Innovative Forest Practices Agreements (IFPAs) are initiatives of the BC Ministry of Forests that exist to i) test new and innovative forestry practices (subject to the BC Forest Practices Code) intended to increase forest productivity; and ii) encourage designated licensees to carry out those practices by offering them the opportunity to apply for an increase to their allocated harvest levels to maintain and enhance employment in the forest industry.

A pilot IFPA has been awarded to six licensees (Canfor, Houston Forest Products Co., Babine Forest Products Ltd., Fraser Lake Sawmills Ltd., Decker Lake Forest Products and L&M Lumber Ltd.) for a 2.7 million hectare landbase encompassing both the Morice and Lakes Timber Supply Areas (TSAs). This landbase is located in the west-central region of BC, between Prince George and Prince Rupert. These licensees feel that the Morice & Lakes TSAs IFPA (ML-IFPA) will allow them demonstrate that harvest volumes can be increased while maintaining environment and social accounts, enhancing value-added opportunities and assisting communities and First Nations in expanding their involvement in regional forestry.

It is believed that there is considerable biological potential for increased harvests in these TSAs. The challenge is to do so without comprising environmental quality and non-timber resources. To assist them in addressing this challenge, the licensees (the ML-IFPA holders) have requested the involvement of the McGregor Model Forest.

The ML-IFPA holders desire to put in place a sustainable forest management system that follows an adaptive management framework. It will be based on sound ecological principles and will strive to balance environmental, social and economic needs by managing for multiple resources concurrently, rather than managing non-timber resources as constraints to wood supply. It will be used to set measurable targets for management performance, to prioritize spending and activities in order to achieve those targets, to monitor progress, and to be a mechanism that can ultimately support licensees in obtaining forest certification.

The intent of the ML-IFPA is to capture the body of ecological management knowledge that underpins BC's prescriptive approach to management, regulated planning procedures, Forest Practices Code guidebooks and other policies and apply it through a different management approach. That approach would be one based on objectives and results - the IFPA structure will provide the latitude required to implement an SFM system that aligns with that approach.

Doing so has the potential to provide management improvements by better understanding the implications of higher-level plan objectives, by putting more decision making and accountability into the hands of local managers to achieve objectives, and by achieving efficiencies through reductions in the administrative burden of working through the current prescriptive approach to management.

The McGregor Model Forest will be an active participant in this IFPA - the ML-IFPA holders have agreed to test the McGregor's "Approach to SFM" as the basis for their management system. The ML-IFPA will utilize all aspects of the "Approach", from scenario planning right through to on-the-ground indicator monitoring. The McGregor will prepare the technical work plan, facilitate the scenario planning sessions with agencies and stakeholders, forecast and analyze the management scenarios, and work with the IFPA holders to build a Forestry Plan approvable by managing agencies. That Forestry Plan will address seven key components - i) SFM Objectives and Indicators, ii) Resource/Timber Supply Analysis, iii) Public and First Nations Involvement, iv) Practices/Activities, v) Implementation, vi) Monitoring and Reporting, and vii) Adaptive Management/Continuous Improvement.

The ML-IFPA holders must be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the BC Ministry of Forests, the spatial feasibility of any increased harvest level and that the objectives specified in the Forestry Plan can be achieved. Spatial modelling (a McGregor emphasis) is particularly applicable in both the Morice & Lakes TSAs because they are at a relatively early stage of development. There are greater opportunities to achieve targets for age class, patch size, biodiversity and other objectives in the area than in other provincial forest districts that face more serious land use conflicts and are unable to achieve their targets.

An IFPA provides licensees and managing agencies with new tools and a means to work together in managing environmental, social and economic values across a sizeable land base. Under existing forest licence arrangements, it is difficult to effectively manage resources in this aggregated (landscape-level) manner.

The ML-IFPA will commence in earnest during the summer of 1999. As it proceeds, various ML-IFPA reports (some specific to the McGregor's participation) will be included in an on-line forum open to ML-IFPA participants. A dialogue feature and pertinent documents for retrieval will be available there.