Introduction and Background
The Vegetation Inventory Advisory Council (VIAC) provides strategic oversight
to the Vegetation Resources Inventory (VRI) Program of the Ministry of Forests
and Range by clarifying issues, developing and assessing options, and making
recommendations to the Chief Forester regarding the VRI program. The VIAC is a
collaborative government‑industry group that was formed in the fall of 2006 as a
result of a value for money audit of the Land Base Investment Program and a
direction provided by the Chief Forester.
The VIAC is accountable for the:
- development and maintenance of a governance model and strategic plan for
the forest inventory program;
- development and maintenance of a business plan that provides for the
strategic allocation of funds for the completion of VRI activities and the
activities of the VIAC;
- monitoring and reporting of the progress in achieving the objective of
the Inventory Strategy;
- identification and analysis of opportunities to advance the
implementation of the forest inventory program.
The current VIAC is comprised of the following
members:
- Melanie Boyce, Chair,
Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch;
- Dan Battistella,
Weyerhaeuser Company, Kamloops;
- Rick Brand, Strategic
Policy and Planning Branch;
- Patrick Bryant,
Western Forest Products, Campbell River;
- Denis Collins, Coast
Forest Region;
- Dave Gill, BC Timber
Sales, Vernon;
- Deidre Haight, BC
Timber Sales, Port McNeill;
- Kevin Johnston,
Southern Interior Forest Region;
- Evert Kenk,
Integrated Land Management Bureau;
- Steve Kozuki, Council
of Forest Industries, Prince George;
- Wayne Martin,
Northern Interior Forest Region;
- John Rowe, Canadian
Forest Products, Fort St. John;
- Gerry Sommers,
International Forest Products, Burnaby;
- Art Tautz, Ministry
of Environment.
The VIAC is sponsored by and receives oversight
from the Chief Forester and in return, provides recommendations on the strategic
direction and development of the VRI program. Specific deliverables that have
been developed include a 2007‑2015 Inventory Strategic Plan and a
2007‑2008 Vegetation Inventory Business Plan.
Future activities include the establishment of
criteria and ranking system that will be applied to all management units in the
province to guide the replacement or enhancement of existing forest inventories.
The intent of this system is to prioritize forest inventory activities in the
province and provide a framework for estimating the time and effort required to
complete the current program. This will also help to provide guidance on the
level of stable funding required for the program for the next ten years. |
