Per a news release issued by the Forest Practices board, an independent audit of Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor) discovered that 10 bridges were not properly maintained as required by the Forest and Range Practices Act.
However, the audit, conducted by the Forest Practices Board organization did find that Canfor’s road maintenance and silviculture activities did in fact comply with the aforementioned act, according to the release.
“There are standards in the Forest Planning and Practices Regulation that licence holders must meet to ensure bridges are sound and safe for industrial users,” says Bruce Larson, vice-chair of the Forest Practices Board. “The bridges examined in the audit had structural deficiencies, but they were not closed or load-rated to warn users. This was a significant concern because two of the bridges had been used by oil and gas companies and four others were accessible by pick-up trucks and anyone could have driven over them.”
Larson continued. “Canfor responded to these findings in a positive and timely manner by removing one bridge and restricting access and posting new signs for the others.”
According to information listed in the news release, the audit that was administered by the Forest Practices Board examined activities under forest licence A17007, located north-east of Vanderhoof and Fort St. James in the Fort Nelson Resource district.
Since Canfor has not actually harvested any trees on this licence since 2008, the audit was limited to road and silviculture obligations, primarily focusing on forest maintenance and natural land restoration, per the news release.
The news releases states that although there were findings regarding bridge maintenance, Canfor’s active silviculture program managed to meet all the listed requirements for planting and establishing new trees and natural growth on harvested sites.
The Forest Practices Boards acts as an independent watchdog for British Columbia, choosing to focus on ensuring that safe and sound forest and range practices are being implemented by forestry companies.
The board reports its detailed findings and recommendations directly to the community impacted, the general public, as well as the provincial government.
The board audits and performs independent inspections on forest and range practices on public lands and observes and acts on the appropriateness of government enforcement. The Forest Practices board can also make recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.
