[Table of Contents]
7. AUDITS
ALASKA
There are provisions and requirements for inspection by the Department of Forestry but there are no provisions for independent audits under the forest practices legislation.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
An independent Forest Practices Board has been established to oversee the audit system and to investigate public complaints on forest practice issues. The Board must carry out periodic independent audits or special investigations to determine compliance under the Act, Regulations, or to determine the appropriateness of government enforcement (FPC Act, 1994, s. 176). Auditors must be independent of the person being audited and the Ministry of Forests. They also must be familiar with the Forest Practices Code, able to assess the environmental impact of forest or range practices, able to follow audit standards developed by the Board, and at least one member of an audit team must belong to an accredited professional body. An Annual report must be submitted by the Board to the Minister of Forests, detailing the audit activities carried out over the past year.
CALIFORNIA
Pre-harvest inspections may be required and compliance inspections are required. There is no provision for independent audits under the Forest Practices Act or Rules. However, there are other provisions for independent reviews. For example, The Little Hoover Commission (formerly the Milton Marks Commission on California State Government and Economy) is an independent state agency that investigates and reports on state government operations. The Commission recently completed a review of Timber Harvest Plans: Timber Harvest Plans: a flawed effort to balance economic and environmental needs. (Little Hoover Commission, Sacramento, California. June 1994).
FINLAND
The implementation of the Private Forest Act has been audited twice in the 66 years since its enactment date. The independent audits occurred in 1946 and in 1993 (Hellstrom, 1993). Finland does not do systematic performance audits. However, harvesting, silviculture activities, and forest improvement works are continuously monitored by the District Forestry Boards. Between 4 and 50% of forest activities are monitored, depending on the activity and previous experiences (J. Heino, pers. comm.). The areas are chosen randomly. In 1992, staff of the district forestry boards examined 4% of the harvesting areas (E. Hellstrom, pers. comm.).
A quality control system of the nature conservation efforts in state forests was initiated in 1994. Inspection groups with representatives from nature protection, recreational services and Finnish Forest and Park Service forestry staff will examine cutting areas that have been drawn at random from all areas cut during the year (Finnish Forest and Park Service, 1994).
GERMANY
Federal Republic of Germany
Performance audits of the forest administrations of the State Ministries of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry are conducted on an irregular basis by an independent institution. In Bavaria the institution is called the Bavarian Oberster Rechnungshof (Brinkmann, pers. comm.). A similar administrative board exists in Baden-Wurttemberg. The administrative boards check the financial spending of all state government ministries. Each state board is responsible to the parliament.
Within each state, the state forest administrative level audits the Administrative Forest District and the Administrative Forest District audits the Forestry Offices.
NOVA SCOTIA
There is no provision for formal, independent audits. The Province has the right to inspect the operations of a company, and where operations do not conform to the Standard Long Term Licence Agreement, or may cause damage to Crown lands involved, the company must stop work immediately (NS Standard Long Term License Agreement, 1993:18). Company staff are encouraged to participate in the inspection process to attempt to solve problems in the field (Eidt, pers. comm.).
ONTARIO
Under the Terms and Conditions of Class Environmental Assessment by the Ministry of Natural Resources for Timber Management on Crown Lands in Ontario, (1994), the MNR must undertake both interdisciplinary internal operational audits, and operational audits, through the appointment of suitably qualified independent audit teams (Reasons for Decision and Decision - Class Environmental Assessment, 1994:457-458).
OREGON
Preventative and compliance inspections by ODF are required but there is no requirement for independent audits in the Act or Rules.
SWEDEN
Implementation and operation of the Forestry Act are continually audited by the County Forestry Boards. The Boards are primarily concerned with the results of reforestation efforts and environmental aspects on harvested areas. The County Forestry Boards are also audited annually by the National Board of Forestry.
TASMANIA
Industry self-regulation and government-sponsored audit. Inspections are carried out under the Forest Practices Act by officers appointed by Forest Practices Board. However, a major timber processor has the legal right to have at least one person nominated by it to be appointed as a forest practice officer. Therefore, audits are not conducted solely by government employees. The Forest Practices Unit undertakes an annual survey of 15% of approved THP's (Wilkinson, pers. comm.).
UNITED KINGDOM
Adherence to basic standards is subject to several levels of monitoring and audit. Completed work is inspected on a spot-check, or sample basis before paying final grant instalments. Samples of afforestation or felling and regeneration are monitored to determine if plans were followed, as well as to determine if operations such as site preparation were properly carried out. Monitoring is carried out independently, and as well as by Forestry Authority staff. Independent monitoring is generally carried out by members of the Association of Professional Foresters.
U.S. FOREST SERVICE (REGION 6)
Regular inspections are carried out by teams of certified personnel. Also, an annual monitoring report, indicating how well planning objectives are being met, is required for each National Forest. Independent audits can be carried out by the General Accounting Office.
VICTORIA STATE
At present, the audit process in Victoria is an internal (CNR) process. Teams from another part of the state, usually comprised of forest planners, forest supervisors, soils and wildlife experts, conduct annual audits of approximately 8% of all forest coupes. This audit process has been active for two years (Leonard, pers. comm.).
WASHINGTON
There is no provision for formal, independent audits under the Forest Practices legislation. DNR must report annually on how regulations and voluntary processes are working, and on non-point (silvicultural) sources of water pollution.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
At the present time, staff inspections carried out by Forest Officers on a daily or weekly basis, are the only audit procedure. CALM has recently proposed a separate, new, independent Environmental Audit Unit. Contractors are self-regulating and supervisors or bush bosses are required to make sure that their crews comply with the Code or manual (Clarke, pers. comm.).
