0565-B1
Albert Bisschop[1], Nancy Houle and Dirk Kloss
The province of Ontario has over 70 million ha of forest land, of which approximately 49 million hectares are publicly owned (Crown) land. These Crown lands are the principal wood supply source for Ontario’s forest products industry. The Crown forest is divided into management units for the purposes of managing the forest. Most management units are managed by individual forest companies, under a Sustainable Forest Licence. Forestry activities on Crown land occur in accordance with government-approved forest management plans prepared by the Sustainable Forest Licensee.
Ontario’s forest management planning system is based on a legal and policy framework with sustainability, public and Aboriginal involvement, and adaptive management as key elements. The Crown Forest Sustainability Act and the Environmental Assessment Act provide the legislative framework for forest management in Ontario. Since 1996, the Forest Management Planning Manual, a regulation under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, has provided the direction for the preparation and approval of forest management plans to meet the requirements of those two Acts.
Ontario’s forests cover over 70 million hectares, of which approximately 56 million hectares are classed as productive forest lands (Forest Resources of Ontario: MNR 2002). The productive forest on publicly owned (Crown) land covers approximately 49 million hectares, with 26 million hectares of this area eligible for forestry activities (Forest Resources of Ontario: MNR 2002). In 1999, Ontario’s diverse forest products industry provided direct, indirect and induced employment for 249,000 people (Annual Report on Forest Management: MNR 2002). The wood supply source for much of the industry is the Crown forest lands. The annual harvest from those lands is approximately 22 million cubic metres, and annual forest renewal expenditures on those lands are approximately $109 million (Annual Report on Forest Management: MNR 2002).
Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is responsible for forest management on provincial Crown lands under the auspices of Ontario’s Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA). The MNR grants Sustainable Forest Licences to forest companies to harvest timber from those lands. The Sustainable Forest Licence holder is responsible for carrying out the activities of forest management planning, harvest operations, access road construction, forest renewal and maintenance, monitoring and reporting, subject to MNR regulations and approvals.
For forest management purposes, provincial Crown lands are subdivided into approximately 50 management units (Figure 1), most of which are managed by individual forest companies under Sustainable Forest Licences. The managed forest of those management units varies in size from approximately 210,000 hectares to 1.8 million hectares, with an average size of 699,000 hectares. In accordance with the requirements of the CFSA and its regulations, in particular the Forest Management Planning Manual (FMPM), the individual forest companies are required to produce a forest management plan every five years and annual work schedules annually for approval by MNR.
Figure 1. Management Units in Ontario
Over the past two decades, management of Ontario’s Crown forests has evolved from managing for timber, to managing the forest for all values. Ontario’s Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) is a progressive statute that came into effect in 1994, placing Ontario in the forefront with a sustainable approach to forest management. The CFSA and MNR’s Policy Framework for Sustainable Forests (1995) provide the legal authority and forest policy framework for Ontario’s commitment to the goal of forest sustainability, and establish the fundamentals of an adaptive, ecosystem-based approach to the management of Ontario’s Crown land forest resources.
The Forest Management Planning Manual, regulated under the CFSA in 1996, provides the direction for preparation and approval of a forest management plan. As required by the CFSA, the Forest Management Planning Manual addresses requirements for:
the contents and preparation of forest management plans, forest operations prescriptions and work schedules, including the public involvement and decision-making processes for forest management plans and work schedules;
objectives that must be compatible with the sustainability of the forest;
identifying indicators for assessing the achievement of objectives and for assessing the sustainability of the forest.
The CFSA and the Forest Management Planning Manual require that a forest management plan contain a description of the current structure, composition and condition of the forest; management objectives related to forest diversity, social and economic matters, other forest cover dependent values, and silviculture; and a description of the future structure, composition and condition of the forest. The CFSA also requires that MNR must not approve a forest management plan until it is satisfied that the plan provides for the sustainability of the forest, which includes having regard for plant life, animal life, water, soil, air, social and economic values, including recreational values and heritage values. Sustainability is determined for each management unit, in accordance with the requirements of the Forest Management Planning Manual.
The Forest Management Planning Manual also provides the detailed requirements for the planning of access, harvest, renewal and maintenance operations. As a regulation under the CFSA, the Forest Management Planning Manual serves as the singlemost comprehensive and important manual governing forest management planning for Ontario’s Crown forests.
Another provincial statute, the Environmental Assessment Act (EA Act), has had a significant influence on Ontario’s forest management program. In the 1980s and early 1990s, an environmental assessment of Ontario’s forest management program, including public hearings, resulted in the environmental approval to carry out the forest management activities of access, harvest, renewal and maintenance, subject to terms and conditions. The majority of those terms and conditions addressed forest management planning, monitoring and reporting matters that are delivered at the management unit level. Those terms and conditions have been fully incorporated into the Forest Management Planning Manual.
A major theme of the terms and conditions of the EA Act approval is public involvement in forest management decision-making for each management unit. Comprehensive public involvement provisions include the requirement for citizens advisory committees, direct involvement with interested and affected parties, Aboriginal consultation, and general public consultation.
Ontario’s Forest Management Planning Manual provides direction for the preparation and approval of forest management plans. The primary goal in every forest management plan is to achieve a healthy, sustainable forest ecosystem, which is vital to the well being of forest-based, as well as non-forest based, Ontario communities. All plans are prepared by a Registered Professional Forester, with the assistance of a multi-disciplinary planning team, local citizens committee and interested members of the public.
The forest management planning process is focussed around formal public consultation opportunities at key stages. The process involves two phases: a strategic planning phase and an operational planning phase, where public involvement in decision-making is key to the progression from one phase to the next.
In the strategic planning phase, the long-term direction for managing the forest of the management unit is determined, then assessed using criteria and indicators, to ensure it provides for the sustainability of the forest. Also in this phase, desired benefits from the forest are identified and translated into management objectives. Variable levels for those objectives, and varying strategies for their achievement, are analyzed. In the analysis, advanced modelling techniques are used to predict the short, medium and long-term economic, social and environmental outcomes of different forest management options. The result of the analysis is the establishment of a sustainable long-term management direction for the management unit.
After public acceptance of the long-term direction, the operational planning phase proceeds with the identification of the areas of operations for the next five years, and detailed planning of access road locations and harvest, renewal and tending prescriptions for those areas. Where operations may affect resource values or areas of interest to stakeholders and interested and affected parties, specific prescriptions are developed to protect those values.
Before planning can begin, the context in which a plan is developed must be established. The important elements of the context for planning include the current forest condition, historical forest condition, and broader management direction. Broader management direction includes legislation, MNR policy, regional strategies, land use decisions and accepted silvicultural practices.
Initially, the planning team classifies the forest into forest units. Forest units are defined as "aggregations of forest stands, for management purposes, which normally have similar species composition; develop in a similar manner (both naturally and in response to silvicultural treatments); and are managed under the same silvicultural system. Determination of forest units is based on considerations such as site, economics and product requirements." (Forest Management Planning Manual for Ontario’s Crown Forests: MNR 1996). Forest units are the basis for predicting how a forest develops, and also are the basis for the quantifiable objectives in a forest management plan.
In a forest management plan, objectives are developed for desired benefits or outcomes that can be achieved by managing forest cover. The planning team and local citizens committee determine what those desired benefits or outcomes should be. Those desired benefits or outcomes may be economic, such as a continuous and predictable supply of suitable wood, or social and environmental, such as the maintenance of white pine old growth. The desired benefits or outcomes are then translated into objectives, in four categories as required by the CFSA and the Forest Management Planning Manual:
silviculture.
The planning team develops a sustainable management strategy to meet all objectives through an iterative process that involves analysis of various combinations of objective benefit levels and management approaches. These combinations are evaluated for their ability to provide the desired benefits in a sustainable fashion over time. The evaluation results in the selection of a sustainable management strategy that is taken to the public for their review. After consideration of the public input, the sustainable management strategy is modified or confirmed and is used to guide the planning of forest operations.
Analysis is critical to the development of a sustainable management strategy for a forest. Analysis helps to define the extent to which objectives can be achieved, and to assess the implications of managing the forest under various management strategies. The analysis also includes assessments of sustainability.
The tools or models used in the analysis must be able to project various types of information through time, including forest condition, forest dynamics, areas treated, finances, wood supply, areas of potential wildlife habitat and forest diversity. These projections are used to analyze the implications of various management approaches.
Analysis usually starts by focussing on non-spatial aspects of objectives and sustainability, (i.e. the questions of how much and when in the future). As a management strategy is refined, the spatial aspects of objectives and sustainability are considered (e.g., the location and arrangement of harvest areas). This approach allows a large number of strategies to be examined relatively quickly, using strategic analytical tools that are not spatially explicit. The more complex and time-consuming spatially explicit analysis is conducted after harvest areas have been selected.
The approach to determining sustainability is consistent with Ontario’s framework of forest sustainability criteria, critical elements, and indicators. Ontario’s framework is based on a federal framework developed by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers.
Ontario’s framework includes seven criteria:
1. To conserve biological diversity in Ontario’s forests;
2. To maintain and enhance forest ecosystem condition and productivity in Ontario;
3. To protect and conserve Ontario’s forest soil and water resources;
4. To maintain Ontario’s forest contributions to global ecological cycles;
5. To provide for a continuous and predictable flow of economic and social benefits from Ontario’s forests;
6. To accept Ontario’s social responsibilities for sustainable forest development; and
7. To maintain and enhance Ontario’s overall framework for sustainable forest management.
Of these criteria, only two criteria are used in the assessment of sustainability during the development of a forest management plan. The six indicators associated with these two criteria are identified in the following table:
|
Criterion |
Indicator |
|
1. Biodiversity |
Landscape pattern (spatial) |
|
Frequency distribution of clearcut and wildfire sizes (spatial) |
|
|
Forest diversity (non-spatial) |
|
|
2. Multiple Benefits to Society |
Managed Crown forest area available for timber production (non-spatial) |
|
% of Available Harvest Area which is actually utilized (non-spatial) |
|
|
Habitat for selected wildlife species (non-spatial) |
For each of the indicators, acceptable levels are determined for the management unit through a process that considers natural forest development in the absence of harvest. The proposed management strategy is analyzed in relation to the acceptable levels for the indicators, to ensure a sustainable approach for managing the forest. The acceptable levels for each indicator and the results of the management strategy’s assessment in relation to those levels is summarized in a table in the forest management plan.
The remaining criteria (2.3.4,6,7) and a broader set of indicators are used to assess sustainability after activities are carried out through the management unit annual reporting, or through provincial level reporting at scales higher than the management unit.
In Ontario, harvest levels are regulated on the basis of area. The Available Harvest Area, expressed by forest unit and age class, is determined as part of the strategic level analysis that results in a sustainable management strategy for the management unit. The Available Harvest Area represents the maximum area that can be selected for harvest for the term of the plan.
By expressing Available Harvest Area on an area basis, both timber and non-timber objectives, are considered in the determination of the Available Harvest Area. The analysis considers non-timber objectives in a number of ways, including allowances for areas that will not be harvested in order to protect non-timber values, and strategies aimed at achieving desired forest conditions through time (e.g., the proportion of old forest).
Although harvest levels are regulated on the basis of area, the importance of harvest volume is not diminished. The analysis supporting the Available Harvest Area includes projections of harvest volume and area. The volume corresponding to the Available Harvest Area is termed the available harvest volume.
Operational planning begins with the selection of areas for harvest, in accordance with the Available Harvest Area by forest unit, and consideration of input received from the public. The areas requiring renewal and/or tending are also identified at this stage. Silvicultural prescriptions are assigned to the areas selected for operations, in accordance with site conditions and recommended treatments from approved silvicultural guides.
Where operations may affect resource values or areas of interest to stakeholders and interested and affected parties, specific prescriptions are developed to protect those values. The values and areas of interest may include streams and lakes, tourist establishments, canoe routes, and site-specific wildlife habitat. The prescriptions are developed by the planning team and local citizens committee using the direction and recommendations from approved forest management guides.
Road corridors are planned to provide access to the areas selected for harvest. The planning for access roads includes consideration of the length of time the road is required for forest management purposes, alternative corridor locations, values that may be affected and any necessary controls on public access.
Public involvement in decision-making is a key component of Ontario’s forest management planning process. Even though the current process has only been in place since 1996, the previous process was also based on formal opportunities for public involvement. The current requirements for public involvement are legislated as part of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act and the environmental approval under the Environmental Assessment Act. The comprehensive public involvement requirements include:
stakeholder and interest group representation on a local citizens committee;
a formal public consultation process, including public notices, public information forums and opportunities to review and comment on planning documentation;
provisions for special consultation efforts with Aboriginal peoples and their organizations;
direct consultation with stakeholders and interested and affected parties in the planning of forest operations; and
a formal process for the resolution of issues.
Each management unit must have a local citizens committee to assist the planning team with the preparation of the forest management plan. These committees represent a range and balance of interests, and are an integral part of the process for ensuring that the local interests are communicated to the planning team. Local citizen committee membership includes representatives from tourism industry, forest industry, mining industry, local hunting and angling clubs, environmental organizations, economic development officers, municipal government and the general public. Each local citizens committee may nominate a member to participate on the planning team.
During the development of a forest management plan, not only is an open-door approach for the public to meet with the planning team encouraged, but there is also a mandatory formal five-stage public consultation process. The five stages occur over a two-year period, at key decision-making points in the development of a forest management plan. The first stage of consultation notifies the public that forest management planning is starting, and invites the public to participate. The second stage provides an opportunity for the public to review and comment on preliminary material, including the proposed long-term management direction for the forest, optional areas for harvest and alternative road corridors. The third stage provides an opportunity for the public to review proposed road corridors and the proposed operations for harvest, renewal and tending, including the detailed planning to protect values. The fourth stage provides an opportunity for the public to review the draft plan and the list of required alterations resulting from MNR’s review of the draft plan. The fifth stage provides an opportunity for the public to view the approved plan.
Each Aboriginal community in or adjacent to a management unit is offered the opportunity to choose additional consultation in the form of community meetings and specific documents that deal with the identification and protection of their values. Also, representatives of Aboriginal communities are often members of planning teams, and are integrally involved in plan preparation.
As plan production evolves, stakeholders and interested and affected people become actively involved in the planning process. The planning team makes extra efforts to directly involve those people in the detailed planning of operations, to address their interests and concerns. This direct involvement and negotiation normally results in the satisfaction of the interested and affected people.
Where concerns cannot be resolved informally through meetings and discussions with the planning team, there is an opportunity to make use of a formal process to resolve issues. The concerned person must put the issue into writing and offer a proposed solution. The first step in this process requires the plan author to meet with the concerned person to attempt to resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved it continues through the process, elevating it to the next level of authority (i.e. MNR District Manager and then to the MNR Regional Director). If the issue is still not resolved after the completion of the formal issue resolution process, the concerned party can appeal the decision of the MNR Regional Director, by making a request to the Minister of the Environment for an individual environmental assessment of specific proposed forest management activities.
As the plan is implemented, operations are monitored; reports on the results of management activities are produced; and the effectiveness of management decisions in the plan for achieving the management objectives and forest sustainability is assessed. This assessment is used to make any necessary adjustments to the long-term management direction and the planning of operations in the next plan, and the cycle of adaptive management is repeated.
The current process has been in effect since 1996. Since that time, the public has become more educated about forestry and is more involved in forest management planning then they were seven years ago. The public is aware of the opportunities to influence decisions contained in a forest management plan and have frequently utilized tools such as the issue resolution process. Local citizens committees have been very effective for ensuring the public’s interests are represented on a regular basis during the preparation of a plan. As each year passes, the interest in participating on the committee and member’s knowledge of forest management activities has increased.
The analysis of management strategies, through the use of analytical tools, has assisted the planning teams with predicting the future forest conditions that result from proposed management decisions. The predicted future forest condition is important for demonstrating to the public that proposed management decisions will provide for the sustainability of the forest.
Forest products in Ontario come primarily from timber harvested on Crown land, with the Ministry of Natural Resources responsible for ensuring that the forest is managed in accordance with federal and provincial laws. Ontario’s forest management planning system is based on a legal and policy framework, and focuses on forest sustainability, public involvement, Aboriginal involvement and adaptive management. The people of Ontario continue to become more educated in forest management activities, and demand transparency in decision-making. Ontario’s forest management planning system will continue to provide that transparency, and adapt to changes in legislation, policy and the social, economic and environmental desires of the people of Ontario.
Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994, S.O. 1994, c. 25, as amended.
Koven, Anne, and Elie Martel. 1994. Reasons for Decision and Decision: Class Environmental
Assessment by the Ministry of Natural Resources for Timber Management on
Crown Lands in Ontario. Environmental Assessment Board, Toronto, ON. 561 p.
Environmental Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E18, as amended.
Environmental Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1980, c. 140.
MNR. 2002. Forest Resources of Ontario 2001, State of the Forest Report Appendix 1, 2001. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, Toronto, ON. 137 p.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/forests/forestdoc/sofr/index.html.
MNR. 2002. Annual Report on Forest Management 2000/2001. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, Toronto, ON. 140 p.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/forests/forestdoc/annual_report/homepage.htm
MNR. 1996. Forest Management Planning Manual for Ontario’s Crown Forests. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, Toronto, ON. 452 p.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/forests/forestdoc/reg_manuals/index.htm.
MNR. 1995. Policy Framework for Sustainable Forests. Queen’s Printer for Ontario, Toronto, ON.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/forests/forestdoc/sustframewk.html.
| [1] Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources (OMNR), Forest Management Planning Section, Forest Management
Branch, Forests Division, 70 Foster Drive, Suite 400, Sault Ste. Marie,
ON, Canada P6A 6V5. Tel: 416-314-1918; Email: [email protected]
|