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Home : About Managed Forest Land : Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Act and Regulations
- What does the Private Managed Forest Land Act do?
- When did the Private Managed Forest Land Act and new regulations take effect?
- What land does the Private Managed Forest Land Act apply to?
- What happens if my application to add land to the Managed Forest program is accepted — will the legislative and regulatory provisions apply to that land immediately?
- What are my first steps to address the requirements under the Private Managed Forest Land Act?
About the Council
- What is the Private Managed Forest Land Council?
- How are the Managed Forest landowner representatives selected?
- How do I nominate Managed Forest landowner representatives to the Council?
- What authority does the Private Managed Forest Land Council have?
- What oversight is there of the Private Managed Forest Land Council?
- What resources does the Private Managed Forest Land Council have?
About Forest Practices
- How can I obtain a copy of the forest practices regulations associated with the Private Managed Forest Land Act?
- Is my right to practice forestry protected by the Private Managed Forest Land Act?
About Taxes and Management Commitments
- Does having managed forest class affect the property tax payable?
- What is the purpose of a Management Commitment?
- How do I apply to add land to the private Managed Forest program and have it assessed as Managed Forest?
- Where do I get an application form to add land to the Managed Forest program?
- What is the process once I submit an application form to add land to the Managed Forest program?
- How do owners keep land in the managed forest land property class?
- How do I remove land from the Managed Forest program?
- What is the exit fee, how does it apply and how is it calculated?
- What are the obligations of an owner when a Managed Forest is sold?
- What does a new owner need to do to maintain Managed Forest land class for a property?
- How much does it cost for landowners to participate in the Managed Forest program?
- How is the annual administration fee payable by each managed forest land owner calculated?
- Why was bare land assessed value chosen as the means to determine the annual fee for participating in Managed Forest program?
- What happens when Managed Forest owners do not pay their annual administration fee?
- What is the role of BC Assessment?
- What are the Managed Forest landowner’s reporting obligations with respect to BC Assessment and the Timber Harvesting Return?
- What are the Managed Forest landowner’s reporting obligations to the Private Managed Forest Land Council?
Act and Regulations
- What does the Private Managed Forest Land Act do? Top of page
- Is intended to encourage responsible stewardship of private forest land.
- Is designed to maintain and encourage further growth of the private managed forest program, including maintaining current forest management rights and obligations.
- Establishes the Private Managed Forest Land Council (Council), made up of representatives from government and managed forest landowners.
- Establishes objectives for the key public environmental values, which are: soil conservation; water quality; fish habitat; critical wildlife habitat; and reforestation.
- When did the Private Managed Forest Land Act and new regulations take effect?
Top of page - Private Managed Forest Land Regulation
- Private Managed Forest Land Council Matters Regulation
- Private Managed Forest Land Council Regulation
- What land does the Private Managed Forest Land Act apply to? Top of page
- What happens if my application to add land to the Managed Forest program is accepted — will the legislative and regulatory provisions apply to that land immediately? Top of page
- What are my first steps to address the requirements under the Private Managed Forest Land Act? Top of page
The Private Managed Forest Land Council was established in July 2004.
Sections of the Private Managed Forest Land Act (Bill 88) were brought into force on January 30, 2004 to aid in the transition from the Forest Land Reserve. The Act came into full effect in August 2004, at which time the Forest Land Reserve Act was repealed.
The following regulations came into effect August 2004:
See the website PMFL Legislation page for more details.
The Act applies to all private land that is classed as managed forest land by BC Assessment, except managed forest land in a tree farm licence area, woodlot licence area or a community forest agreement area. These other lands are subject to the provincial Forest and Range Practices Act.
The Private Managed Forest Land Act and regulations do not apply to land that is new to the program until January 1 of the next fiscal year, at which time the property is added to the BC Assessment roll as Managed Forest land (Class 7), and all legislative provisions apply.
Managed forest landowners are advised of the administration fees, legal reporting obligations, and deadlines upon entrance into the program. This information is also available on the website – see the Managed Forest Program page for more details.
About the Council
- What is the Private Managed Forest Land Council? Top of page
- two members appointed by the provincial government;
- two members elected by managed forest land owners; and
- the Chair appointed by the other four council members.
- How are the Managed Forest landowner representatives selected? Top of page
- How do I nominate Managed Forest landowner representatives to the Council? Top of page
- What authority does the Private Managed Forest Land Council have? Top of page
- Regulatory-making powers to establish forest practice standards in accordance with the objectives set out in the Act;
- Administration of the forest practices component of the Managed Forest program;
- Recommending to BC Assessment that a property qualifies for managed forest land property class;
- Conducting forest practices audits;
- Handling complaints and investigations;
- Issuing stop work orders, consent agreements and remediation orders;
- Levying fines to owners who contravene the prescribed forest practices standards in the regulations;
- Recommending to BC Assessment that an owner who has contravened the regulations have their land removed or be suspended from managed forest class;
- Pursuing former managed forest landowners for unpaid fees and penalties incurred while in the program;
- Liaising with other Provincial, Federal and local governments.
- What oversight is there of the Private Managed Forest Land Council? Top of page
- An annual report is made available to the minister, owners and the public; and
- The government may appoint an independent audit of the Managed Forest Program.
- What resources does the Private Managed Forest Land Council have? Top of page
The Private Managed Forest Land Council is an independent provincial agency established under the Private Managed Forest Land Act to administer the forest practices component of the Managed Forest program. This includes the protection of key public environmental values on managed forest land.
The Council consists of five members:
Council members serve a three-year term.
See the website Council Overview page for more details.
Managed forest land owners nominate willing candidates. An election is then held to select two representatives. Voting is weighted to reflect the value and/or size of each landowner’s managed forest holdings.
Nominees must meet the criteria established in Section 6 of the Private Managed Forest Land Act and any additional selection criteria that may be established by the Council. Before an election takes place, managed forest land owners will receive a nomination form and relevant information.
The Council’s authority includes:
The Council is held accountable in a number of ways:
Direct resources include an executive director and field specialists. In addition, managed forest owner experts, personnel from the Ministry of Environment, peer groups and the Private Forest Landowners Association are available to support the work of the Council as required.
About Forest Practices
- How can I obtain a copy of the forest practices regulations associated with the Private Managed Forest Land Act? Top of page
- Is my right to practice forestry protected by the Private Managed Forest Land Act? Top of page
The regulations are available on the website PMFL Legislation page.
Yes. Section 21 of the Act prohibits local governments from passing bylaws that directly or indirectly restrict forest management activities. Local governments can place reasonable restrictions on the non-forestry use of private managed forest land and can set local property tax rates.
About Taxes and Management Commitments
- Does having managed forest class affect the property tax payable? Top of page
- BC Assessment determines the value of the land without trees, and applies a schedule of regulated values to the bare land. These regulated values are used to help BC Assessment fairly and uniformly determine the assessed value of all managed forest land in British Columbia. Merchantable timber value is not included in this step.
- BC Assessment adds the assessed value of timber to the to the bare land value of the land only after timber is harvested. The value of the timber harvested in any year is added two years later to a property’s assessed value for that year.
- What is the purpose of a Management Commitment? Top of page
- How do I apply to add land to the private Managed Forest program and have it assessed as Managed Forest? Top of page
- Where do I get an application form to add land to the Managed Forest program? Top of page
- What is the process once I submit an application form to add land to the Managed Forest program? Top of page
- Reviews the Management Commitment against specified criteria, and determines if the application meets those criteria. See the website Managed Forest Program page for more details.
- Forwards the application to BC Assessment when the application is deemed acceptable.
- Adds the new managed forest land to the managed forest land database once it is approved by BC Assessment.
- Processes the application to classify the property as managed forest land (Class 7)
- Advises the owner that the property has been added to the managed forest roll for the next fiscal year.
- How do owners keep land in the managed forest land property class?
Top of page - Maintain a valid management commitment.
- Comply with the forest practices standards, regulations and other requirements of the Private Managed Forest Land Act and the Private Managed Forest Land Council.
- Pay the annual administration fee.
- File an annual declaration.
- How do I remove land from the Managed Forest program? Top of page
- What is the exit fee, how does it apply and how is it calculated? Top of page
- What are the obligations of an owner when a Managed Forest is sold? Top of page
- What does a new owner need to do to maintain Managed Forest land class for a property? Top of page
- How much does it cost for landowners to participate in the Managed Forest program?
Top of page - How is the annual administration fee payable by each managed forest land owner calculated? Top of page
- Why was bare land assessed value chosen as the means to determine the annual fee for participating in Managed Forest program? Top of page
- What happens when Managed Forest owners do not pay their annual administration fee? Top of page
- What is the role of BC Assessment? Top of page
- What are the Managed Forest landowner’s reporting obligations with respect to BC Assessment and the Timber Harvesting Return? Top of page
- What are the Managed Forest landowner’s reporting obligations to the Private Managed Forest Land Council? Top of page
The Managed Forest program continues to provide property assessed values that are generally lower than for other classes such as residential, in exchange for landowners' commitment to the reforestation of private lands and the protection of key environmental values. The Managed Forest program does not create any new tax-based incentives, and does not impact on local governments’ ability to set local property tax rates.
The BC Assessment website outlines how the value of Managed Forest land class is assessed. In summary, it is a two-step process:
A management commitment is required under Section 17 of the Private Managed Forest Land Act to qualify a property. It must include a commitment by the owner to adhere to the Act and regulations. Information submitted, in a management commitment is used by the Council to determine if the property qualifies as private managed forest land.
A management commitment application must be made to the Council. Requirements include a minimum property area of 25 hectares, a 15 year commitment to the program and an acceptable management commitment. Applications must reach Council by August 31 of each year in order for the property to be included in the next year's assessment roll as managed forest. See the website How to Apply page for more details.
If you have a current management commitment on file and your property is assessed as managed forest, you may apply to the Council to amend the existing management commitment to add land.
Management commitment application forms are available on the website Getting Started page, or on request from the Council office.
The Private Managed Forest Land Council:
BC Assessment:
Note that in order to ensure that managed forest applications and amendments are processed in time for addition to the managed forest roll for the next fiscal year, new management commitments or amendments to existing management commitments must be submitted to the Council office by August 31 of each year.
To maintain managed forest class, owners must:
Owners can voluntarily enter and exit their property from managed forest class by providing notice to the Private Managed Forest Land Council. The withdrawal of Management Commitment form is available on the Leaving Program page. An exit fee may apply if the lands have been assessed as managed forest for less than 15 years.
The exit fee is intended to encourage long-term participation in the Managed Forest program. The exit fee applies to lands that have been assessed as managed forest for less than 15 years and is calculated based on the difference between actual property taxes paid and what the property taxes would have been in, for example, residential class, with a discount related to the number of years spent in the class.
Owners of land that has been assessed as managed forest for more than 15 years will not pay an exit fee at any time. Exemptions also apply in certain circumstances, such as the expropriation or donation of land for public purposes.
An owner must file a Notice of Sale with the Council office. This form is available on the Leaving Program page.
The new owner must submit a new management commitment to the Council office within 60 days of receipt of a letter from Council, or by August 31, whichever is soonest. See the How to Apply page.
An annul administration fee is payable. The annual cost to landowners is $100 plus a fee in the range of 40 to 60 cents per thousand dollars of bare land assessed value. The $100 standard fee is to ensure that a reasonable portion of the administrative costs of the Council is recovered from each owner.
The annual fees payable by managed forest owners are based on the bare land assessed value of their holdings in the program. The Council establishes a fee rate annually based on the following calculation:
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The rate is then applied to the bare land assessed value of each owner’s holdings to determine the owner's annual fee, plus the $100.
A number of options were considered as a means of fairly and equitably spreading the burden of funding the Managed Forest program. Bare land assessed value was chosen because it was considered to be the most objective way of recognizing the value and potential timber yield of each landowner’s managed forest holdings. It also uses information readily available from BC Assessment. This approach means that the more productive and valuable your land, the more you pay towards the administration of the program.
Non-payment is a contravention of section 9 of the Private Managed Forest Land Act. Managed forest landowners who do not pay their annual fees lose their managed forest land class status and the property is removed from the managed forest land roll.
BC Assessment is responsible under the Assessment Act and the Forest Values and Cut Timber Values Regulation to classify eligible properties as managed forest land, including the compilation and maintenance of the assessment roll, to assess managed forest lands and to collect annual Timber Harvesting Returns.
Under the Assessment Act, BC Assessment requires all owners whose properties are classed as managed forest land to submit a timber harvesting return for the previous calendar year. BC Assessment sends all owners of forest land a Harvesting Return form at the beginning of each year. This form must be completed and returned to BC Assessment by May 31 of each year.
Section 20 of the Private Managed Forest Land Act requires all owners of managed forest land to report on forest management activities that have taken place during the previous operating year. This includes timber harvesting, road construction and reforestation.
Landowners must file an Annual Declaration detailing this information with the Council by May 1 of each year. Council sends an Annual Declaration form to all managed forest landowners by March 1 of each year.
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