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Forestry By-laws

Started by TeaW, March 12, 2006, 02:15:08 PM

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TeaW

In an effort to promote good forestry practices, our county has had tree cutting by-laws for private land since 1974. In the early 90's they were updated with input from the local loggers and woodland owners  association's.Parts of that bylaw became invalid as of January 1'st 06 and an interim bylaw with some modifications was enacted.Some of the changes:
-permits must be issued to allow harvesting and conditions may be imposed
-we had been sending in a notice of intent before starting a cut
-additions have been made to allow ticketable offences and stop work orders
- addition to fines and the addition of replanting orders
These are what they have added for now but the process is ongoing for a few months, with input from the loggers and woodland owners they will have a a new bylaw by the end of the year.Other municipalities are doing  the same . each municipality will all be different.
Right now we can cut under a 'good forestry practice' cut ,the woodlot is marked by a Forester,Forest Tech. or Licenced Tree Marker. or a Diameter limit cut (certain min. sizes for certain trees eg. Hard Maple23 inches @ 8 inch stump hieght) leaving a min. basal area 65 square feet per acre.
What are some of the good and bad forestry bylaws you have?

TeaW

SwampDonkey

Out here in the country all truckers are required to maintain a loadslip book of were the wood is coming and going. There is no 'intent to harvest' bi-law, although it was looked at a number of years ago when dealing with tresspass issues. All environmental laws have to be followed when harvesting and road building. Not very restrictive practices as to how the woodlot is harvested, most are simply stripped, some people's idea of selection systems are taking the best and leaving the junk. That pretty much sums it up. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Wenrich

We have a "right to practice forestry" law.  Its something like the right to farm laws.  What it means is that a local government cannot ban logging.  But, they can put restrictions on what types of harvesting goes on. 

Some things that are called forest management are downright laughable.  And most laws written about forest management are just bad.  You cannot legislate forest management into some cookbook mentality. 

I cringe at diameter limit cuts.  That just gives credance to the practice.  Cut the best, leave the rest.  What makes one diameter so much more desirable than another?  Long term, its silvicultural suicide.

I think the best options are to have a forestry board at the local level.  All cutting should have a written plan it should be reviewed by the local forester.  If they don't have one, use a consultant. 

What works for one area, simply doesn't work for another.  There are a lot more products of the forest than just trees and they offer different things to different communities.  If clearcutting is acceptable in one area, great.  But, there shouldn't be a law that mandates it for all areas. 

Same goes for selection cuts.  Some really bad management out there under the guise of selection cutting.  Forests are just too diverse over large areas to be regulated at the state or provicial level.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

thecfarm

I have to send in an intent to havest too.I need a number from the state of Maine.I have to send them a map,I hand draw it,of the area I plan on cutting.At the end of the year I have to tell the state how much I cut.I only cut on my land,so I am not a certified logger.If I was on others land I have to get certified before I could sell logs or pulp.Like the game of logging.Then you have to go every year for a refresher course.I think I'm correct in saying that every woods operation,company,needs a certified logger.Logs truck have to keep track of where the wood came from and where it is going.My trucker has my number.I don't know if there is anyone checking these numbers.I do not have a foresty mark my trees for me.It is not required.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Dana

I am reading some of this with my mouth wide open! :o :o So far you all are only mentioning logging. I assume no exemption for firewood even on your own land? What about for personal use? Is a permit required no matter how small the harvest? I think this would make a great poll question. :)
Grass-fed beef farmer, part time sawyer

thecfarm

Firewood for your own use for a land owner is exempt.Houselots are too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

TeaW

Ron W :
I agree with you , I don't like diameter limit cut's , but ! . Some land owners do , they want to be able to sell a few trees when they want  to , with  out paying a Forester.
This bylaw  is at the Municipal level of government , the Province (State) has down loaded it to them . If we don't have an Bylaw beter than or equal to the other local municipalities we will attract logger's from other areas that find it easier to opperate here.
Our local Logger's Association want's a bylaw that we can have input to and that we can work with.
TeaW

Murf

Tea, your lucky your up there in Simcoe county, down here in York Region it's nearly impossible to even get a permit to cut.

About all you can do without a cut permit is the homeowner themselves can cut up to 5 cords per year, but only for their own use, not for sale.

The strange part is, developers are exempt from a permit once a subdivision is approved and re-zoned.

BTW, are you right downtown Minesing, or are you out in the suburbs ......  :D

My family is from Minesing, just west of the village on what is now the Ronald Road, at the S-turn just before it meets the Glengarry Landing Road.

Small world after all, isn't it?  ::)
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

Bill Johnson

First I must apologize for long post, I will leave to Jeff's discretion as to whether or not he would care to edit it.

Interesting discussion, in my part of the country municipal by-laws regulating the harvesting of trees on private (patented) land are not a commonly used instrument; indeed living in the boreal forest region cutovers are fairly common occurrence.

Patented lands may contain a variety of reservations for a variety of reasons, for example: In the 1800's wooded sailing ships were the norm and ship builders in England determined that one of the preferred species for ship's masts was white pine.  Canada, being young and having an endless supply of white pine needed to protected from unscrupulous folks who might become wealthy at the expense of the Crown, so many patent lots contained a clause "saving and reserving all white pine to the Crown."  Which essentially means the land owner owns everything but white pine on their patented land.  I can only assume that somewhere down the line a public servant hurriedly filling in letters of patent forgot the word "white" because we now have 100's if not 1000's of patents that reserve "all pine trees to the Crown."
These lots are commonly referred to a Pr (Pine reserve) lots.

Another type of patent, does not contain any reservations of timber on them, so the landowner has clear title to all the trees growing on that property, no licences are required to harvest here, and no bmp apply etc.

The third type of patent contains the wording "reserving all trees to the Crown" and essentially what that means is the landowner owes the property but the government "Crown" owns all the timber rights.

Just to show the extent of this situation allow me to present the following information.

The Kirkland Lake District contains approximately 283,547 hectares of patented land.  Of this patented land, approximately 42% have some form of Crown reservation placed upon the trees.  On all of the PR and a vast majority of the ATR, the Crown has the right to access and harvest the timber in these patented lands but are not permitted to conduct renewal and tending.  A small number of these ATR reserves allow the Crown the right to conduct All Forestry activities (AF). 

The location of Crown reserves are unevenly distributed across the district and between townships with the majority of the area being found near communities.  It should be further noted that many of the reserves are located near local mills and main roads which increases the viability of forest management operations.

Now, in all fairness to landowners it is not the intent of the government to barge into their property and cut all the "Crown" trees, indeed here we have developed a long term strategy which it is hope will allow for the sustainable harvest of private lands.

On lands containing no tree reservations, as previously stated, the landowner is free to harvest the trees whenever they desire. They can also market them anywhere they wish, the only requirement some mills insist upon is that the landowner obtains a "clearance" from the MNR which essentially states the wood is from private land with no reservations, and there is no money for dues owing.  In order for the landowner to obtain a clearance we request they bring a current copy of their parcel registry and letters of patent so we can confirm no tree reservations exist.  It is amazing how many people do not realize that they do not own the trees on their property.

On lands containing pine reserves (Pr) the landowner can apply for a licence to harvest. PR property owners may submit proposal at any time of year and no annual harvest limit will be set.  PR landowners will be subject to meeting the proposal eligibility criteria and must submit a proposal description, licence to harvest application form and a harvest (and renewal proposal).  One year after operations are complete, all PR landowners are be required to submit a post-harvest report.  Being that Crown trees are being harvest, the government reserves the right to refuse any application where the timber is immature, or where it is in the best interest of the Crown to maintain pine on the site.

On lands contain all tree reserves (ATR) in order to manage these lands in a sustainable fashion a strategy was developed which permits the harvesting of approximately 750 hectares annual.  Once annually, Kirkland Lake MNR will invite ATR property owners to submit Crown reserve management proposals for consideration.  This process of submission, review and approval is a multistage process and is depicted in figure 1 and described in this section.  One year after operations are complete, all ATR landowners who participated in this program will be required to submit a post-harvest report




Prior to an ATR or PR area being eligible to harvest, the landowner must demonstrate that the current forest's structure and function will enable a reasonable level of forest management success to occur.

Stands that are classified in the Forest Resource Inventory as barren and scattered, significantly understocked and site class 4 are examples of forests whose function may be too significantly hampered by the growing environment to permit successful forest management to occur.

Stands that are classified by the Forest Resource Inventory as being too young are an example of a forest whose structure may render it ineligible for forest management.  In some situations it may not be feasible to return to harvest a small (i.e. less than one hectare) compartment completely contained within a harvest block.  In this situation, the applicant may identify this stand for harvest and provide a written justification for its selection.  MNR may permit the harvest to occur if the long-term forest health will not be jeopardized by the decision, operations justify its removal and the harvested wood is utilized.

Through past ATR/PR compliance checks, renewal reports and Crown Forest compliance checks, MNR may at its discretion deem a landowner, operator or agent ineligible to participate in the program.  Furthermore, all landowners or their agent must attend the mandatory annual operators meeting.

MNR may further identify areas as ineligible based on social or environmental values that require protection such as cultural heritage sites and wildlife habitat.

We spend a good bit of time involved with forestry operations on ATR and Pr lands, overall, the operators are excellent, most of them work on Crown land as well and are well aquainted with the rules, regulations, guidelines, BMP's etc that apply to Crown land operations and have taken this knowledge with them and applied it to ATR and Pr operations.  The strategy which was developed locally for this program is 30+ pages in length, if I've confused anyone with this post or if you want me to try and clear something up feel free to ask.

Bill
Bill

Murf

Bill, I (for one) don't mind the length at all, it's interesting historical info.

The problem down here was developers only got told a few times "you can't develop that land, it's forested" before they got the landowner to apply for a cut permit, obstensibly to clear the land for agriculture, then cut every tree down.

The municiapalities (read "GTA Mayors who think they are the entire province) pushed the Province to kill the Trees Act of Ontario in favour of more local control.

Locally the most telling aspect of the legislation is the title "York Region Forest Conservation By-Law" ....... the bottom line is that their stated intention is to 'conserve' trees, in other words they want to stop all cutting where possible.

In fact under the terms of cutting, they have defined "good forestry practice" as being "the proper implementation of harvest, renewal and maintenance activities known to be appropriate for the forest and environmental conditions under which they are being applied and that minimize detriments to forest values including significant ecosystems, important fish and wildlife habitat, soil and water quality and quantity, forest productivity and health and the aesthetics and recreational opportunities of the landscape;".

Basically you can only cut trees to make a forest healthy, not make it disappear.

This has some people who spent a lot of money to buy land, like farmers, with a problem, they can't clear the land.

The irony is that one of the few exemptions is a homeowner taking firewood is allowed to cut 6 bush cords a year. Provided they abide by the above "good forestry practice".

In other words, if you cut a single tree down for firewood you have to replant.  ::)

Goobermint...........
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

Bill Johnson

Murf

There times when I am glad that I live where I do, fortunately most our politicians are pretty sensitive to needs of landowners and forestry issues in general, or at least I like to think so.

It's not the forestry guys you have to watch out for its the @#$%^& mining guys :D :D
Bill

SwampDonkey

The trouble is, with some of those by-laws and thinking they are promoting forest management on private woods is actually letting wood fall down and letting spruce budworm have a place to feed. This is particularly true in aspen, fir, red maple stands. Walked through some ground today that was just picked through 25 years ago and if they had just cut it outright and thinned the regen they'd have alot better wood growing on it now. Real thick fir growing like bean poles and 40 feet high, has to be left another 20 years before you can do any type of profitable cut and old fir and poplar left standing then has 4 - 8 feet of culverts in the but or a dead top respectably. This piece of ground if managed way back when, should have 30 cord/acre, but it's only got 16 now. This same brush stroke recipe doesn't apply to every stand type, but it's just an example.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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