Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

FSC PrincipleP6: EnvironmentalImpactComments from InterestedParties• TSR reports seem to indicateexcessive creation of mid seralstands; other work in TFL 14indicates patch sizes are decreasingsubstantially, snags are disappearing,etc. Seral stages are not met in someareas – especially low emphasisbiodiversity MUs.• There is not an emphasis on naturalregeneration as required by the BCStandard. The TSR Analysis Reportsinvolve the use of improved plantingstock.• There is problem with stand structureand retention of snags and wildlifetrees. There is also little dataregarding coarse woody debris.• Tembec does not meet therequirements for dominant and codominantretention in many cases.Assessment Team Responsefor the inefficiencies. The team imposedCAR 4/06 to address the impacts ofcattle grazing in riparian areas.• The RONV strategy in the SFMPbroadly states that structural classes areto be managed to fall within RONV.However, specific managementstrategies are not presented to achievethis objective for the early seralstructures. CAR 13/06 addresses thisshortcoming. Strategies are in place toaddress patch size and seral stagedistribution. The C & I process hasbeen established to monitor progresstowards meeting targets.• Tembec plants a high proportion of itssites, partly in response to the limitedsite disturbance in current loggingmethods and the potential for siteoccupancy by grasses. They do notshow a preference for naturalregeneration. However, their artificialregeneration methods do use seed fromlocal provenances as required byprovincial legislation and Indicator6.3.5 and many other practices favourthe in-filling of native species withinthe trees that are planted. The teamconcluded there is no non-conformance.• Through the strategies described in theSFMP, Tembec has developed acomprehensive management system torestore or maintain stand structuralconditions compatible with RONV atthe stand and landscape scales. The C& I process is tracking CWD and snagretention data.• Tembec conducted an analysis ofresiduals in cutblocks to evaluatecurrent practice against Indicator 6.3.9.The analysis indicates shortfalls in bothMSdk and ESSFwm BEC subzones,particularly in blocks harvested with acable system. The analyses ofcutblocks did not consider adjacentretention in WTP and riparian areas thatare allowed under the definition ofPage 28 of 89