Two UBC researchers receive $511,000 award to increase the involvement of forest dependent communities in forest management

Vancouver, June 20, 2006 – Two University of British Columbia researchers will receive grants totaling $511,000 to carry out leading-edge forestry projects that will lead to better working relationships between the forest industry and forest dependent communities including First Nations. Dr. Thomas Maness, Associate Professor, Faculty of Forest Resources Management and Landscape Architecture, will lead an inter-provincial research team in developing a new way to effectively measure the public's forest preferences. Dr. John Innes, Professor and FRBC Chair of Forest Management, will lead a regional research team to find a better way to understand and manage cumulative development impacts on Treaty 8 lands. This award is part of a $3.3 million investment over three years made by the Government of Canada through a Network of Centres of Excellence, the Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN), in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick.

The investment coincides with the opening of the SFM Network's fourth scientific conference, being held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. More than 300 participants, representing the forest industry, provincial governments, First Nations, and non-government organizations, as well as forest practitioners and researchers from Canada and abroad, will discuss the latest developments in integrated land management, evolution of sustainable forest-dependent communities, water-management strategies, public participation in planning processes, natural disturbance management and emulation, climate change adaptation, and tenure reform.

1. Principal Investigator Dr. Thomas Maness will receive a total of $431,000 over three years to develop a new computer model that will provide a new way for the public to view proposed landscape changes and assess various tradeoffs so that researchers can more accurately determine public preferences toward forested areas. The research effort will document, for the first time, a broad picture of how the public determines what it is prepared to trade-off in order to protect forest values they care about. The computer model, the first to include ecological, economic and social criteria, will illustrate multiple trade-offs that can be cumulatively forecasted, illustrated and used to develop preferred plans on how best to access and use the landscape for multiple purposes.

Dr. Maness' proposal went through an extensive scientific peer-review process. His project received significant support from Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada-Canadian Forest Service and Canadian Forest Products Ltd.

Dr. Maness will be supported by Drs. Robert Kozak, Tim McDaniels and Stephen Sheppard, University of British Columbia and by Dr. Erin Bayne, University of Alberta.

2. Principal Investigator Dr. John Innes has received an $80,000 research award to find a way to more accurately understand the cumulative impacts of industrial development on Treaty 8 First Nations communities. Overall, Innes' research will address two issues: Obtaining a better understanding of the ways in which various treaties are interpreted by the parties, and developing a decision support tool to assess the cumulative impacts of resource development at both the regional and local levels. Dr. Innes' team will first work with First Nations communities to identify major concerns regarding the impacts of industrial development on their communities. The team will develop a model to include various social, cultural, economic and ecological impacts of development on forest dependent communities within British Columbia and then apply the model to communities outside the province to forecast and assess the cumulative impacts associated with industrial development on forested lands.

Dr. Innes' proposal went through an extensive scientific peer-review process. His project received significant support from Government of British Columbia, Government of Alberta, Tembec Inc. and the Little Red River Cree Nation in Alberta.

Dr. Innes will be supported by Drs. John Nelson and Ron Trosper, University of British Columbia, Dr. James Frideres and Dr. Monique Ross, University of Calgary.

About The Sustainable Forest Management Network
The Sustainable Forest Management Network facilitates collaborative, applied research partnerships among 32 industry, government, Aboriginal, and non-government partners in supporting the work of more than 190 researchers. Their research efforts are accomplished thanks to 300 highly qualified personnel working at 35 participating institutions across Canada. The SFM Network represents one of the few forums to bring Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal forest resource managers and policy makers around one table to promote dialogue and the development of a common understanding in a non-confrontational environment.

About the Networks of Centres of Excellence
Networks of Centres of Excellence create unique partnerships among all stakeholders, governments, businesses, workers and communities, and are an initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Industry Canada.

For more project information, contact:

Dr. Thomas Maness, Associate Professor
Forest Resources Management/Landscape Architecture
University of British Columbia
Tel: (604) 822-2150
E-mail: maness@interchange.ubc.ca

Dr. John Innes, Professor
Forest Resources Management
University of British Columbia
Tel: (604) 822-6761
E-mail: john.innes@ubc.ca

More information about SFM Network:

Marvin Abugov
Communications Manager
SFM Network
Tel: (780) 492-2492
E-mail: mabugov@ualberta.ca