Council has several mechanisms that may be used to ensure compliance with the Private Managed Forest Land Act and regulations. Compliance mechanisms and decisions are outlined in the compliance section of this website.
The Private Managed Forest Land Act (Act) & Regulations place many requirements on the owners of private managed forest land. The Act also establishes mechanisms that may be used to ensure compliance with the requirements. The main mechanisms are consent agreements and compliance determinations.
Consent Agreements: This blog post from 2017 describes the use of Consent Agreements. To date, Council has entered into 14 Consent Agreements with Owners.
Compliance Determinations: Council may determine whether or not a person contravened a provision of the Act or Regulations. A compliance determination follows a formal investigation. The process is set out in the Compliance Determinations Procedure Manual.
There have been three recent determinations with respect to potential contraventions of the Private Managed Forest Land Council Regulation (Council Regulation):
- An owner contravened section 31 of the Council Regulation by failing to restock harvested areas within the required time period
- An owner and a contractor contravened sections 15 & 29 of the Council Regulation by causing a material adverse effect to fish habitat and failing to maintain sufficient trees in riparian areas
- An owner did not contravene section 28 of the Council Regulation with respect to tree retention adjacent to a stream
For more information, see the link to the Compliance Determinations Decisions in the RESOURCES section below.
Some formal investigations lead to a decision of no contravention and are closed before a formal determination is carried out.
RESOURCES
- Compliance Decisions webpage: includes procedures and links to compliance decisions
- Compliance Determinations Procedure Manual
- Compliance Determinations Decisions
- Annual Reports: outline of field assessments, reviews, investigations, & determinations
- Private Managed Forest Land legislation, including the Act and Council Regulation