Appendix 1. Requirements and definitions for prescriptions approved under the Forest Practices Code 1995 Operational Planning Regulation (B.C. Reg. 174/95) (December 16, 1995-June 14, 1998)

The requirements and definitions of the 1995 regulation are the same as in the current 1998 Operational Planning Regulation, with the exceptions listed below.

1. Requirements for prescriptions approved under this regulation specified:

• the maximum percentage of the NAR that could be occupied by temporary access structures and the action, if any, that would be taken to rehabilitate temporary access; and
• the maximum percentage of the NAR that could be occupied by forest floor displacement.

2. Soil disturbance included continuous scalps as a category of counted soil disturbance.

The following provides a detailed description of continuous scalps and forest floor displacement.

Continuous scalp (C)

Continuous scalps were counted as a category of soil disturbance on areas under Forest Practices Code prescriptions approved or submitted for approval before June 15, 1998.

They are areas where the forest floor has been removed at the survey point and continuously for a length greater than 5 m. There is no width criterion for this category.

Continuous scalps are counted as soil disturbance on sites with:

• high or very high mass wasting hazard;
• high or very high surface erosion hazard;
• very high soil displacement hazard; and
• moderate or high likelihood of landslides, or where the hazards for soil displacement or surface soil erosion have not been assessed.

Forest floor displacement

Forest floor displacement, tallied by transect surveys (along with categories of soil disturbance), is symbolized on field survey forms with a circle drawn around the appropriate disturbance symbol.

Total forest floor displacement includes:

• any disturbance where forest floor has been removed;
• the exposed mineral soil surfaces of rehabilitated temporary access structures where forest floor is no longer present; and
• all areas where the forest floor has been completely consumed by prescribed burning.

Total forest floor displacement does not include:

• any disturbance where forest floor is not removed;
• intact or dislodged forest floor covered by deposits of mineral soil;
• any counted disturbance category covered with organic matter that does not qualify as forest floor removal (e.g., a rut where the forest floor is still intact);
• surfaces of rehabilitated temporary access structures where the forest floor has been restored in accordance with an approved rehabilitation plan (e.g., by application of a surface mulch);
• exposed mineral soil on mounds and berms created by mounding, disc-trenching, plowing, or other mechanical site preparation treatments, where the original forest floor is largely intact under the mound or berm; and
• exposed mineral soil resulting from mixing-type mechanical site preparation treatments, such as rototilling or bedding plow treatments.

Note: Do not count compacted areas, repeated machine traffic, or rut disturbance as forest floor displacement unless forest floor is removed at the survey point.