The Minister’s Council Report on Forest Sector Competitiveness, released in June 2005, recommended that the provincial government assume its proportional share of the costs of building and maintaining forest access roads on Crown forests that serve multi-resource uses.
The report recommended that the government’s share cover 100% of primary road costs, and 50% of branch road costs. As a result, in September 2005 the Minister of Natural Resources announced the Road Maintenance Funding Program, with $28.0 million available to the forest industry to cover the costs of maintaining primary forest access roads.
In February 2006 the Premier and the Minister of Natural Resources announced an additional $47.0 million of funding for the Roads Funding Program. Beginning April 1, 2006, a total of $75.0 million was made available annually to contribute to the expenses incurred by the forest industry to construct and maintain forest access roads.
Roads Eligible for Funding
Roads eligible for funding have to be identified as primary or branch forest access roads in approved Forest Management Plans and Annual Work Schedules, be located on Crown land, and not be limited to use only by the forest industry.
These funded forest access roads benefit not only the forest industry, but also many other users, including; mining companies, tourism operators, Aboriginal communities, utility and railway companies, hunters, anglers, campers, trappers, cottagers, and the general public. These roads also provide part of the rural infrastructure for emergency preparedness and response.
Primary Roads:
Primary roads are roads that provide principal access for the management unit, and are constructed, maintained and used as the main road system on the management unit. Primary roads are normally permanent roads, although there may be significant periods of time when specific primary roads are not required for forest management purposes. | Branch Roads:
Branch roads are roads that branch off existing or new primary or branch roads, providing access to and through areas of operations on a management unit. Whenever a new road is required to provide access to, through, or between, separate areas of operations, the road will be classified as a branch road. | Operational Roads:
Operational roads are roads within areas of operations that provide short-term access for harvest, renewal and tending operations. Operational roads are normally not maintained after they are no longer required for forest management purposes, and are often site prepared and regenerated. |
