Lake Classification and Lakeshore Management Guidebook: Prince George Forest Region

Introduction

Under the Forest Practices Code, the class of every lake lying within an area for which timber harvesting or silviculture activities are planned must be identified in the operational plans for the area so that the special values of lakeshores—including fisheries, water quality, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, and recreation and visual quality—can be protected. This guidebook describes how lakes are classified, what the classification means, and the forest management practices that are recommended within the resultant lakeshore management areas.

Outlined here are:

the process by which lakes are classified into one of five categories, A (highest protection) to E, or determined to require no classification;
the criteria used for classifying lakes into these categories;
the widths of the recommended riparian reserve zones and lakeshore management zones for the various lake classes; and
the management practices that are acceptable within those riparian reserve and lakeshore management zones.

This guide focuses on forest and range management activities carried out within the riparian reserve and lakeshore management zones around lakes. Activities that occur outside these zones can, of course, also affect lakeshore values. Several other guidebooks describe procedures that are designed to protect those values:

the Riparian Management Guidebook addresses the values of streams flowing into and out of lakes;
the Biodiversity and Wildlife Habitat Areas guidebooks address wildlife habitat in upland forests beyond the lakeshore zones;
the Interior Watershed Assessment Procedures Guidebook addresses hydrologic impacts from activities in forest lands beyond the lakeshore zones; and
the Visual Landscape Management Guidebook deals with the visual quality objectives from lakes, within and beyond the lakeshore zones.

Note: The Biodiversity Guidebook recommends retention of mature forest patches as wildlife tree reserves and, in some landscape types, provision of a contiguous network of mature forests in forest ecosystem networks. In many situations it will be appropriate to use riparian reserve zones and/or lakeshore management zones to contribute to those biodiversity objectives.

Access management guidelines

Many of the fisheries, water quality, wildlife/biodiversity, and recreation values of lakes are more greatly affected by the level of public access to the lake than by forest harvesting or silviculture activities. Public access can result in overfishing, pollution, disturbance of wildlife, and a loss of the recreation experience provided by a lake.

Simply establishing riparian reserves and lakeshore management zones around lakes is usually not adequate for addressing these concerns. Access management must be given particular attention in forest development plans to ensure that the construction and deactivation of roads in the vicinity of lakes is conducted in accordance with strategic planning objectives.

The access objectives for lakes should be identified in higher level plans (such as Land and Resource Management Plans), in consultation with appropriate resource agencies and the public. The Recreational Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) objectives (laid out in the Ministry of Forests' Recreation Inventory) can serve to describe these access management objectives. In that process, lakes can be classified either as:

wilderness lakes, having a primitive ROS objective and allowing no roads within 8 km;
quality lakes, having a semi-primitive non-motorized or semi-primitive motorized ROS objective and allowing no roads within 1 km; or
general lakes, having a roaded resource land ROS objective and allowing road access to the lake.

Access management must be planned to meet those objectives, addressing such matters as:

proximity of roads and road quality
road deactivation
trails to lakes
boating restrictions
aircraft restrictions
recreation sites

Setting objectives for lakeshore management areas

Lakeshore management areas consisting of a riparian reserve zone and a lakeshore management zone have several objectives:

to prevent rutting, erosion, compaction and damage to lakeshore soils, sometimes associated with logging activity;
to provide shade, litterfall, insects, and a perpetual supply of large organic debris into the lake;
to filter upslope runoff and stabilize the lakeshore;
to provide habitat for forest-dwelling species associated with lakeshores, such as eagle and osprey nesting and roosting habitat;
to provide a visual barrier that helps maintain the visual quality and recreational experience from the lake; and
to provide a barrier that helps to reduce disturbance of wildlife species using the lake.

Lake classification

Basic requirements

All lakes greater than 5 ha in size require the establishment of a lakeshore management zone. For lakes >5 ha and <1000 ha this is established outward from the riparian reserve zone. Lakes >1000 ha have no legislated riparian reserve zone, but the reserve zones recommended in this guide book should be considered for portions of large lakeshores that have special values.
Lakes smaller than 5 ha in size do not have to be classified unless they have values that warrant lake classification, as determined by the district manager and a designated BC Environment official.
On large lakes (generally >1000 ha) different portions of the lakeshore of a lake may be assigned different classifications to reflect differences in lakeshore values.

Classification process

All lake classifications will be done by a District Lake Classification Committee, made up of the district manager or one or more designates from the Ministry of Forests, one or more designated BC Environment officials, and, as appropriate, representation from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Using inventory data collected from government agencies, the licensee and the public, the committee will assess the four primary resource values—fisheries, water quality, wildlife habitat and biodiversity and recreation and visual quality—according to set criteria. A lake's penultimate classification will be determined by the value receiving the highest rating (as shown in Table 1). The classification may be modified up or down, however, by the committee if it believes that other considerations or values justify a higher or lower rating for a lake. Those considerations might be, for example:

any direction provided by higher level plans;
the level of public use of the lake;
the presence of commercial or residential developments on the lake, such as lodges, marinas, cabins or houses;
the access objectives for the area, as described by the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) objectives. Lakes that occur within areas having a primitive or semi-primitive non-motorized ROS objective should be rated Class A regardless of how other values rate. Lakes within areas having a semi-primitive motorized ROS objective should be rated at least Class B.
other public input.

Note: If resource inventory data are not available, the recommended default classification of any lake greater than 5 ha in size is Class A. Typically, however, inventory data to identify Class A and B lakes will be available from resource agencies. Thus, in practice, the default will usually be Class C.

Table 1. Examples of potential lake classifications

Classification criteria

Lake classification criteria for each of the four main resource values are summarized here and listed, by lake class A to E, in Appendices 1-4.

Fisheries (Appendix 1)

The Prince George Forest Region encompasses all the Omineca-Peace and portions of the Skeena and Cariboo administrative regions of BC Environment.

In the Omineca-Peace Region, lakes provide habitat for nearly 50 species of game, non-game, threatened or endangered, and Native sustenance fish. In the Omineca Subregion alone there are more than 6000 lakes, of which approximately 3700 are considered to be productive for fish.

In the context of lakeshore management, lake classification for fisheries values is required to conserve fish stocks, protect present and potential lake habitat for fish, and allow for a variety of angling experiences. Specifically, the placement of a riparian reserve zone around a lake acts to maintain pre-harvest water quality for fish, while protecting spawning, rearing, nursery and food production areas. Riparian reserve zones are used in conjunction with access management to diversify the angling experience and protect fish populations sensitive to overharvest.

Water (Appendix 2)

In general, water quality should be adequately protected by the Class E riparian reserve and lakeshore management zone guidelines shown in Table 2. However, additional protection is required for water sources that are used for human consumption.

Wildlife/biodiversity (Appendix 3)

The greatest levels of protection are provided for "identified wildlife" and "species at risk" that occupy lakes or lakeshores, and for rare or special wildlife habitats. Information on those species and habitats can be obtained from BC Environment and the Conservation Data Centre.

For other lakes, the level of protection is related to the natural disturbance type (NDT) for the area. In NDT 1 and 2 forests (see the Biodiversity Guidebook), lakes were naturally surrounded by old and mature forests, and therefore a wide forest reserve is now recommended. In NDT 3 forests, wildfires commonly burned up to the lakeshore; in these forests, then, only a narrow reserve zone around the lake is required.

Recreation and visual quality (Appendix 4)

The lake classification criteria for recreation and visual quality are based on information that can be obtained from the recreation and landscape inventory maps in Forest District offices. Lakes are ranked for protection according to, in order of priority, feature significance, recreation inventory management class, and the visual landscape sensitivity. Generally, the higher the value, the greater the riparian reserve width required around the lakeshore.

Collection of inventory data

The District Lake Classification Committee should first gather any inventory data that are already available. Most Class A and B lakes and many Class C lakes can be identified in consultation with the appropriate resource agency based on existing information. The contacts are:

the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and BC Environment, for information on fisheries values. If inventories are required to determine the presence of any fish species as per Appendix 1, BC Environment should be contacted for a list of those species and a description of acceptable inventory procedures. (The latter must follow Resource Inventory Committee methodology.)
BC Environment and the Conservation Data Centre, for information on "identified wildlife" species and "species at risk" and on special or rare habitats that merit an A or B classification for wildlife/biodiversity values.
the Water Management Branch, of BC Environment for information on licensed potable water intakes and community watersheds.
the Ministry of Forests for maps of recreation and visual quality values.

Next, whatever additional inventory data are needed should be collected, starting with the resource value (of the four listed above) likely to be the most constraining. If information indicates that one of these already gives a lake a high classification, then collecting inventory data on the other resource values may be unnecessary. For example, if a lake is a Class A recreation lake, there is no need to collect information on fisheries, water quality, and wildlife/biodiversity values because the lake will be Class A regardless of the other values.

Establishing reserve and management zone widths

Once the classification of the lake has been determined, the width of the riparian reserve zone and the lakeshore management zone for the lakeshore management area can be set according to the figures shown in Table 2.

Basic requirements

FPC regulations require that all lakes between 5 and 1000 ha have a minimum 10 m riparian reserve zone.
The district manager, with agreement of the designated environment official, can vary the width of the riparian reserve zone for any lake or any portion of a lake.
Wider reserves are recommended for Class A to C lakes to protect their special values.
All lakes >5 ha have a lakeshore management zone that extends beyond the riparian reserve zone. Together, the riparian reserve zone and the lakeshore management zone are called the lakeshore management area.

The inner edge of the riparian reserve zone is measured from the natural high water mark of the lake or, if a lake is bordered by shrubs and other wetland vegetation, from the outer edge of the wetland vegetation (Figure 1; see also the Riparian Management Area Guidebook for wetlands).

The table shows the recommended width for the riparian reserve zone and the lakeshore management zone for each lake class. Wider riparian reserve or lakeshore management zones may be established as required to protect the reserve from windthrow or other disturbances.

Before harvesting or silviculture operations, any riparian reserve zones and lakeshore management zones within the proposed cutblock or treatment area must be flagged on the ground and identified on a map or air photo.

Table 2. Riparian reserve zone, and lakeshore management zone widths (slope distance in metres) by lake class

Table 2 shows the recommended widths for riparian reserve zones and lakeshore management zones along lakes. A 10 m riparian reserve zone is the FPC minimum requirement for all lakes between 5 and 1000 ha in size.
The wider riparian reserve zones on Class A to C lakeshores are regional recommendations to protect their special values. The recommended widths for reserves on Class A and C lakeshores are intended to be average values. In practice, riparian reserve zone width on Class A and C lakeshores should vary somewhat to follow topographic or forest type boundaries that provide the most windfirm edge. Wider riparian reserve zones should be established if they are required to protect the reserve from windthrow or other disturbances.

Figure 1. Sample of a lakeshore management area (LMA = RRZ + LMZ) (Not to scale)

Applying appropriate management practices around lakes

Forest practices within the lakeshore management area should comply with the following guidelines.

In the riparian reserve zones:

No harvesting is permitted within the riparian reserve zone. Only through the approval of the district manager, with agreement of the designated BC Environment official and (as appropriate) the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, may selected trees or groups of trees be removed or modified for such purposes as:
- conducting minor salvage operations;
- undertaking recreational site development;
- managing fisheries and wildlife/biodiversity values;
- reducing windthrow potential; or
- removal of danger trees which threaten worker safety outside of the reserve zone.
No roads are permitted within the riparian reserve zone, unless the district manager specifically approves them to provide access to a lake for recreation purposes, or if no alternative routes are feasible.

In the lakeshore management zone

Recommended silvicultural systems and tree retention objectives in any part of the cutblock that is within the lakeshore management zone are outlined in Table 3. These are based on forest type and Natural Disturbance Type.
No roads are permitted within the lakeshore management zone, unless the district manager specifically approves them to provide access to a lake for recreation purposes, or if no alternative routes are feasible.
Landings and excavated or bladed trails should not be situated within the lakeshore management zone unless no alternative locations are practical.
For information on acceptable range management practices within the management zone, see the Riparian Management Area Guidebook.

In areas adjacent to the lakeshore management zone

Practices outside the lakeshore management zone are not restricted by any of these lakeshore management guidelines.

Table 3. Recommended tree retention objectives and silvicultural systems for those parts of cutblocks that occur within the lakeshore management zone.

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