Forest Management Plans

The forest management planning system for Ontario’s Crown forests is based on a forest policy and legal framework that has sustainability, public involvement, Aboriginal involvement, and adaptive management as key elements.

The Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA) and the Environmental Assessment Act (EA Act) provide the legislative framework for forest management on Crown land in Ontario.

The CFSA provides for the sustainability of the Crown forest and governs forest management on Crown land to ensure long-term health of the forest.

The CFSA requires that a forest management plan be prepared having regard for plant and animal life, water, soil, air and social and economic values, including recreational values. To achieve this end, each plan contains a broad management strategy which balances objectives related to forest diversity, socio-economics, forest cover and silviculture.

The provisions of the environmental assessment approval under the EA Act, referred to as “Declaration Order regarding MNR’s Class Environmental Assessment Approval for Forest Management on Crown Lands in Ontario”, give MNR approval to undertake the activity of Forest Management. These activities comprise the inter-related activities of access, harvest, renewal, and maintenance, subject to the conditions as outlined in the declaration order including requirements for planning.

The forest management planning requirements of the CFSA and the provisions of the environmental assessment approval under the EA Act are incorporated into the Forest Management Planning Manual, which provides the direction for preparing a forest management plan.

Forest Management Plan Preparation

The Crown forest is the principal source of wood for Ontario’s forest products industry.

Forest management Units in Ontario.  More Information...

For management purposes, the Crown forest in Ontario is divided into management units. Most of these units are managed by individual forest companies under a Sustainable Forest Licence (SFL). The sustainable forest licensee is responsible for carrying out the activities of forest management planning, harvest, access road construction, forest renewal and maintenance, monitoring and reporting, subject to CFSA regulations and Ministry of Natural resources (MNR) approvals. Before any forestry activities can take place in a management unit, there must be an approved forest management plan in place.
 

A forest management plan is prepared for a ten-year period for each forest management unit in the province. A plan is prepared in an open and consultative fashion by a Registered Professional Forester with the assistance of a multi-disciplinary planning team and a local citizens committee, as well as with input from Aboriginal communities, stakeholders and interested members of the public.

Plan Contents

Each forest management plan contains text, tables and maps organized into the following main sections/components:

• Management Unit Description
• Long-term Management Direction
• Planned Operations
• Determination of Sustainability
• Description of the Monitoring Program; and
• Supplementary Documentation.

A forest management plan summary accompanies each draft and final forest management plan. This summary is prepared to assist the public with their review of a forest management plan.

A forest management plan is not approved until the MNR Regional Director is satisfied that the plan provides for the sustainability of the forest and all identified concerns have been considered. An approved plan provides direction for the forest management activities of access road construction, harvest, renewal and maintenance to take place on the management unit.

Plan Timelines

A 10 year forest management plan is prepared in two phases. Phase I includes the long-term management direction that provides for the sustainability of the forest with regard for plant and animal life, water, soil, air and social and economic values, including recreational values. It remains in effect for the 10 year period. As well, there is detailed planning of operations for the first five-year term of the plan. The Phase I planning process normally occurs in the last three years of the current plan.

Phase II includes detailed planning of operations for the second five year term (i.e., years 6 to 10) and occurs during the last two years of the first five-year term.

Schedule for Phase I and Phase II Planning

Forest management plans are renewed every 10 years. It generally takes 36 to 39 months to prepare a forest management plan (Phase I) and about 16 to 20 months for the detailed planning of operations for the second five year term (Phase II). These planning processes provide formal opportunities for public input at key stages in the development of the plan.

Consultation

Public Consultation

Public consultation is a key component of Ontario’s forest management planning process, and includes the following provisions:

• an open and transparent process that encourages direct involvement with stakeholders and interested and affected persons and organizations in the planning of forest operations
• opportunity for representatives of local stakeholder and interest groups, general public and Aboriginal communities to participate on a local citizens committee to assist the planning team with the preparation of a forest management plan
• a formal public consultation process, including public notices of formal stages, public information centres and opportunities to review and comment on planning documentation
• a formal process for the resolution of issues; and
• a final opportunity to request the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, Ministry of Environment to order an individual environmental assessment of specific proposed forest management activities.

As an integral part of the planning process, a local citizens committee is required to assist each planning team with the preparation of the forest management plan. The committee represents a range and balance of local interests, and ensures that these interests are communicated to the planning team. The local citizens committee may nominate a member to be a member of the planning team.

The formal public consultation process is comprised of five stages for Phase I of the planning process, as follows: 

Stage One

The first stage of consultation notifies the public that forest management planning is starting, and invites the public to participate in the development of the plan.

 

Stage Two

The second stage provides an opportunity for the public to review and comment on the proposed long-term management direction for the forest, optional areas for harvest and alternative primary road corridors.

 

Stage Three

The third stage invites the pubic to attend an information centre and provides an opportunity for the public to review and comment on preferred areas for harvest, renewal and tending operations and proposed road corridors for the ten-year period of the plan, as well as the detailed prescriptions for the areas proposed for operations during the first five-year term.

 

Stage Four

The fourth stage provides an opportunity for the public to review and comment on the draft forest management plan and the preliminary list of required alterations resulting from MNR’s review of the draft plan.

 

Stage Five

The fifth stage advises the public that the forest management plan has been approved by the MNR Regional Director and provides an opportunity for the public to inspect the MNR-approved forest management plan. The planning process for the second five year term (Phase II) follows a three stage

The planning process for the second five year term (Phase II) follows a three stage consultation process which is similar to Stage Three, Four and Five of the planning process used for the preparation of the ten-year forest management plan (Phase I).

As the plan is prepared, stakeholders as well as interested and affected persons and organizations become actively involved in the planning process. The planning team makes extra efforts to directly involve those people in the detailed planning of operations. Most issues can be resolved through direct public involvement and negotiations.

Resolution of Issues

When concerns cannot be resolved through meetings and discussions with the planning team, a formal process is available to resolve issues. As a first step, the concerned group or individual must identify the issue to the plan author in writing and offer a proposed solution.

The plan author then meets with the concerned party to attempt to resolve the issue. If it cannot be resolved, the matter is referred to the next level of authority, which is the MNR District Manager, and if needed, to the MNR Regional Director. If the issue is still not resolved after the formal issue resolution process, the concerned party can appeal the decision of the MNR Regional Director by making a request to the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, Ministry of Environment for an individual environmental assessment of specific proposed forest management activities.

Aboriginal Involvement

The Ontario government is committed to increasing social benefits and economic opportunities for Aboriginal peoples and as such has provided for specific opportunities for Aboriginal communities to be involved during the development of a forest management plan. For example, an opportunity is provided for a representative of an Aboriginal community to participate on the planning team. As a member of the planning team, the representative will be involved with ongoing decisions on how the forest is to be managed.

In addition, each community is provided with an opportunity to work with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the plan author to develop a customized consultation approach. This approach is intended to describe how the community wishes to be involved in the planning process and how the community’s interests will be considered in the production and implementation of the forest management plan.

The planning process also requires the identification and protection of Aboriginal values, involvement of communities in the development of prescriptions to protect those values, and opportunities to participate in the development and review of an Aboriginal Background Information Report and a Report on the Protection of Identified Aboriginal Values.

Strategic Planning

The planning team, in consultation with the local citizen’s committee, identifies desired benefits from the forest and sets objectives to achieve them. Through the use of long term model projections different levels of harvest renewal and tending are investigated to predict the short, medium and long-term economic, social and environmental benefits. These predictions are used to assess objective achievement and to assess the sustainability of the proposed management strategy.

When developing the management strategy, objectives for both timber and non-timber values (e.g. wildlife habitat, biodiversity, landscape pattern) are considered. The result is the establishment of sustainable, long-term management direction for the management unit. There is an opportunity for the public to review and comment on the proposed long-term direction prior to regional director endorsement and the planning team moves forward with the planning of operations.

The sustainable level of harvest, termed the Available Harvest Area, is determined locally by the planning team as part of the development of a sustainable management strategy. The Available Harvest Area represents the maximum area that can be harvested during the ten-year period of the forest management plan.

Planning of Operations

The planning for access roads as well as harvest, renewal and tending prescriptions for the areas selected for harvest occurs in a similar manner for each five-year term of the plan. Where operations may affect resource values or areas of interest to stakeholders or interested and affected parties, specific prescriptions are developed to protect those values.

If there is a need for aerial herbicide, insect pest management, and/or prescribed burn programs as part of the renewal and tending operations then those plans are normally prepared the year they will be implemented. The plans must be written in accordance with the Forest Management Planning Manual and other prescribed documents, such as the Prescribed Burn Planning Manual.

Adaptive Management

As the plan is implemented, MNR and the forest industry routinely monitor and assess the effectiveness of forest operations. This ensures that the forest management plan is being followed, that reports on the results of management activities are produced, and that the effectiveness of management decisions in achieving stated objectives and forest sustainability is assessed.

The results of the monitoring program are used to make any necessary adjustments to the long-term management direction and the planning of operations in the next plan or phase. The on-going process of adaptive management is critical for improving the decisions made in forest management planning.

• Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA)
• Environmental Assessment Act (EA Act)
• Declaration Order MNR-71 (2003)
• Allocation and Licensing (Forest Tenure)