Smoke Management

The Ministry of Forests (MOF), Skeena Stikine Forest District, is mandated through the Wildfire Act and Regulation to manage and regulate the fire activities (open burning) of individual citizens, agriculture and the forest industry on provincial forest lands. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) has the mandate to regulate smoke emissions from open burning under the Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Open Burning Smoke Control Regulation (OBSCR). MoE uses Environment Canada (EC) generated venting and weather information to regulate where and when burning is permitted within timber supply areas (TSA). Licensees and the public are responsible for obtaining current information and making appropriate burning decisions.

This plan is considered a ‘burn plan’ under the OBSCR sec. 8 (1) of schedule B. This means that the venting requirements in this plan supersede the venting requirements of the OBSCR. It is important to note that this plan is intended to be used as a guide and in most cases the requirements of this plan were developed to complement and assist the OBSCR and not to add extra policies or requirements. In addition to following this burn plan, persons planning to conduct open burning should review and comply with the OBSCR and sections of the Wildfire Act and Regulation relating to open burning. It should be noted that this plan is intended solely for the purpose of pollution prevention. The plan should not be construed as a means of promoting the burning of logging residues, beyond what is strictly required for fire and pest hazard abatement.

This plan may be amended at anytime in order to update legislation or changes in policy.

Smoke Management Plan effective April 1, 2005 | Smoke Management Plan Maps

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