BMP 6 – Timber Clearing Activities

To ensure the sustainable use and development of the provincial forests, care must be taken in the harvest and handling of the forest products during mineral exploration activities. Assistance in planning exploration harvest activities can be provided by contacting the Forestry and Peatlands Branch at treeline@gov.mb.ca or the Permit Office at permit.office@gov.mb.ca

Examples of typical forest clearing activities include Line Cutting for geophysical surveys, development of trails, work camps, and pads for drill holes and helicopters.

Line Cutting: The process to prepare a grid for Early Mineral Exploration activities and geophysical surveys with known coordinates on the ground. Traditionally, a grid has been prepared by cutting corridors less than 1.5 m in width. Cut grid lines guide exploration programs to link ground survey targets with a physical location for follow-up investigation. Line Cutting is different than “clearing” activities as the minimum number of trees are cut to maintain a line of sight between two or three pickets used for line control.

Low-impact gridding is the new industry technique for Line Cutting to minimize disturbances to Crown lands from traditional Line Cutting methods. Low-impact gridding uses very narrow corridors, often made with little or no cutting. If cutting is done, manual or precision cutting tools are used. See BMP 2 – Early Exploration.

Development of trails: New access trail development may be prohibited where reasonable access already exists. The Proponent should consider winter access trails and utilizing ice roads to minimize impacts on terrestrial environments. Proponents are encouraged to use existing and or re-established access trails leading directly to the property wherever possible. For more information refer to the Boreal Wetlands Conservation Codes of Practice (gov.mb.ca).

Trails are typically 5 m wide and often constructed in the winter over frozen ground conditions. Trails are not all-weather roads. Generally, in the development of a trail, no materials (e.g., gravel) are added to the travel surface. Trails are usually routed in such a manner to reduce visibility and disturbance of trees or other natural features. Trails are often widened to accommodate safe meeting locations for opposing traffic flows at an interval of approximately every 500 m. See BMP 7 – Road and Trail Access.

Work camps: The work camp size may range in size to accommodate three people in tents to as large as 30 people in trailers. The size of the clearing is based on the size of camp and number of people. A typical camp size would include accommodation for approximately 10 people. Wherever possible a previously cleared site should be used for the work camp. If inadequate space has been previously cleared for the proposed camp, with approval, additional area may be cleared to accommodate the camp. See BMP 14 – Temporary Work Camps.

Pads for drill holes and helicopters: Sufficient clear space is required for pads for the safe operation of the drill and helicopter (if required). A drill pad dimension may be as large at 900 meters²(approximately 30 m х 30 m pad) but could be smaller depending upon the type of equipment used for the operation. A helicopter pad can be as large as 900 meters² (approximately 30 m х 30 m pad) for safe landing and take-off procedures. Helicopter pad sizes may vary based on the type of equipment being used as well as fuel storage locations on the pad. The helicopter pad and drill pad may be together as a 30 m х 60 m rectangular pad where flat terrain exists or as two 30 х 30 m pads when flat terrain is not available. See BMP 11 – Land Based Drilling.

Forest Use and Management Regulations

Manitoba’s Forestry and Peatlands Branch is responsible for issuing timber harvest authorities (Timber Permits) related to the cutting and clearing of timber from project sites located on all Crown lands.

The Forest Act requires forest users to practice sustainable forest management, which involves ensuring proper planning to minimize potential impacts on forest ecosystems, ensuring that forest users comply with desired forest management practices, and ensuring optimum forest resource utilization for all forest users to reduce the impact on productive forest land.

NOTE: The conditions of The Forest Act and its associated Regulations apply within Provincial Parks and all forested Crown lands.

The Forest Act allows for the establishment of a Forest Management License to provide a continuous timber supply to a wood using industry. The Forest Management License describes the land upon which trees may be cut, the volume of wood that may be harvested, and other terms and conditions.

There are currently two Forest Management Licenses in Manitoba. Prior to conducting any Prospecting within a Forest Management License area. The holder of the Forest Management License must be contacted regarding road use/management as well as first rights of refusal on timber.

Timber management and forest renewal are the responsibilities of Manitoba Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources on all forested Crown lands outside of Forest Management License areas, and within Forest Management License areas where the wood is used by a facility not operated by the forest management licensee.

All timber, regardless of age class, has a value and can be used in the determination of timber affected by all phases of mineral exploration and any subsequent developments. Merchantable timber typically refers to timber greater than 1.1 m in length with an inside bark diameter of 10 cm for softwood and 12 cm for hardwood at the small end.

Timber Permit

To cut, or remove any timber on an exploration site, an individual, or company, will need a Timber Permit outlining the conditions, this will be circulated to Forestry and Peatlands Branch by the Permit Office for issuance of a Timber Permit as required any special considerations, the rate to be paid (based on location and type of wood), and volume of timber to be cut:

For timber removed (cut and/or harvested) on Crown lands, with a total volume less than 300 cubic metres (two hectares) of timber stacked, this permit is issued through the Regional Forester in a Regional and District Forestry Office.
Timber harvest authorities for volumes greater than 300 cubic metres (two hectares), will be coordinated by the Regional Forester and issued by Forestry and Peatlands Branch’s Planning and Development Section.

NOTE: Failure to obtain a timber harvest authority (permit or timber sale agreement) prior to commencing operations will result in the application of a penalty.

Pre-payment is required on estimated timber dues provided by the Regional and District Forestry Office based on the spatial files of proposed cleared areas. With prior approval by Forestry and Peatlands Branch, the process of pre-payment for timber dues may be waived. To request waiving of pre-payment please contact the appropriate Regional Forester. Use the tree line email (treeline@gov.mb.ca) if the appropriate Regional Forester associated with the project is not known.

Once the clearing work is done for the operating year, the Declaration of Timber Cut on the reverse side of the Timber Permit needs to be completed and submitted to the appropriate Regional Forester as required. Spatial files are required of cleared areas for calculation of timber dues.

The holder of the permit has 30 days from the permit expiry date to apply for a refund resulting from undercutting; however, there are no refunds issued for less than $20.00. Upon receiving the Declaration of Timber Cut, the Forestry and Peatlands Branch will levy additional charges if the permit holder has harvested over the permit limit. Overharvest, late filing and late payment penalties are defined in The Forest Act and The Forest Use and Management Regulation.

Burn Permit

An individual or company will require a Buring Permit if there are plans to burn any material at an exploration site between April 1 and November 15. The permit outlines the conditions that must be met, the allowable timing for burning, as well as when fires must be extinguished. Open fires are not allowed. Only approved fire pits may be used. If an approved fire pit is unavailable, a camp stove must be used.

A Burning Permit is subject to cancellation or a change of permit conditions at any time if the fire hazard increases or reaches a stage where it is no longer safe to burn.

Contact the Regional Conservation Office in the district to obtain a Burning Permit.

NOTE: In an emergency, a person may, without a Burning Permit, start an outdoor fire for the purpose of cooking, keeping warm or signaling for help as laid out in Sec 19(5) of The Wildfires Act.

Cutting / Clearing

Line Cutting exploration activities and requirements are detailed in BMP 2 – Early Exploration.

Unless otherwise approved, hand clearing (using hand tools or chainsaws) must be implemented (if possible and operationally safe) especially in sites such as:

Within 30 metres of a Water Body, unless otherwise approved
Through steep or unstable terrain
Within 30 metres of the shore of any Water Body with trails that are doglegged
In designated areas as directed (e.g., protected or specially designated areas, etc.)

NOTE: Contact the local trapper prior to conducting mineral exploration activities or clearing trails and pads where traps may be disturbed. Please contact the Permit Office for contact information.

General clearing requirements include:

Any clearing of vegetation should be kept to a minimum
To minimize soil disturbance, clearing with heavy machinery should be conducted during frozen or dry and stable ground conditions unless low impact equipment is utilized as authorized by the Department of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources
When clearing, the organic mat should be preserved where possible. Mineral soils should not be exposed if stripping is not previously approved as part of the program
To limit the number of trees cut, utilize existing roads, trails and cut lines
Where possible, avoid areas covered by standing timber and regeneration areas
Forestry and Peatlands Branch has many forest research sites across the province. Development within the protection zone for these sites will not be approved for clearing by Forestry and Peatlands Branch. Information on the location of these sites is available through the appropriate Regional Forester
Leaning trees should be cut and removed for safety purposes
Existing trails are not to be blocked, unless otherwise directed and approved by the Department of Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources
If required for future decommissioning purposes, any slash and timber remaining on the site is to be properly managed (see BMP 16 – Decommissioning)

Contacts

Related Acts and Regulations

F150 – The Forest Act
227/88R – The Forest Use and Management Regulation
F151 – The Forest Health Protection Act
W128 – The Wildfires Act
C340 – The Crown Lands Act
P20 – Provincial Parks Act
MR 141/96 Park Activities Regulation
E125 – The Environment Act

Codes of Practice

Boreal Wetland Conservation Code of Practice