The underlying premise of the TFL #39 pilot project is that societal values for the provision of a wide range of forest values (i.e., recreation, aesthetic, hydrologic, and biodiversity values) from landscapes is currently reflected in the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. The TFL #39 pilot project will identify the biological growing potential of the productive forest using an unconstrained base case. This will be compared to a constrained case which reflects the current regulatory environment. The difference will define the disparity between potential forest growth and administratively available harvest rates. The pragmatic objective is to identify the spatial "pinch points" in achieving the potential of the forest, to target stand level silvicultural activities which overcome these (i.e., enhanced forest management opportunities), and to integrate these in a comprehensive landscape management plan.

The landscape management will rationalize the timing, location, and intensity of stand level management practices, the selection of harvesting systems and the focus of inventory and research expenditures. In short, find spatial solutions to implementing sustainable harvest rates.

The goals of the pilot project will be to:

• Quantify the potential for fibre production in the Block 2 study area;
• Facilitate and simplify the government agency approval process;
• Assess Forest Renewal BC (FRBC) silvicultural investments in terms of timing, location and intensity;
• Identify FRBC research initiatives that would fill knowledge gaps identified in spatial planning or ecological responses to silvicultural treatments;
• Develop effective public input/communication process;
• Test operational activities that increase forest level productivity;
• Transform the strategic harvest target to spatially explicit operational plans;
• Identify forest and stand level opportunities and develop creative and innovative solutions to achieving forest employment and revenue objectives in the short to medium term;
• Operationalize the draft land use objectives and zoning put forward in the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan;
• Develop procedures within a spatial framework for landscape planning to realize forest values; and
• Create a framework for implementation of adaptive management and track the achievement of Integrated Resource Management (IRM) objectives.

To achieve these goals efficiently, two landscapes within TFL #39 Block 2 (Adam and Eve River watersheds) have been selected which provide the full range of issues. These landscapes will prototype an effective process of bridging transition which can then be applied to the remainder of Block 2 and ultimately all of TFL 39.

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