Wednesday, March 21, 2007

BC Government new Bill affects forest fires, forest activities

Here is some recent government forestry news that I thought was worth posting. It seems the government is focusing on three 'timely' subjects; forest fires, First Nations, and mountain pine beetle.

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Announced on March 15

Under new provisions of the Forest and Range Practices Act, people causing damage that adversely affects an ecosystem, such as driving four-wheel drive vehicles in wetlands, or riding ATVs irresponsibly in alpine terrain or range lands, will face penalties of up to $100,000. Cases prosecuted in the criminal courts carry maximum fines of $100,000, up to one year in jail, or both.

Bill 18 also contains provisions to other statutes, including the Forest Act, Wildfire Act, Range Act and Forestry Revitalization Act to:

· enable local governments to reduce the threat of interface wildfires to their communities through changes to the Forestry Licence to Cut;

· streamline government’s ability to increase the volume and area of a First Nation tenure, and to protect potential Aboriginal rights and title;

· provide woodlot operators with greater operational flexibility to improve their economic stability; and

· make changes to provisions governing cutting permits to facilitate the prompt harvesting of mountain pine beetle-attacked timber.

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