South Island Forest District:
Forest and Range Evaluation Program - FREP

FREP Mission Statement: To be a world leader in resource stewardship monitoring and effectiveness evaluations; providing the science-based information needed for decision-making and continuous improvement of British Columbia's forest and range practices, policies and legislation.

The FREP Objective - What is FREP, and Why Do We Do It?

FREP is a long-term commitment by government to:

• Assess the effectiveness of the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) in achieving stewardship of the eleven resource values identified under FRPA;
• Identify issues regarding the implementation of forest policies, practices and legislation as they affect the resource values identified under FRPA;
• Implement continuous improvement of forest management.

This will be accomplished by:

• Evaluating the status or trends of resource and ecosystem values and determining causal factors;
• Determining whether resource values are being managed in a sustainable manner through proven or alternative forest practices;
• Recommending options for changes to forest and range policies, practices and legislation, where required.

More information about FREP and an overview of how the program is structured and how all the FREP components fit together can be found in the publication "FREP Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy", available from this site's publication library.

Which Resource Values We Monitor in FREP:

The new results-based Forest & Range Practices Act (FRPA) identifies key forest and environmental values that must be maintained. The regulations related to FRPA (introduced in 2004) further define these values by providing a goal statement for each one. Links lead to more information, resources, and indicators for each value.
There are eleven resource values that FREP monitors:

• Soils
  Forest harvesting, site preparation, and range activities will protect soil properties, including the physical, chemical, and biological attributes in addition to the natural drainage patterns of the site.
• Timber
  Forest development will be conducted in a way that will not cause landslides, adverse gully processes and snow avalanches that place human life at risk, and that can damage public and private property and forest resources, including water quality in community watersheds.
• Wildlife
  All harvest areas will retain ecologically suitable wildlife trees in quantity, quality, and distribution typical of naturally occurring stand structure.
• Fish/ Riparian
  Forest and range activities will conserve fish, fish habitat, water quality, quantity, and timing of flow in community watersheds and watersheds that have significant downstream fisheries values.
• Water
  Stream channel dynamics, aquatic ecosystems, fish and fish habitat, and the water quality of all streams, lakes, and wetlands will not be harmfully impacted by forest and range activities.
• Biodiversity
  Harvesting activities will retain old forest and other age classes consistent with land use objectives established by government.
• Cultural Heritage
  Cultural heritage resources will be identified and appropriate management mechanisms established so forest or range practices do not impact them.
• Resource Features
  Forest and range practices will protect other unique resource features, such as salt deposits or an eagle wintering area.
• Recreation
• Visual Quality
  Forest development activities will achieve visual quality objectives within scenic areas.
• Forage and Associated Plant Communities
  Maintain or enhance forage quality and quantity for livestock and wildlife while maintaining healthy plant communities and biodiversity and minimizing undesirable disturbance to soils, water and riparian areas.

For more details on the above values visit the Provincial FREP Resource Values web site.

• Provincial Forest and Range Evaluation Program - FREP web site
• FREP Power Point Presentation (pps)

Photo: The SIFD FREP monitoring team

SOUTH ISLAND OFFICES

Ministry of Forests and Range
South Island Forest District
4885 Cherry Creek Road,
Port Alberni, B.C., V9Y 8E9
Phone: (250) 731-3000
Fax: (250) 731-3010

Mailing Address:
Ministry of Forests and Range
South Island Forest District
4885 Cherry Creek Road,
Port Alberni, B.C., V9Y 8E9

Ministry of Forests and Range
South Island Forest District
3819 Trans Canada Hwy
Cobble Hill, B.C., V0R 1L0
Phone: (250) 743-8933
Fax: (250) 743-7299

Mailing Address:
Ministry of Forests and Range
South Island Forest District
5785 Duncan Street,
Duncan, B.C., V9L 5G2