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 27 Consent Agreements with Owners, including six in 2022:
- 23 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
All six consent agreements in 2022 related to failure of an owner to provide a notice of sale within 30 days of sale of private managed forest land.
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. Council made one compliance determination in 2022, related to an owner failing to provide a notice of sale to Council within 30 days of the sale.
For more information, including a summary of compliance determinations and consent agreements, see the link to the Compliance Determinations 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.
- Compliance Decisions webpage: includes procedures and links to compliance decisions
- Private Managed Forest Land legislation: including the Act and Council Regulation