|
Part of the
mandate of the ABCFP is to advocate for good
forest stewardship. This page provides information
about the association's advocacy activities.
The Increment: Advocacy Update
The ABCFP publishes periodic advocacy
updates in The Increment, the ABCFP's e-newsletter to provide members with timely updates on the
current advocacy activities of the association. An archive
of the e-newsletter is available online. [more]
Advocacy Areas
The ABCFP has been involved in advocacy in the following
areas:
| Challenges in the Forest Sector |
| June 2010 |
The
BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU)
released an op-ed article regarding crisis in BC forestry. Read the article and ABCFP's response below.
BCGEU President's Op-Ed: Crisis in BC Forests
ABCFP Response to BCGEU Op-Ed  |
| March 2010 |
If you’ve worked in forestry for more than a couple of years, you know that our sector is cyclical and change is always upon us. The association has released to letter to members regarding current challenges in the forest sector.
Letter to Members |
top
| Coast
Action Plan |
| January 2008 |
ABCFP Response to the Coastal Forest Action Plan |
| November 2007 |
As soon as the Ministry
of Forests and Range released the Coastal Forest
Action Plan, the stewardship advisory committee
began to examine it. The ABCFP favours the direction
that has being taken by the Minister to support
the coastal forest industry by focusing energy and
resources on incremental gains in silviculture,
managed second-growth forests and improvements in
the product sector. The proposed shortened rotations
represent a management shift and the ABCFP recommends
the ministry look to the paper called Assessment
of the Status of Forest Inventories in BC that the
association released in March 2007. The paper and
accompanying recommendations may assist the government
in making the decisions specified in the Coastal
Forest Action Plan. The ABCFP also encourages the
government to investigate the outcomes of such decisions
relative to other developing scenarios such as climate
change. The full response will be posted on the
ABCFP website when it is complete. |
| Fire
Management |
| June 2007 |
The
ABCFP will hold a news conference on June 20th
when ABCFP president Paul Knowles, RPF, will discuss
the benefits of good fuel management. A news release
on the topic of fire management will also issued
at this time. [more] |
| Forest
Policy |
| May 2010 |
Past President Jonathan Lok, RFT; councillor Steve Lorimer, RPF; and CEO Sharon Glover met with George Abbott, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. They discussed the AAC determination that is part of the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act. The ABCFP group reminded the minister that setting the AAC is part of the practice of professional forestry. The minister responded by asking the ABCFP to provide him with a recommendation on who should sit on the management council that will work on a number of issues including the AAC determination. |
| May 2008 |
The 2007 Council requested that the executive director craft a position and supporting rationale on private land management. Brief articles were posted in The Increment and in BC Forest Professional magazine. An article regarding the harvesting practices on Vancouver Island by Raincoast Conservation was printed in the Victoria Times Colonist. The ABCFP’s response was printed a week later. The ABCFP continues to receive concerns from members regarding private forest land management. |
| March 2008 |
The ABCFP investigated the issue of private land removal from forest management on behalf of the public and members and has contacted the various government ministries responsible for private managed forest land. To date most of the private land committed to TFL tenure has been removed from schedule A of the TFL agreements. Also, much of the managed forest land removed from the TFL agreements remains in managed forest land class of the Private Managed Forest Land Act. At the request of the office of the Auditor General of BC, executive director Sharon Glover and director of professional practice and forest stewardship Mike Larock, RPF, met with the Auditor General’s representatives to discuss the issue. The message they delivered is that the profession of forestry is always opposed to the removal of forest land from forest management, whether that forest land is public or private. It is necessary to balance present and future values of society against the capacity of the land to provide for those values. |
| December 2007 |
The stewardship advisory committee
(SAC) is reviewing and analyzing the effects of
current stocking standards policy on forest stewardship
in BC. While the focus is on policy, the SAC recognizes
that stocking standards are the direct link between
current forest growth and long-term yield forecasts,
future timber supply and forest values in general.
Technical issues such as stratification and competition
assessment are under review relative to their relationship
to stewardship, the regulatory framework and management
risk. Members can expect to see a discussion paper
on stocking standards by early March 2008. |
| July 2007 |
A resolution was presented at ExpoFor
that encouraged the ABCFP to look into a new strategic
forest policy organization. ABCFP council members
and staff meet with Doug Konkin, deputy minister,
Ministry of Forests and Range, on this matter. At
the meeting, the ABCFP agreed to look at other models
which exist for policy structures to see if some
different options could be considered. |
| Forestry Roundtable |
| September 2008 |
The ABCFP appeared before the forestry roundtable and presented an updated submission.
Working Roundtable on Forestry: A Submission by the ABCFP (v.2.0)
This document replaces the original Working Roundtable on Forestry: A Submission by the ABCFP presented in June 2008. |
| June 2008 |
Although the ABCFP was not invited to make a presentation to the Forestry Roundtable, we have presented a submission to Dana Hayden, deputy minister and vice-chair of the Forestry Roundtable. The ABCFP submitted five focus areas we feel are essential to sustainable forest development and good forest stewardship: The Planning Gap, Tenure Reform, Diversification, Community Foundation and Expertise Succession. These are explained in greater detail in the complete submission.
Working Roundtable on Forestry: A Submission by the ABCFP |
| March 2008 |
In January, Premier Gordon Campbell announced the creation of a Working Roundtable on Forestry which would tackle the question of how to build a stronger, sustainable forest industry in BC. The ABCFP requested that the profession of forestry, be named to the forestry roundtable; however, representatives of industry, academia and First Nations were selected instead. For more information, read the news release on the Ministry of Forests and Range (MFR) website: Forestry Roundtable Focuses on Future. |
| Inventories |
|
| June 2007 |
In November
2006, the ABCFP released a report on the perceived
problems with BC’s forest inventory . Council
endorsed this report and the 18 recommendations
it contained. Since the report was issued, council
and staff have met with the Minister of Forests
and Range and senior government officials to discuss
these recommendations.
View the report, Assessment of the Status of
Forest Inventories in British Columbia.
The ABCFP is happy to report that some changes
to the forest inventory system have been made
both as a result of our efforts as well an internal
forest inventory review undertaken by the ministry.
We have also received a formal response to our
report from the chief forester and we are analyzing
his response. |
| Oil
and Gas |
|
| August 2007 |
A task force was formed from the
stewardship advisory committee to look at the
impact the oil and gas industry is having on forestry
in BC. In turn, the task force commissioned a
report on the state of affairs. Recently council
was presented with a response and recommendations
to the report.
ABCFP
Response to the Forestry – Oil & Gas
Task Force Report |
| Recruitment |
|
| September 2008 |
ABCFP CEO Sharon Glover joined Pat Bell, Minister of Forests and Range, and a group of Junior Forest Wardens in Stanley Park to plant a ceremonial tree close to the 1931 JFW tree. Minister Bell announced the $100,000 in funding for the Junior Forest Wardens to help them reestablish and expand the program. |
| May 2008 |
The BC Task Force on Forestry Recruitment was formalized earlier this year. It is being chaired by Brian Robinson, RPF, and includes 19 representatives from industry, government, academic institutions and consulting practices. The mandate is to address the anticipated shortage of forest professionals in British Columbia within the next decade. [more] |
| August 2007 |
The Williams Lake Tribune published
a recruitment article written by Al Balogh, RPF,
ABCFP vice-president, on August 14, 2007.
Forestry's
Future May Not be What You Expect |
| July 2007 |
In response to the ageing population
and the expected level of retirements in the coming
years, the ABCFP commissioned a paper called Recruitment
Strategies for the BC Forest Sector to drive
a collective recruitment initiative for the province.
It is expected that this initiative will work
with the national recruitment strategy.
Recruitment
Strategy for the BC Forest Sector
Investing
in Our Future: A Business Plan for Recruitment
in the
BC Forest Sector
The report has numerous recommendations which
will help put recruitment into the forest sector
back on track. The next step will be to organize
a meeting of all stakeholders to support this
collective recruitment initiative. |
| July 2007 |
ABCFP council and staff had the
opportunity to meet with Doug Konkin, deputy minister,
about rejuvenating the Junior Forest Wardens program.
The ABCFP requested that the Ministry of Forests
and Range support the initiative by providing
one person to work full time on the Junior Forest
Wardens program. The deputy agreed to look into
this possibility, so stay tuned. |
| April 2007 |
Recognizing that the Junior Forest Warden (JFW)
program is an excellent way to introduce young
people to the idea of careers in forestry, the
ABCFP lobbied the government to fund a full-time
position with the JFW. This position would be
given the task of rejuvenating the program.
Read our letter to Rich Coleman, Minister of
Forests and Range and Minister Responsible for
Housing:
Staff
Support for a Full-Time Junior Forest Warden Position
|
| Professional Reliance |
| May 2010 |
The ABCFP met with Deputy Minister Dana Hayden in Vancouver to discuss professional reliance issues. |
| WorkSafeBC
Regulations |
| July 2007 |
The ABCFP has been responding
to proposed changes to the Occupational Health
and Safety Regulations. The ABCFP submitted a
formal response to the proposed changes earlier
this month. The ABCFP’s suggestions included
making professional reliance part of the regulations
and keeping the regulations from being overly
prescriptive. |
| February 2007 |
The ABCFP has been responding
to proposed changes to the Occupational Health
and Safety Regulations. The first round of discussions
with WorkSafeBC has yielded some significant changes
to the regulations that have ensured compliance
with the Foresters Act and the practice
rights of ABCFP members. The ABCFP also met with
the Auditor General’s office to assist them
in their audit of safety issues in the forest
sector.
Read the joint practice board's response and
proposed amendments to the Occupational Health
and Safety regulations:
Response
of the Joint Practices Board (APEGBC & ABCFP)
2007 Proposed Regulation Amendments to the Occupational
Health and Safety Regulations.
Proposed
OH&S Regulation Amendments – JPB Task
Group
(please note: this document
still displays the markup to illustrate the changes
proposed by the joint practice board.)
The second round of discussions with WorkSafeBC
is currently underway. The ABCFP will continue
to work with WorkSafeBC to encourage an approach
to safety issues that relies upon professional
judgment and is results based. |
Some of the documents on this page
are in PDF
format, so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view
them. You can download Acrobat Reader here.
|
©2006
Association of BC Forest Professionals | ABCFP Store | Links | Glossary |
Disclaimer 
