Visual Impact Assessment Guidebook

Table of Contents

Appendix 1

Visual resource management concepts and principles

The purpose of this appendix is to explain, in general terms, how visual resources are managed by the Ministry of Forests in British Columbia.

The Recreation Manual and Forest Landscape Handbook provided guidance on visual resource management in the context of integrated resource management (IRM). However, the introduction of the Forest Practices Code in 1995 has seen changes made to many of those procedures and standards. This appendix summarizes the state of the art in the visual resource management approaches, procedures, techniques, and practices that are currently being developed or carried out in British Columbia to manage visual resources and maintain timber supply. For ease of use and understanding, these concepts and practices are presented using standard planning steps and terminology. When available, additional information or explanation is referenced for your convenience.

Step I: Inventory

• Visual landscape inventory is used to delineate, classify, and record areas in the province that are considered to be visually sensitive. This information is intended to assist land-use planners and resource managers in deciding appropriate land uses, resource development objectives, and management prescriptions.
• New visual landscape inventory standards and procedures were approved by the Director of the Forest Practices Branch in June 1997 and endorsed by the Resource Inventory Committee. These new standards incorporate a more systematic and comprehensive methodology, and all new inventories should be carried out to these standards to ensure consistency of application across the province (see the Visual Landscape Inventory Procedures and Standards Manual).
• All existing inventories will eventually be converted to the new inventory standards to remove the old recommended and approved visual quality objectives (VQOs) from the map label. This will eliminate the confusion with VQOs established under the Forest Practices Code Act.
• Twenty percent of a district’s visual landscape inventory should be updated each year. This will ensure that the inventory is brought up to date in 5 year’s time. It also rationalizes existing inventories, fills gaps, and improves the reliability and consistency of the inventory.

Step II: Planning

• Where strategic land-use planning is initiated or under way, Ministry of Forests visual landscape inventory mapping or Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture tourism capability mapping can provide the necessary information to identify the location of sensitive landscapes and known scenic areas, as well as provide management direction.
• Where landscape unit planning is initiated or under way, scenic areas may be identified and made known and VQOs may be established through this planning process.
• In the absence of higher-level plans, or for higher-level plans not specifically addressing the management of scenic areas and visual quality, district managers can use their own statutory authority to identify and make scenic areas known, and establish VQOs. (See Forest Practices Code Bulletin 16a for information on this subject.)

Step III: Analysis

• During the development of the new visual landscape inventory standards described above, recommended visual quality objectives (RVQOs) were removed from the inventory in order to keep the visual landscape inventory and analysis functions separate. Interim directions for carrying out visual landscape analyses are presented in a Forest Practices Branch memo dated August 25, 1997. Recommended visual quality classes (RVQCs) now replace the RVQOs of old. These classes are a specialist’s recommendation describing the level of alteration that would be appropriate for a visual sensitivity unit.

Uses of RVQs include:

• input to planning processes;
• input to Timber Supply Reviews (TSRs) (where the RVQC reflects current management practice); and
• operational guidance for managing visual resources in lieu of established VQOs.

Recommended visual quality classes are recorded as administrative attributes on the inventory file, but do not appear on visual landscape inventory maps.

• In those circumstances where a district manager or those involved in a planning process choose to establish VQOs within scenic areas, the effects on timber supply should be assessed or the results of already completed TSRs or timber supply analyses should be used.
• In circumstances where strategic land-use plans develop visual quality objectives, the results should be modelled in TSRs.
• Where timber supply analyses are undertaken, it is imperative that what is modelled as current management in TSRs reflects visual resource management as it is practiced on the ground within the Timber Supply Area (TSA) (i.e., do not model inventory data for an entire district if VQOs have just been established and are being managed on 30% of the inventoried area). (See Procedures for Factoring Recreation and Visual Resources into Timber Supply Analyses.)
• With the adoption of the Forest Practices Code and subsequent timber supply analyses, it was found that some TSAs exhibit a short-term timber supply problem related to integrated resource management. It may be possible to make up some of this shortfall by managing visual resources differently. (See Framework for Managing Visual Resources to Mitigate Impacts on Timber Supply.)

Step IV: Implementation of Forest Practices

• In areas where an approved government strategic land-use plan (e.g., regional plan or LRMP) or a higher-level plan is in place, these should be examined for direction on managing visual resources (e.g., such a plan may identify known scenic areas, in which case the district manager must ensure that the resource is adequately managed and conserved).
• In areas where VQOs have been established through higher-level plans or by the district manager, the Visual Landscape Design Training Manual provides design strategies for minimizing the effects of various forest practices on visual quality and the Visual Impact Assessment Guidebook provides the standards that must be achieved and recommended procedures for assessing whether the visual impact of proposed practices will meet the established VQOs.
• When harvesting is proposed in a scenic area, or in a scenic area with established VQOs, it is important that TSR modelling reflects on-the-ground management practices. This will ensure an adequate and timely timber supply contribution from these visually sensitive areas.
• Visual landscape design, as described in the Visual Landscape Design Training Manual, is an effective tool to evaluate whether or not measures specified to protect the scenic resource (as required by Section 10(1)(c)(ii) of the Forest Practices Code Act) are adequate to manage and conserve the resource.
• Integrated visual design is an effective tool for addressing multiple resource objectives (e.g., biodiversity, riparian management, and visual quality for a given area). (See Chapter 6 of the Visual Landscape Design Training Manual.)
• Where it is necessary to increase wood supply from scenic areas, two strategies are available. One or both may be implemented.
  1. Increase wood supply without relaxing visual quality classes by:
     • improving visual landscape design;
     • encouraging alternative silvicultural systems;
     • using lower visually effective green-up tree heights; and
     • identifying visual rehabilitation opportunities not requiring changes to VQCs.
  2. Modify management practices to increase wood supply by:
     • reassessing visual quality classes;
     • using minimum visually effective green-up tree heights; and
     • identifying visual rehabilitation opportunities that may require changes to VQCs.

Visual quality objectives that have been established by higher-level plans cannot be relaxed using district manager authority. (See Framework for Managing Visual Resources to Mitigate Impacts on Timber Supply.)

Monitoring

• Effectiveness audits are used to determine if Code provisions, including regulations, policy, and guidebooks, are effective; they provide the necessary information to manage the visual resource. Forest Practices Branch will work with regions and districts to schedule effectiveness audits on visual resource management.
• Compliance and enforcement inspections are used to determine whether on-the-ground operations achieved the objectives approved in the FDP. Visual resource management should be incorporated in the ongoing monitoring and inspection of forest practices.

Training

• Training of Ministry and industry personnel is an ongoing necessity to ensure consistent application of Code provisions, and for undertaking inventory, analysis, planning, and design procedures relating to the visual resource. Key areas requiring training include: new visual resource management policies, visual landscape design, visual impact assessments, and visual landscape inventory.