Updated May 2022 (posts from 2021)
Forest Management Planning Overview
The purpose of the forest management planning process is to establish a long-term strategic direction for forest management, with the overall objective of ensuring the sustainability and long-term health of forest ecosystems in Ontario. The intent is to benefit both local and global environments while providing social, economic, and environmental consideration to local forest-based communities. The Crown Forest Sustainability Act (1994) requires that all forest management activities on Crown land within a management unit in Ontario be carried out in accordance with a provincially approved Forest Management Plan (FMP). Forest management plans are prepared by a plan author, who must be a registered professional forester licenced under the Professional Foresters Act (2000), assisted by an interdisciplinary planning team and local citizen’s committee, and supported by plan advisors. A forest management plan must be prepared for each Forest Management Unit in Ontario and approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
Crown forests in Ontario are divided into management units for the purpose of forest management. Kamaniskeg Lake is bordered by 2 management units: The Bancroft Minden Forest (west and south of the lake) and the Ottawa Valley Forest (north and east of the lake).
The Bancroft Minden Forest is administered and managed by the Bancroft Minden Forest Company Inc. (BMFC) under the authority of Sustainable Forest License (SFL) No. 542585 in partnership with the MNRF. The Ottawa Valley Forest is managed by Ottawa Valley Forest Inc. (OVF) under SFL # 10 542529 in partnership with the MNRF. Both are private companies owned and funded by local Shareholders which include independent logging companies, sawmills, and a pulp mill. Shareholder companies that harvest timber on Crown land hold overlapping licenses (Forest Resource Licensor, FRLs). Each Shareholder Company that holds an FRL receives a predetermined percentage of the total allowable harvest area. This percentage is based on the volume that each company has historically harvested on Crown land and was determined when the MNRF negotiated the terms of the SFL. Each overlapping license holder pays the SFL a management fee, based on their percentage of harvest allocation. SFL holders are responsible for preparing the FMP and Annual Work Schedules (AWS); conducting forest operations in accordance with approved plans; monitoring operations for compliance; collecting and maintaining planning information for the forest according to the current Forest Information Manual and reporting on operations and objective achievements in Annual Reports. The MNRF is responsible for collecting and maintaining values information for the Forest; input, review, and approval of planned operations in the FMP; maintaining communications with the public and Indigenous communities with a known interest in the forest; providing direction on provincial policy, guideline and manual implementation and auditing forest operations to ensure they comply with approved plans.
To review FMP text, maps and other supplementary schedules to the 10-year planning process, go to the Natural Resources Information Portal and select the forestry unit (BMFC or OVF) from the drop down and then select “Forest Management Plan(s)”:
For all other forestry related questions or comments, please contact Kerra Wylie at forestry@kapoa.ca
Ottawa Valley Forest Management Plan 2021-2031 (Kamaniskeg Lake east, TPM trails)
The final Forest Management Plan (FMP) was published in fall 2021 after 5 public consultation periods in which KAPOA participated by submitting questions and participating in meetings with the MNRF and OVF. Planned harvest in this cycle and into the next plan continues to include the north side of Gun Lake (part of the Thomas P. Murray trail system east of Hwy 62 between Combermere and Barry’s Bay). This harvest is accessed from a branch road corridor that will follow the Red Pine Trail and exit to Hwy 62 north of Long Lake Road. This area is visible from the Gun Mountain (Tom’s) Lookout.
Contingency areas are south of Gun Lake / north east side of Halfway Lake as well as some smaller plots of crown land west of Hwy 62 near the Thomas P. Murray trails.
KAPOA has negotiated 30 meter buffers with OVF for all of the Thomas P. Murray trails including those expanded as forest roads, meaning that your future hiking experiences (post harvest) will remain under a canopy cover. A modified level of logging will be allowable in that buffer zone, but no clear cutting will be allowed.
Contacts
- Krista Watters R.P.F., Management Forester, MNRf krista.watters@ontario.ca
- Nick Gooderham R.P.F, Plan Author, Ottawa Valley Forest Inc., ngooderham@ovfi.ca
- Robin Cunningham, Ottawa Valley Local Citizens Advisory Committee, rcunning@bell.net
Bancroft-Minden Forest Management Plan 2021-2031 (Kamaniskeg Lake lower basin)
The final Forest Management Plan (FMP) was published in July 2021 after 5 public consultation periods in which KAPOA participated by submitting questions and participating in meetings with the MNRF and BMFC.
The current 10-year plan includes a significant planned area of shelterwood and clearcut operation behind Hinterland Beach. The plan also includes bridging harvests in the areas of Parcher Point and River Road/ Kartuszy Road. These were areas planned for harvesting in the 2011-2021 FMP (Parcher was moved from “contingency” to “planned” harvest by administrative amendment in Sep 2020) that were not completed before the end of that plan period.
Kerra Wylie was appointed as a member of the BMFC Local Citizens Committee, effective January 2022, and participates in meetings with the SFL, MNRF and the other LCC committee members on no less than a quarterly basis. Our expectation is that this will provide KAPOA and the Hastings Interlake Association (to which KAPOA is also a member) with a unique opportunity to provide input into, and to receive, timely updates and information on forestry related activities being conducted by BMFC.
Contacts
- Ernie Demuth, Management Forester, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, 613-202-2208, ernie.demuth@ontario.ca
- Svetlana Zeran, Bancroft Minden Forest Company, 613-332-6890, svetlana@bmfci.ca
- Jane Dumas, Bancroft-Minden Local Citizens’ Committee (LCC), mayor@southalgonquin.ca
2022 – 2023 Annual Work Schedules
The Annual Work Schedules (AWS) are available to review on the Natural Resources Information Portal FMP Online (gov.on.ca) by selecting the forest management unit (BMFC, OVF) from the drop down and then select “Annual Work Schedule”.
The OVF AWS does not indicate any planned harvest or tending in it’s current year plan. KAPOA is following up to understand the status of discussions with the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) and OVF over primary corridor road access (in pink) across the AOO treaty lands (in brown) just east of Hwy 62.
The BMFC AWS includes bridging harvest of the River Road / Kartuszy Road areas that appear to have not been quite completed at the end of 2021. Parcher Point will have some mechanical ground tending undertaken in the current year to limit species growth (usually poplar) that can impede the regrowth of desired species following the significant harvest conducted in fall 2020/winter 2021. There is no inclusion of harvest behind Hinterland Beach in the current year plan.
