m nt U ·t r t u ·t 200 -2010 ud·t pot 349 Mooney Avenue Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada P78 5l5 Bus:807-345-5445 www .kbm.on.ca © Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2011 Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit -Independent Forest Audit 2005-2010 Audit Report TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Executive Summary- .........................................................................................................iii 2.0 Table of Recommendations and best practices ............................................................... 1 3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 3.1 Audit Process ...................................................................................................................... 2 3.2 Management Unit Description ............................................................................................... 3 3.3 Current Issues..................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Summary of Consultation and Input to Audit.. ........................................................................ 6 4.0 Audit Findings .................................................................................................................. 6 4.1 Commitment ....................................................................................................................... 6 4.2 Public Consultation and Aboriginal Involvement.. .................................................................... 6 4.3 Forest Management Planning................................................................................................ 8 4.4 Plan Assessment and Implementation ................................................................................. 13 Plan Assessment............................................................................................................ 13 Areas of Concern............................................................................................................ 14 Harvest......................................................................................................................... 14 Silviculture .................................................................................................................... 15 Access.......................................................................................................................... 19 4.5 System Support ................................................................................................................. 19 4.6 Monitoring ........................................................................................................................ 20 Silviculture .................................................................................................................... 20 Compliance.................................................................................................................... 21 Annual Reports.............................................................................................................. 23 4.7 Achievement of Management Objectives and Sustainability ................................................... 23 Year1 O Annual Report.................................................................................................... 23 Trend AnalysisReport ..................................................................................................... 23 Achievement of Management Objectives.......................................................................... 24 ForestSustainability ....................................................................................................... 24 4.8 Contractual Obligations ...................................................................................................... 25 4.9 Conclusions and Licence Extension Recommendation............................................................ 25 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1 -Recommendations...................................................................................................... 27 Appendix 2 -Management Objectives Tables ................................................................................... 55 Appendix 3 -Compliance with Contractual Obligations ...................................................................... 59 Appendix 4 -Audit Process ............................................................................................................. 60 Appendix 5 -List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................ 65 Appendix 6 -Audit Team Members and Qualifications ....................................................................... 66 Appendix 7 -Comparison and Trend Analysis Report ........................................................................ 69 List of Tables Table 1. Forest management plans within audit scope......................................................................... 3 Table 2. Recommendations from the 2005 IFA not satisfactorily or fully addressed. ............................. 25 KBM Forestry Consultants Inc. Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit - Independent Forest Audit 2005-2010 Audit Report LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of the Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit in Relation to the amalgamated Abitibi River Forest. (Source: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) .................................... 4 Figure 2. Location of the Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit in Ontario. (Source: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) ........................................................................................... 5 Figure 3. Actual regeneration intensity vs. planned intensity .............................................................. 16 KBM Forestry Consultants Inc. ii Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit - Independent Forest Audit 2005-2010 Audit Report 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report, for the Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit (CMRMU or 'the Forest'), documents the results of an Independent Forest Audit conducted by KBM Forestry Consultants Inc. All Crown forests in Ontario are required to be audited at least every five years; the requirement for independent audits arising from MNR's Class Environmental Assessment Approval for Forest Management on Crown Lands in Ontario (2003). Regulation 160/04 of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (S.O. 1994, c. 25) (CFSA) sets out the specific requirements for conducting the audits. The audit covered the five-year period April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2010. It assessed implementation and selected aspects of planning of the final three years of the 2003-2008 FMP and the 2008-10 Contingency Plan, and planning for the 2010-20 FMP which was not finalized and instead became the 2010-12 Contingency Plan for the amalgamated Cochrane Area Forest (subsequently the Abitibi River Forest). The on-site component of the audit occurred from September 13 to 27, 2010. Document review and interviews occurred throughout the audit process. During the audit term the Forest was managed by MNR Cochrane District, with some forest management activities assigned to Tembec Inc. under a service provider agreement. The principal auditees were MNR Cochrane District and Tembec. Based on the audit, 19 recommendations were made. Recommendations arise from audit team observations of material non-conformances, or may be developed to address situations in which the audit team identifies a significant lack of effectiveness in forest management activities. All audit recommendations are directed at either MNR or Abitibi River Forest Management Inc., a cooperative SFL holder who assumed management responsibilities on the Abitibi River Forest effective April 1, 2010. The majority of recommendations centred on deficiencies in the area of forest management planning. However, the key recommendations, discussed below, arose from audit team observations made in the field. A best practice was identified for the ongoing multi-partner woodland caribou research project that is providing valuable information to inform forest management planning and another for the comprehensive monitoring of silvicultural effectiveness and compliance by MNR. Of the 19 audit recommendations there are three areas of concern that are considered key since they highlight the need to significantly alter certain current practices on the forest in the interest of sustainability. The first area of concern arises from the lack of clear direction from the Province that has allowed forest operations to leave significant amounts of waste wood fibre (slash) at roadside where it occupies productive forest land and prevents establishment of regeneration. This practice is not unique to the Cochrane-Moose River Management Unit or the amalgamated Abitibi River Forest; management of waste wood fibre (both slash and chipper debris) has been a recurring issue for years as evidenced by the many recommendations made in previous IFAs across Ontario. Only a change at the Provincial policy level, supportedby forest management plan commitments and enforcementof such commitments through the Provincial compliance program is likely to lead to an effective, permanent solution. The second area of concern is associated with implementation of harvesting patterns that protect existing regeneration on upland sites. In the audit team's view this practice will lead to degrading of future stand composition through retention of less desirable species that will