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Regulations
- Forest Practices Code of BC ActOPERATIONAL AND SITE PLANNING REGULATION
PART 5 - SILVICULTURE PRESCRIPTIONS
Division 1 - Scope and Content
B.C. Reg. 107/98 Deposited April 2, 1998
O.C. 0426/98 effective June 15, 1998 (Consolidated to December 12, 2003)
Division 1 - Scope and Content
- 37. (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a person preparing a silviculture
prescription must carry out the following assessments and make available, upon request, to
the district manager the following information:
(a) if the
cutblock is in a known scenic area, a visual impact assessment
that demonstrates that the timber harvesting operations are
consistent with the established visual quality objectives for
that area;
(b) a terrain stability field assessment for the cutblock if
 (i) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 350/2002]
(ii) the
cutblock is not located in a community watershed, but is located in an area that has been identified in the forest development plan as having potentially unstable terrain or a moderate likelihood of landslides,
(iii) the
cutblock has been identified by the district manager as
requiring a terrain stability field assessment, or
(iv) indicators of potential slope instability in the cutblock are identified while
carrying out field work for the purposes of section 39 (3) (a) (iii);
(c) an
assessment of a gully in a cutblock located on the Coast,
carried out in accordance with the Ministry of Forests'
publication titled, "Gully Assessment Procedure Guidebook", as
amended from time to time, if a person is proposing to carry out
timber harvesting in the gully;
(d) a pest
incidence survey, if required by the district manager, to
determine the nature and extent of the forest health factors in
the cutblock;
(e) an archaeological impact assessment that meets the requirements of the minister
responsible for the Heritage Conservation Act if the
district manager is satisfied that the assessment is necessary
to adequately manage and conserve archaeological sites in the
area;
(f) a riparian assessment to
(i) determine
the riparian class of streams, wetlands and lakes, and
(ii) identify fish streams in community watersheds
that are in or adjacent to the area under the prescription.
(2) Despite subsection (1) (b), the terrain stability field assessment is not required if
the cutblock is shown on a forest development plan as being located on an area having a
moderate likelihood of landslides, and
(a) all the following conditions are met:
(i) the area
is located in the Interior;
(ii) the
proposed timber harvesting method is cable or aerial;
(iii) no excavated or bladed trail will be constructed, or
(b) the assessment has been carried out for the purpose of locating a road and the
assessment included the area to be harvested.
(3) Information
required by this section is not part of the silviculture
prescription.
(4) For a minor
salvage operation or an expedited major salvage operation, a
visual impact assessment is not required unless requested by the
district manager in writing.
(5) For an emergency harvesting operation, no assessments are required unless the district
manager requests in writing that a terrain stability field assessment be carried out, in
which case the person responsible for the silviculture prescription must comply with the
request.
- 38. A silviculture prescription must contain a statement that, with respect to an
assessment referred to under section 37 or the information referred to under section 39
(3) (a),
(a) procedures
required by this regulation have been followed for any
assessment that is required under section 37 or that is required
to provide information referred to under section 39 (3) (a),
(b) the
silviculture prescription is consistent with the results or
recommendations of any assessment required under section 37, and
(c) the proposed silviculture prescription complies with section 4 (2), 26 (2) and (3) of the Timber Harvesting and Silviculture Practices Regulation, with respect to the prohibition against constructing excavated or bladed trails.
- 39. (1) In this
section:
"all layers" means the mature layer, the
pole layer, the regeneration layer and the sapling layer;
"mature layer" means the layer of trees
that have a stem diameter of 12.5 cm or greater measured at a
height of 1.3 m;
"pole layer" means a layer of trees that
have a stem diameter greater than or equal to 7.5 cm, but less
than 12.5 cm, measured at a height of 1.3 m;
"regeneration layer" means the layer of
trees that is less than 1.3 m in height;
"sapling layer" means the layer of trees
that have a stem diameter of less than 7.5 cm measured at a height
of 1.3 m;
"stocking requirements" means all of the following:
(a) for clearcutting, patch cutting and group selection, group shelterwood, group seed
tree, retention system and clearcutting with group reserves, all of the following:
(i) the
preferred and acceptable species of trees;
(ii) the
minimum allowable horizontal distance between trees of the
preferred and acceptable species required for the trees to be
considered to be well spaced;
(iii) the
target number of healthy, well spaced trees of the preferred
and acceptable species per hectare;
(iv) the
minimum number of healthy, well spaced trees of the preferred
and acceptable species required per hectare;
(v) the
minimum number of healthy, well spaced trees of the preferred
species required per hectare;
(vi) the
maximum number of coniferous trees allowed per hectare in a
free growing stand;
(vii) the
maximum and minimum number of healthy, coniferous trees
allowed per hectare in a free growing stand after a spacing
treatment has been carried out under section 41 of the Timber Harvesting and Silviculture Practices Regulation;
(viii) the required standards that must be met by a healthy, well spaced tree of a
preferred or acceptable species in a free growing stand, including
(A) the
minimum height, and
(B) the height of the tree relative to competing vegetation within a radius of one m of
the tree trunk;
(ix) the minimum pruning height that must be met by a crop tree at the end of the free
growing assessment period if
(A) control
of white pine blister rust is necessary to achieve a healthy
free growing stand by the end of the free growing assessment
period, or
(B) stand densities required to achieve wildlife habitat management objectives approved
for the area in the forest development plan that applies to the area under the
prescription are at least 30% lower than the minimum stocking levels set out in the
Ministry of Forests' publication "Establishment to Free Growing Guidebook", as
amended from time to time;
(b) for commercial thinning, harvesting of poles, sanitation treatments and other
intermediate cuttings that do not have regeneration objectives,
(i) the
preferred and acceptable species of trees,
(ii) the stand
structure and composition goals, including the planned
residual basal area or density per hectare, and
(iii) the species and function of any trees that will be left standing to satisfy
non-timber resource objectives;
(c) for even-aged partial cutting not described in paragraph (a),
(i) all of the
requirements referred to in paragraph (a), and
(ii) the stand structure and composition goals, including the planned residual basal area
or density per hectare;
(d) for single tree selection, all of the following:
(i) for all
layers, the preferred and acceptable species of trees;
(ii) for the
regeneration, sapling and pole layers, the minimum allowable
horizontal distance between trees of the preferred and
acceptable species required for the trees to be considered to
be well spaced;
(iii) for all
layers, the target number of healthy and well spaced trees of
the preferred and acceptable species per hectare;
(iv) for all
layers, the minimum number of healthy, well spaced trees of
the preferred and acceptable species required per hectare;
(v) for all
layers, the minimum number of healthy, well spaced trees of
the preferred species required per hectare;
(vi) for the
sapling layer, the maximum number of coniferous trees allowed
per hectare in a free growing stand;
(vii) for the
sapling layer, the maximum and minimum number of coniferous
trees allowed per hectare in a free growing stand after a
spacing treatment has been carried out under section 41 of the Timber Harvesting and Silviculture Practices Regulation;
(viii) the
planned residual basal area per hectare;
(ix) the
approximate number of trees by diameter class;
(x) for the required standards that must be met by a healthy, well spaced tree of a
preferred or acceptable species at free growing, including
(A) the
minimum height for the regeneration, and
(B) the height of the tree relative to competing vegetation within a radius of one metre
of the tree trunk for the regeneration.
(2) A person must ensure, for the area under the silviculture prescription, that the
silviculture prescription describes the location of the following:
(a) areas from
which timber is to be harvested;
(b) areas where
timber was destroyed or damaged;
(c) for a
contravention of section 96 of the Act, the area from which
timber was cut, removed, damaged or destroyed in contravention
of that section;
(d) mappable reserves, including
(i) reserves for the retention of wildlife trees, and
(ii) riparian reserve zones.
(3) A person must ensure, for the area under the silviculture prescription, that the
prescription does the following:
(a) specifies
(i) the
biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification,
(ii) for any
area identified in a forest development plan that will be
harvested using a harvest method other than cable or aerial,
the hazards for soil compaction, soil erosion and soil
displacement,
(iii) any
indicators of potential slope instability, if a terrain
stability field assessment has not been carried out,
(iv) if
temporary access structures are being proposed, the depth to
unfavourable subsoil, the type of unfavorable subsoil, and
(v) if an excavated or bladed trail is being proposed in a community watershed, the risk
of sediment delivery to streams;
(b) if the pest
incidence survey carried out under section 37 (1) (d) identifies
significant forest health risks, specifies measures to reduce
those risks;
(c) describes
the silvicultural system to be used, including the species and
function of any trees to be left standing;
(d) without
limiting paragraph (c), for group selection silvicultural
systems, contains a description of the range and approximate
average size of openings;
(e) describes
any critical site conditions that affect the timing of
operations and the manner in which they affect them;
(f) describes
the total area under the prescription, including areas of rock,
water, swamp, reserves and any other area whether or not it is
capable of growing a stand of trees;
(g) describes
the net area to be reforested;
(h) sets out the
maximum proportion, if any, of the total area referred to in
paragraph (f) that may be occupied by permanent access
structures;
(i) sets out the
maximum proportion, if any, of the net area to be reforested
that may be occupied by soil disturbance;
(j) sets out the
maximum extent to which the soil disturbance limits specified in
paragraph (i) may be temporarily exceeded to construct temporary
access structures;
(k) identifies
(i) those
portions of the cutblock where excavated or bladed trails may
be constructed,
(ii) the
maximum and average height of cutbanks, for excavated or
bladed trails, and
(iii) the equipment to be used for trail construction if other than an excavator;
(l) the maximum
time to complete rehabilitation of temporary access structures,
measured from completion of timber harvesting;
(m) describes
(i) the volume
and range of piece sizes of coarse woody debris, if any,
necessary or required to accommodate any objectives for coarse
woody debris established in a forest development plan and that
are applicable to the area under the prescription,
(ii) the site
conditions that must exist, if any, after a harvest or site
treatment to accommodate forest resources identified in the
forest development plan or, in the absence of a forest
development plan, in any higher level plan that applies to the
area,
(iii) the site conditions that must exist, if any, after a harvest or site treatment to
accommodate
(A) known
non-timber forest resources on or adjacent to the area under
the prescription that were not referenced in subparagraph
(ii), and
(B) resource features identified in the forest development plan or silviculture
prescription, and
(iv) actions, if any, that are necessary to adequately manage and conserve archaeological
sites;
(n) indicates if
livestock grazing is proposed to be carried out as a vegetation
management treatment on the area under the prescription;
(o) contains the
stocking requirements;
(p) contains the
regeneration date;
(q) contains the
free growing assessment period;
(r) if the prescription is for the holder of a major licence, contains the signature of
the holder or a person who has authority to sign the prescription on behalf of the holder.
(4) A person must ensure, for the area under a silviculture prescription and the area
adjacent to that area, that the prescription describes or contains all of the following:
(a) a map that illustrates the following items:
(i) the total
area under the prescription outlined in subsection (3) (f);
(ii) all streams, wetlands, lakes, and
(A) their
riparian class, and
(B) if they are streams in a community watershed, whether they are fish streams;
(iii) a known
forest ecosystem network;
(iv) a wildlife habitat area that is identified as known in the forest development plan in
which the cutblock is proposed to achieve category A status, or in the forest development
plan in which the part of the forest development plan that is the cutblock, is amended, but the location of the wildlife habitat area must
not be shown if the designated environment official makes it known
that the location of the wildlife habitat area is not to be included in operational plans;
- (v) sensitive areas;
(vi) known
resource features, other than domestic water supply intakes;
(vii) known
licensed domestic water supply intakes and related water
supply infrastructure;
(viii) known
community water supply intakes and related water supply
infrastructure;
(ix) known
temperature sensitive streams;
(x) the
approximate location of permanent access structures other than
gravel or rock pits;
(xi) the
approximate location of gravel pits and rock pits, if they are
proposed for construction within 20 m of the top of a gully
sidewall or the outer edge of a riparian management area;
(xii) the
approximate location of temporary roads and landings;
(xiii) the
biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification;
(xiv) the approximate location of a gully
(A) located
on the Coast if the gully is identified in a gully
assessment as requiring special management to address the
concerns referred to in subsection (6), or
(B) located in the Interior if the gully requires special management to address the
concerns referred to in subsection (6);
(xv) the approximate location and type of stream crossings;
(b) for each stream and wetland
(i) the
riparian reserve zone, a description of the purpose and extent
of any removal or modification of trees that the person
proposes to carry out in the riparian reserve zone and any
related forest practices that the person proposes to carry out
in this zone, and
(ii) the riparian management zone and a description of the residual basal area or stems
per hectare to be retained;
(c) for each lake in and adjacent to the area,
(i) where
applicable, the known lake class,
(ii) the
information required in paragraph (b) (i) and (ii), and
(iii) the lakeshore management zone and the residual basal area or stems per hectare to be
retained.
(5) If harvesting is proposed for areas that are within a riparian management area or
lakeshore management area, a person must ensure that the silviculture prescription
(a) states
whether falling or yarding across streams will be undertaken
and, if falling or yarding across streams will be undertaken,
describes the measures for debris management, and
(b) describes the measures for
(i) protecting
stream banks, if the stream has no riparian reserve zone, and
(ii) maintaining shade over known temperature sensitive streams.
(6) If harvesting is proposed for a gully on the Coast that is within the area under the
silviculture prescription, a person must ensure that the silviculture prescription
describes the measures consistent with the gully assessment referred to in section 37
(1) for
(a) debris
management,
(b) protecting
gully banks, minimizing damage to the understorey and addressing
sediment and debris transport potential, and
(c) felling and yarding across gullies, if proposed.
(7) Repealed [B.C. Reg. 350/2002]
(8) A silviculture prescription prepared for commercial thinning, harvesting of poles,
sanitation treatments and other intermediate cuttings without regeneration objectives,
(a) need not
meet the requirements of subsection (3) (c), (n), (p) and (q),
and
(b) must specify that the silviculture prescription only covers commercial thinning,
harvesting of poles, sanitation treatments or other intermediate cuttings without
regeneration objectives.
- 40. If the district manager exempts a person from the requirement for a
silviculture prescription under section 30 of the Act,
(a) the district
manager may place conditions on the person, and
(b) the person must comply with the conditions.
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