Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

Management Units within the two timber supply areas. Tembec must follow these provincialstrategies in these units that fall within the operating areas of their two forest licences.Thus, the plan explains the legislative framework and context for pine beetle management anddescribes in detail the inter-related responsibilities of the provincial government and Tembec.With this context, the second half of the Plan then lays out in detail how Tembec will conductpine-beetle related harvesting and road construction activities to address and meet each of thestrategies set forth in Tembec’s Sustainable Forest Management Plan and protect the valuesidentified in the SFMP.Appendix 3 of the Plan includes a checklist that has been developed to provide operationalplanning staff guidance to ensure that this linkage to the SFMP occurs in all operationalplanning activities (i.e. not just those associated with Mountain Pine Beetle).SmartWood obtained an external review of this plan. The reviewer, who was familiar with thePre-condition and the circumstances related to mountain pine beetle in south-eastern BC,commented that the plan confirmed that Tembec is working closely with the provincialgovernment and local interested parties on various strategies and scenarios and is addressingcontingencies. He describes several aspects of the plan as “good”.This Pre-condition was a Principle 7 pre-condition – it was directed to the preparation andsubmission of a plan. The Mountain Pine Beetle Operational Plan submitted by Tembec is acompanion document to Tembec’s Sustainable Forest Management Plan (September 2005) andprovides specific information about how the company manages for Mountain Pine Beetleinfestations in the Cranbrook and Kootenay Lake Timber Supply Areas. The team concludedthat the submitted by Tembec contains the information set out in the Pre-condition.The plan has been sent to interested parties – WildSight and the Ktunaxa Nation Council.Tembec placed advertisements in local papers in the weeks of September 4 and September 11,2006 announcing that the plan is publicly available and providing information about howinterested parties could obtain copies. This meets the final requirement of the Pre-condition.Tembec’s current logging activities occur almost entirely in areas affected by mountain pinebeetle and involve the types of logging activities described in this plan. There is someindication that public concerns about the pine beetle harvesting that were identified during theassessment have also been expressed since the assessment. One recent concern about damageto recreational trails in the Kimberly Nature Park was brought to the attention of an assessmentteam member. Thus, is it very important to ensure that harvesting activities for mountain pinebeetle do in fact follow the measures and meet the commitments outlined in this plan. Theteam recommends that future annual audits should visit sites of recent pine beetle harvest, orsites where concerns have been raised, to confirm that the actual harvest activities confirm tothe measures outlined in this Plan. The external reviewer pointed out that the annual auditcould also address a concern that the Ministry of Forests and Lands makes Tembec harvest atunsustainable rates in an effort to salvage trees killed by the pine beetle. If issues related toharvest rates arise they can be addressed in the annual audits.Page 77 of 89