The Forest Practices Board has released its finding on management of Marbled Murrelet nesting habitat under the Forest and Range Practices Act (see the press release below). This Special Investigation was the response of the FPB to the SCCA’s complaint in 2006 about Interfor’s Sunshine Coast Forest Stewardship Plan, which we alleged did not adequately manage and conserve Marbled Murrelets. The FPB’s investigation took more than a year and a half to complete.
The FPB interviewed government staff and Interfor personnel and reviewed the policies of professional associations and certification programs. It dismisses these latter two as having largely no effect. The FPB lays all the blame at the provincial government’s doorstep (where it properly belongs).
The SCCA thinks this is a good finding but we were a bit taken aback by the FPB’s exoneration of Interfor’s position. Interfor is clearly the beneficiary of government’s failure to act and has lobbied government against any measures to protect wildlife that do or might constrain timber supply.
You can read the full report online.
Press release from Forest Practices Board, April 17, 2008
VICTORIA – Despite repeated Forest Practices Board recommendations to act, the Province has not developed a strategy for conserving marbled murrelet habitat, leaving forest professionals and industry with weak direction on what is necessary to ensure the survival of the threatened seabird, says a new board report.