British Columbia is divided into six forest regions for administrative purposes: Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Prince George, Nelson, Kamloops and the Cariboo. Regional offices are responsible for the design and implementation of regional policies, procedures and priorities, developed within the context of broader provincial policies.

Areas within each region are further divided into districts, of which there are currently forty across the province. District staff are responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Code and other forestry related legislation at a field level. They also put ministry policies into practice, review applications and grant permits for operational activities. District managers hold much of the decision-making authority for forest practices under the Code.

The following map shows the boundaries of each region and district in BC. The specific mandate and jurisdiction of both regional and district offices is available on the Ministry of Forests website at www.gov.bc.ca/for/. Appendix 3 provides a description of the Ministry of Forests, as well as other government agencies that play a role in provincial land use strategies. A list of contact numbers, addresses and websites for each agency has also been provided in Appendix 4. 

4.1.4 LAND ACT RESERVES AND PROHIBITION OF USE

The Land Act has four mechanisms for reserving or restricting the use or disposition of Crown land. These mechanisms are sometimes used to deal with situations where one particular land use is seen to have priority over others. However, there are limitations to the effectiveness of Land Act reserves as a tool to govern land use, which will be discussed below.

Where Crown land is intended to remain as public land, sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Land Act allow the provincial Cabinet or minister responsible for Crown land to reserve land from disposition, temporarily withdraw land from disposition, or designate it for certain particular uses.

In addition, certain land uses may be prohibited outright under section 66 of the Land Act.

It should be noted, however, that even where Crown land is intended to be disposed of through sale, lease, right of way, easement, or licence of occupation, the provincial government may still regulate the use of the land through the terms and conditions written into the legal documentation conveying the interest in land. For example, the Greater Vancouver Water District has a 999-year lease from the provincial government which restricts use of the Crown land to the watershed purposes set out in the terms of the lease agreement. These agreements can be amended from time to time as circumstances warrant and the parties agree.

The various Land Act reserves may be used for a broad range of land uses. For example, any of the reserves discussed below may be used for purposes related to:

• agriculture;
• aquaculture;
• industry;
• commerce;
• residential use;
• utility purpose;
• community use;
• local government;
• quarrying;
• transportation;
• communication sites;
• watershed reserves;
• fish and wildlife management;
• public access;
• forest management research;
• fishery facilities;
• recreation reserves (also known as UREPs, i.e. areas for the use, recreation and enjoyment of the public);
• flooding reserves;
• military sites;
• science measurement and research sites
• buffer zones; and,
• environmental protection and conservation.

Reserves range in size from less than one hectare to over four million hectares. The type of reserve used on a given occasion is chosen according to the importance of the land use and whether the reserve is required on a permanent or temporary basis, rather than by the type of land use in question.

 

Section 15 OIC Reserves (formerly section 11) Section 15 OIC Reserves (formerly section 11)

Section 15 reserves are established by the provincial Cabinet by Order-in-Council. The reserves may be established for any purpose that Cabinet considers advisable in the public interest. The effect of designating these reserves is that the Crown land in question may not be disposed of under the Land Act. As mentioned above, the types of dispositions under the Land Act include the sale, lease, grant of right of way or easement, or licence of occupation of Crown land.

The policy of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks is that a section 15 OIC reserve may be used in the following circumstances:

• it reserves Crown land from alienation as a result of an acknowledged value or concern;
• it is an absolute reservation, and can only be cancelled or amended by a further Order-in-Council; or,
• it may be used where the land is of key or critical significance in a regional or provincial setting; or where it is in the public interest to protect land and maintain long-term options.

One example of how this designation has been used historically relates to provincial planning for hydroelectric development. Section 15 reserves have been established to prevent the lands agency from disposing of land which Cabinet wanted reserved for possible future reservoir purposes; for example, where dam construction has been proposed, but may be several years away or just a future possibility. Preventing the sale or lease of these lands prevents future complications with landowners or lessees and the need for expropriation and compensation in the event that the dam construction proceeds.

The designation can lead to confusion in terms of public expectation of what can and cannot occur in a Land Act reserve. For example, some might think that land designated as watershed reserve for community water supply purposes would preclude industrial activities, which could threaten or impact water quality. However, the designation only precludes dispositions under the Land Act, and does not preclude other disposition of resources under other legislation, such as minerals under the Mineral Tenure Act, or timber under the Forest Act. There are limitations on what the designation can achieve in terms of regulating land use.

 

Section 16 Map Reserves (formerly section 12) Section 16 Map Reserves (formerly section 12)

Reserves under section 16 of the Land Act are very similar in purpose and effect to section 15 reserves. The main difference is that they are temporary and are established by a decision of the minister responsible for Crown land, rather than by Cabinet. By policy, decision-making is delegated to regional directors responsible for Crown lands of the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. Section 16 map reserves temporarily withdraw Crown land from disposition under the Land Act, and have the same usefulness and limitations as section 15 reserves.

Agency policy notes that the designation may be used to support Crown land use planning designations for management by another agency, or market development by the lands ministry. For example, the Wildlife Branch may ask the Lands Branch to place a map reserve on an area they are considering for possible wildlife management area designation.

 

Section 17 Land Act Designation Reserves (formerly section 13) Section 17 Land Act Designation Reserves (formerly section 13)

In addition to withdrawing Crown land from disposition permanently (under section 15) or temporarily(under section 16), section 17 of the Land Act allows for conditional withdrawals from disposition. The minister may designate Crown land for a particular use related to the conservation of natural or heritage resources, and then place conditions on Land Act dispositions which preclude dispositions which, in the minister’s opinion, are not compatible with the purpose for which the land is designated.

Section 17 reserves have been used to designate uses such as wildlife management, hunting and fishing camps, alpine skiing areas, extensive agriculture, and industrial uses such as log handling and storage and energy production.

As described above, the designation is helpful as it allows Crown land to be designated for a priority use; however, it is limited in that it only precludes incompatible Land Act dispositions. The designation may lead to the perception that the specified conservation priority applies to all land use activities under provincial government management, but it does not preclude such activities as dispositions of logging rights under the Forest Act or mineral rights under the Mineral Tenure Act, even where the exercise of these rights may be inconsistent with the specified priority use of the land.

 

Section 66 Prohibitions of Use

Another mechanism for governing land use activities is found in section 66 of the Land Act. This section authorizes Cabinet to issue a regulation which prohibits specific uses of Crown land in designated areas.

Designated areas are areas specified in the regulations made under this section. Anyone who uses Crown land in contravention of the regulation commits an offence. This section has potentially broader application to regulate land use activities than designations under sections 15, 16 and 17, because it is not limited to reserving land from, or placing conditions on, dispositions under the Land Act. In theory the provision could prohibit any specific land use, including those normally managed by another agency. The legislation does not specifically say it is subject to other provincial Acts, perhaps because the power must be exercised by Cabinet. A question may arise under section 4 of the Land Act as to whether the minister responsible for the Land Act "has the administration" of the land in question, and therefore the authority to prohibit activities on it.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Land Act, RSBC 1996. c.245.

Policy: Land Management Manual, Volume 3: Land Use, c. 3.8, Reserves, Notations and Transfers. Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks (www.elp.gov.bc.ca/clb/).

 

4.1.5 MINERAL RESERVES

For most of the province, the minerals under the surface of the land, even private land, are owned by the Crown.

The exceptions are areas where early land grants deeded the right to subsurface minerals along with surface rights. The Crown severed or withheld conveyance of mineral rights in most areas when it originally granted Crown land to homesteaders. It adopted a free miner system in which any miner could stake a mineral claim and extract the minerals, and then pay a royalty to government.

Under the Mineral Tenure Act, the right to explore for and stake a claim to Crown minerals is quite broad. Anyone holding a free miner’s certificate may explore for minerals on any "mineral lands" in British Columbia. Mineral lands are any lands in which minerals or placer minerals are vested in or reserved to the government, including private land. The right of entry does not extend to:

• land occupied by a building;
• the area around a residential house;
• orchard land;
• land under cultivation;
• land lawfully occupied for mining purposes;
• protected heritage property;
• land in a park (provincial or national); and,
• land in a recreation area, unless authorized under section 23 of the Mineral Tenure Act.

However, construction of appropriate access into an area for mineral exploration is subject to any applicable higher level plan under the Code, and requires a permit under the Mines Act, written approval from the Chief Inspector of Mines, and a special use permit under the Code.

The mineral reserves designation is a method for the provincial government to place limitations on the otherwise broad right to stake and explore for minerals. The designation may be used for a variety of reasons. For example, the government may wish to place an area off-limits to claimstaking for a specified period of time although it is willing to having the area mined in the future, or it may wish to prohibit mining altogether. For example, it may establish a mineral reserve in an area of land without changing the underlying land use designation as provincial forest.

Mineral reserves are established by regulation. A mineral reserve regulation may:

• prohibit locating or recording of mineral titles;
• permit locating and recording of mineral titles under certain circumstances or limitations;
• prohibit mining activities in the mineral reserve, either absolutely or under circumstances specified in the mineral reserve; or,
• prohibit claim holders from obstructing the construction, operation or maintenance of transmission lines, pipelines or other works.

There are over five hundred mineral reserves and placer reserves in British Columbia.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Mineral Tenure Act. RSBC 1996, c. 292.

Regulation: Mineral Tenure Act Regulation. BC Reg. 297/88.

BC Gazette Schedule II lists all the areas in British Columbia which are designated as mineral reserves and placer reserves.

 

4.1.6 PROVINCIAL FORESTS

When the Forest Act was substantially revised in 1978, it required the Chief Forester to assess all the land in British Columbia for its potential for growing trees continuously, providing forest-oriented recreation, producing forage for livestock and wildlife, conserving wilderness, and accommodating other forest uses. The Chief Forester was required to classify as "forest land" all the land that would be considered to "provide the greatest contribution to the social and economic welfare of British Columbia if predominantly maintained in successive crops of trees or forage." Under section 5 of the Forest Act, the provincial Cabinet may designate forest land as provincial forest.

The main purpose of the designation is to control the disposition of land that is considered suitable for forest management. Land within a provincial forest normally may not be granted or sold (except for easements or rights of way) unless the Chief Forester considers that the purpose of the disposition is compatible with the uses allowed for provincial forests. With the exception of highways, transmission lines and pipelines, no disposition must be made of the fee simple interest in land in a provincial forest.

This is essentially how most of the province has come to be dedicated to forestry. The historic purpose of the designation was to prevent or limit alienation of public land for non-forestry purposes. However, just as Cabinet may designate forest land as provincial forest, it may also cancel a provincial forest if it considers it to be "to the social and economic interest of British Columbia." The Minister of Forests may likewise delete land from a provincial forest.

About 83% of the land in British Columbia has been designated by Cabinet as provincial forest. Much of this was designated around 1980 without public input or land use planning. It is by virtue of provincial forest designation that the Ministry of Forests is the primary land management agency in the province. However, because so much of the province falls under this designation, the permissible uses of Crown land in a provincial forest are very broad.

 

What Uses are Permitted Within Provincial Forests

The uses permitted in provincial forests are governed by section 2 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and the Provincial Forest Use Regulation. Section 2 states that land in a provincial forest must be managed and used in a way that is consistent with one or more of the following:

• timber production, utilization and related purposes;
• forage production and grazing by livestock and wildlife;
• recreation, scenery and wilderness purposes;
• water, fisheries, wildlife, biological diversity and cultural heritage resource purposes; and,
• any purpose permitted by or under the regulations.

The Provincial Forest Use Regulation specifies a long list of permissible uses which may be granted under the Land Act. Some, but not all, of the same uses may also be authorized by a special use permit issued by the Ministry of Forests. These uses are mostly ancillary to logging operations such as gravel pits, log dumps, and weigh scales. In addition, use and occupation of land in a provincial forest is permitted for purposes related to resource extraction under the Coal Act, the Geothermal Resources Act, the Mineral Tenure Act and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act. Uses authorized under the Wildlife Act (such as traplines and guiding), and any ancillary purpose (such as trapline cabins) are also permitted.

The permissible uses of land in a provincial forest are numerous. It could be inferred that the designation really just establishes forest management as the prima facie land use and the Ministry of Forests as the prima facie land manager. Applications for uses managed by other agencies trigger a "referral system" in which the various agencies with jurisdiction over land use review and comment on the proposals. Conflicts are resolved through regional Inter-Agency Management Committees, or if unresolved there, at more senior committees at the deputy minister or Cabinet minister levels. For areas of shared or overlapping jurisdiction, land management agencies will often develop agreements setting out their respective roles. These agreements are known by different names, such as "memoranda of understanding" and "protocol agreements."

Some uses require a special use permit issued by a district manager of the Ministry of Forests. Special use permits may be issued where the district manager is of the opinion that the use "would not impair the proper management and conservation of forest resources on Crown land in the [p]rovincial forest," and "will not impair the ability of any affected holder of an agreement under the Forest Act or Range Act to exercise its rights."

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Forest Act. RSBC 1996, c.157, Part 2.

Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. RSBC 1996, c.159, s.2.

Regulation: Provincial Forest Use Regulation. BC Reg. 176/95.

Policy: Higher Level Plans: Policies and Procedures, c.2.5.

 

4.1.7 TIMBER SUPPLY AREAS

Timber supply areas are not land use designations per se, because they do not determine permissible land uses. That function is served by the provincial forest designation.

Timber supply areas are established by the Minister of Forests under section 7 of the Forest Act, as the primary land unit for determining the rate of logging, known as the allowable annual cut (AAC), under section 8 of the Act.

This AAC may then be apportioned by the Minister of Forests for disposition of timber rights under the various volume-based tenures set out in section 12 of the Forest Act. The AAC for area-based tenures, such as tree farm licences and woodlot licences, is determined separately for each licence.

Historically, timber supply areas were preceded by smaller land units known as public sustained yield units. The designation of timber supply areas followed the passage of the 1978 Forest Act, and allowed the AAC to be calculated from larger areas, which in some cases allowed for higher AACs as timber inventory could be pooled among several public sustained yield units.

For Further Reference

Legislation: Forest Act. RSBC 1996, c. 157, ss. 5, 7, 8, 12.

 

4.1.8 DESIGNATED AREAS

Designated areas are designations under Part 13 of the Forest Act to allow flexibility in land use planning. Their main purpose is to allow the Minister of Forests to cancel, vary, suspend or refuse to issue cutting permits, road permits, plans and tenure agreements in areas which are being considered for protected area status or some other status which is incompatible with logging.

The designation has been used where the government wants to avoid a “talk and log” situation, and to preserve the status quo on the land base until final land use decisions could be made. Without the power to designate these areas, government felt it could be legally compelled to allow logging or road building to continue where prior permission had been given. Logging of public timber is not just a right under tenure agreements, but also an obligation, so that the government may be assured of stumpage revenue and forest workers assured of employment. The designated area status allows the Chief Forester to temporarily reduce the AAC in tree farm licence areas and timber supply areas to avoid the consequences of not logging the volume required by tenure agreements and under the cut control provisions in section 64 of the Forest Act. It also gives the Minister of Forests broad powers to suspend or vary various permits or plans made under the Act or Code, or to restrict the issuance of such permits or plans.

Use of designated area status is considered to be a last resort. In some situations it is unnecessary to specify designated areas if licensees will agree voluntarily to substitute alternative harvesting areas for the contentious areas pending final land use decisions. These are sometimes referred to as “log-around strategies.”

Designated areas may be specified by Cabinet for any area of Crown land on which it believes it “is in the public interest to do so.” The power to do so has been time-limited so that it can only be exercised until January 1, 2006. Designated areas all expire at that time as well, unless the Order-in-Council passed by Cabinet specifies an earlier expiry. Originally the power to exercise designated areas was to expire January 1, 2001, but amendments to the Forest Act have extended this provision; similar amendments would be required to extend it beyond January 1, 2006.

The designated area provision has been used on a handful of occasions. While land use discussions were under way in Clayoquot Sound, the designation deferred logging in areas which ultimately became protected areas or special management zones. Likewise, shortly after the provision was enacted, it was used to defer logging and road development in the Tahsish-Kwois, Brooks Peninsula and Nootka Island areas of the Strathcona Timber Supply Area, which were the subject of land use discussions through the Commission on Resources and Environment. In both instances, the designation was accompanied by interim reductions in the AAC. In October 1999, Cabinet established the Duu Guusd Designated Area on Haida Gwaii. It will be in effect until March 31, 2000. The area, held under licence by Husby Forest Products, is of great significance to the Haida Nation.

 

For Further Reference

Legislation: Forest Act. RSBC 1996, c.157, Part 13.

 

11.19.03