Bruce Larson

We want to assure FOCUS readers that the Forest Practices Board does undertake field visits to look at forest practices on the ground. But as a publicly funded organization, we are very careful about only doing so when necessary. In the case of the complaint Mr. Broadland refers to in this article, the question under investigation was whether the Ministry of Forests’ compliance and enforcement staff appropriately concluded that it was legal to harvest ten specific trees identified by the complainant. Confirming that the harvest was legally permitted did not require a field assessment. Mr. Broadland’s article raises some important questions, such as why land use plans are not always legally enforceable and whether forest inventories need to be improved. While we understand Mr. Broadland’s concerns, those questions were not part of the complaint we investigated. For more information on our complaint investigations, visit our website at https://www.bcfpb.ca/board/what-we-do/ Bruce Larson Acting Chair, Forest Practices Board