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 describes the use of Consent Agreements. To date, Council has entered into 21 Consent Agreements with Owners:
- 17 with respect to Section 11 of the Council Regulation, failure to provide notice of sale within 30 days of sale
- 3 with respect to Section 31 of the Council Regulation, failure to restock or successfully regenerate harvested areas within required timelines
- 1 with respect to Section 29(1) of the Council Regulation, failure to retain minimum number of trees in riparian area of Class C stream
Compliance Determinations: Council may determine whether or not an owner or a contractor, employee or agent of the owner 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. The last compliance determination by Council was made in November 2019, with a reconsideration in September 2020.
For more information, including a summary of compliance determinations and consent agreements, see the link to the Compliance Decisions webpage 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
- Annual Reports: outline of field assessments, reviews, investigations, & determinations
- Private Managed Forest Land legislation, including the Act and Council Regulation