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For The Record

REMOVING PRIVATE LAND FROM TREE FARM LICENCES

Aug. 22, 2008
Ministry of Forests and Range
 

Letters to the Editor

  • Tree Farm Licences (TFLs) are area-based forest tenures that provide long-term rights to access and utilize Crown land and Crown timber.  They were established in the 1950s to encourage forest industrial development, e.g., sawmills, pulp mills, and roads. 
  • TFL holders made significant investments in the infrastructure needed to help build the forest industry and to create jobs in British Columbia.  TFL applications usually included commitments to include privately-owned forest land within the TFL and co-manage it along with the Crown land.  This brought management to previously unregulated private lands.
  • Removing private lands from TFLs has been a long standing practice.  For example, this clause was in 1950s era TFL documents (Schedule “A” is the list of private lands within the TFL), “If at any time, or from time to time, part of the lands included in Schedule ‘A’ is found to be required for a higher economic use than raising forest crops, said lands may be withdrawn from the licence area on the consent of the Licensor and at the request of the Licensee, and after such withdrawal such lands will be deducted from Schedule ‘A’ and may be disposed of by the Licensee for the purpose for which they were withdrawn.”  Today, the authority to remove private land from TFLs is contained in the Forest Act.
  • Private lands generally have been removed from TFLs based on the merits of each request, and while most requests were for smaller areas, over the past 10 years larger areas have been removed. 
  • The Forest Act does not state what the minister must consider before making a decision regarding deletion of private land from TFLs, although the courts have determined that consultation with First Nations is required. 
  • Depending on the size of the proposed land deletion, the minister may consider forest management issues such as old growth management areas, wildlife habitat, recreational access, road access, water users as well as potential benefits to the province and the company when making his decision.
  • There is no provision in the Forest Act that requires compensation for returning private land to private management.  Companies do not pay stumpage on logs harvested from private land either within a TFL or outside a TFL.
  • Once deleted from a tree farm licence, private land is no longer subject to the TFL agreement, the Forest Act or the Forest and Range Practices Act.  However, statues such as the federal Fisheries and Species at Risk Acts and the provincial Heritage Conservation and Drinking Water Protection Acts continue to apply. Where the lands continue in forest production, it is likely that they will be covered by the Private Managed Forest Land Act and regulations.
  • Once a company has had its private land removed from a TFL, it remains obligated to work with the appropriate level of government on any future development plans or projects for its private land.
  • Of the approximately 2 million hectares of private forest land in British Columbia, about one per cent (17,200 hectares) are currently included in Tree Farm Licences.
  • In July 2008, the Auditor General released his review on the process that supported the Forests and Range Minister’s January 31, 2007 decision to allow Western Forest Products to remove 28,000 hectares of private land from some of its tree farm licences on Vancouver Island and the central Coast.
  • The Ministry of Forests and Range supports the Auditor-General’s recommendation for more inclusive consultation with the public and key stakeholders; but objects to the inclusion of information outside the scope of his review, based on conjecture, not fact. 
  • A copy of the ministry’s response to the Auditor General’s report is available online at: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/pab/media/letters.htm
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Letters to the Editor

August 20, 2008
Letter to the Editor
AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT
By Pat Bell
Minister of Forests and Range
Submitted: Times Colonist
Status: Not Published
I’m writing to respond to comments in your July 29 column, Watchdog finds bungling, negligence in forest deal that enriched company. [Read More]

July 18, 2008
Letter to the Editor
RATIONALE FOR REMOVAL OF PRIVATE LAND FROM TREE FARM LICENCES
By Pat Bell
Minister of Forests and Range
Submitted: National Post
Status: Not Published
I’m writing in response to your July 18 article on Campbell’s Cabinet. [Read More]

July 17, 2008
Letter to the Editor
CLARIFICATION ON COMMENTS ABOUT AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT
By Pat Bell
Minister of Forests and Range
Submitted: Times Colonist
Status: Not Published
I wish to clarify some of the remarks attributed to me in your coverage today of the Auditor General’s report on private land deletions from TFL 6, 19, 25. [Read More]