The Proposal

What is the New Forest Act?

The New Forest Act is a proposed legislative framework for British Columbia. It is not draft statutory language and it is not a government bill. It sets out the structure, principles, governance, transition mechanisms, and on-the-ground approach that new forestry legislation could establish.

Three priorities

1. Ecological integrity

Forest management is governed by ecological limits. The primary objective is maintaining ecosystem integrity rather than meeting predetermined timber-volume targets.

2. Community decision-making

Community Forest Boards give local people and Indigenous Peoples decision-making power over local forests and watersheds, supported by independent science and Indigenous Knowledge Panels.

3. Community-based economies

The framework supports regional log markets, local and value-added manufacturing, restoration, monitoring, planning, and diverse regional economies.

Legislative change

The proposal calls for the existing Forest Act, Forest and Range Practices Act, Ministry of Forests Act, and Private Managed Forest Land Act to be repealed and replaced through a phased transition. The Water Sustainability Act would be retained and fully implemented to support watershed-level planning.

Transition

Existing harvesting rights would conclude at renewal, creating an orderly transition of approximately one to five years without tenure buy-backs. New governance, stewardship, monitoring, and regional economic structures would be established during the transition.

Private forest land

Private ownership remains intact. Lands currently governed by the Private Managed Forest Land Act would instead be subject to enforceable New Forest Act stewardship standards. The proposal does not expropriate private land and does not prohibit harvesting.