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C&E Staff - December 2005
The North Island - Central Coast (NICC) Compliance and
Enforcement Program is responsible to protect the public's interest in the
management of B.C.'s forests and the generation of revenue in the NICC Forest
District by:
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Enforcing environmental standards under legislation for
forest and range management carried out both by the government and by forest
and range tenure holders.
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Enforcing the revenue policies that govern removal and
transportation of timber, marking, scaling, marine log salvage, etc.
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Combating "forest crimes" (theft, wildfire arson, fraud,
mischief) which are a significant drain on provincial revenue and a
significant risk to other environmental, social and economic values.
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Enforcing regulations to minimize fire, pests and
unauthorized activities that threaten the province's forest and range
resources.
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Enforcing rules governing the use of Forest Service
recreation sites and trails.
The Compliance & Enforcement mandate is carried out through
consistent application of legislation, policy and procedures. Application
includes handling of public complaints, reports and enquiries, conducting
investigations and monitoring for quality assurance. Where there is
evidence of a contravention, an investigation is conducted, which may lead to
the issuance of a violation ticket, penalty, or other enforcement action.
The most serious forest crimes are prosecuted through the court system.
Specially trained staff in the Port McNeill office, Bella Coola
field office, as well as the regional special investigations unit, carry out
this mandate. Links to
District directory and
field office directory.
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Forest Crime
Forest crime includes theft, fraud, mischief, vandalism, and
arson and costs the people of BC millions of dollars every year. Our
staff investigate forest crimes and other incidents of alleged non-compliance
reported by staff, stakeholders, the public, and other agencies. To assist
C&E staff in identifying possible contraventions, the public has a
responsibility to report issues that may be non-compliant. For more
information on how you can assist, please see our
Reporting a Forest Crime page.
Before: Moss
used to cover up tree stump of stolen tree.
After: Moss
removed.
Revenue
To ensure that the crown receives its share of revenue we
randomly inspect sites for scaling and timber marking.
Environmental Inspections
We randomly inspect harvesting
cutblocks to ensure that licensees achieve the results specified in their
approved operational plans and legislation. When an inspection finds contraventions of an approved
operational plan or of legislation, the licensee may be issued either a warning
ticket or a monetary ticket. Contraventions of a more serious variety,
generally those that cause or have the potential to cause environmental damage,
are investigated and reported to a government senior official.
Silviculture Monitoring and Inspecting
.jpg) To
ensure that licensees reforest their cutblocks, we randomly inspect sites for
regeneration and to monitor silviculture obligations. There are
several challenges to achieving reforestation in the NICCFD, such as ungulate
browsing, alder and salal competition, and
hemlock dwarf mistletoe. C&E staff ensure that
licensees deal with these challenges (i.e. by providing seedling protection,
brushing treatments, etc.) so that their silviculture obligations are achieved.
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