Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual

The Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual is a compendium of guidance and direction for the conduct of operations authorized by approved forest management plans. It provides for the qualification of persons engaged in forest operations as well as measures for assessing the performance of forest operations.

The Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual is a regulatory manual under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act. Ontario Regulation 283/00 replaced the second paragraph in Part 2, Section 1 (f) (Avoiding Wasteful Practices) in the Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual, First Edition (Ontario Regulation 92/95).

Who to contact within the Ministry of Natural Resources

Joe Churcher, Silviculture Systems Specialist
Forest Policy Section (705) 945-5710
Order # 000000001538 Price = Free

e mail: joe.churcher@mnr.gov.on.ca

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Executive Summary

This Forest Operations and Silviculture Manual, as required under Section 68 of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA), provides direction and guidance to resource managers responsible for managing and operating in Crown forests. It contains provisions with respect to forest operations including:

• standards for forest operations
• standards for silviculture practices
• minimum qualifications for persons specified in this manual who are engaged in forest operations
• assessment procedures and standards to be used in the evaluation of forest operations and forest management

Rather than give forest managers a set of strict rules that must be followed, Ontario relies on the professional judgement, within a set of broad guidelines and principles, of the people given the responsibility to manage the forest resource. These guidelines and principles are spelled out in a number of publications and directives, all of which are described in this Manual.

This Manual is a directory or catalogue of the various guidelines and direction which a resource manager must consider during the preparation and implementation of forest management plans. There has been no attempt to reproduce the information in each of the published guidelines; instead a general overview of their content is provided.

This Manual has five parts:

Part 1 - describes the Manual and its application.

Part 2 - describes the provincial guidelines and manuals that provide up-to-date scientific and technical knowledge for
Ontario's resource managers during their forest management planning and implementation activities.

Part 3 - contains information about certification requirements for forestry workers who conduct operations.

Part 4 - contains information about the evaluation of forest operations to ensure that the objectives of the forest management plan are being met.

Part 5 - "Future Direction", discusses subjects that are not yet ready for implementation but are planned for later editions of this Manual.

Following Part 5 are four appendices:

• Appendix A- is a list of the most recent versions of each of the guidelines described in the Manual the exact titles and dates of publication are given so that readers can be sure they have the most recent edition.
• Appendix B - is a list of Ministry of Natural Resources policies and procedures relating to forest operations and silviculture, again including the complete title, reference number and date of publication.
• Appendix C - is a list of additional reference material.
• Appendix D - is background information on Woodland Caribou.

The appendices are followed by a glossary of specialized forest management terms used in this Manual.