Forests are infrastructure.
They regulate water. They stabilize slopes. They prevent floods. They protect drinking water. When they fail, communities pay.
On Vancouver Island, large areas of private forest land operate under a separate legal regime – the Private Managed Forest Land Act (PMFLA). That system was designed decades ago around timber supply, not watershed stability. It functions as a regulatory carve-out.
The result is predictable: property-based planning instead of watershed-based planning. Limited local standing. Limited enforcement transparency. Preferential tax treatment not directly tied to measurable watershed performance.
The volume model is collapsing – and private land is not insulated from that collapse.
The New Forest Act framework proposes replacing the PMFLA entirely.
Not tweaking it.
Replacing it.
The newly released PMFLA Appendix outlines how private forest lands would be brought under enforceable ecological thresholds, watershed-based planning, transparent compliance systems, and performance-based tax classification.
Under this framework:
• Primary forest logging ends.
• Watershed disturbance thresholds become legally binding.
• Selection and partial cutting become the default harvest method.
• Road density caps and slope risk standards are enforceable.
• Local governments gain formal standing in watershed risk review.
• Preferential tax status becomes conditional on compliance.
Private ownership remains.
Harvesting continues – but within ecological limits.
Protect–Restore–Harvest replaces the volume model.
This is structural reform. It aligns private forest governance with public safety, watershed science, and long-term economic stability.
If forests are infrastructure, they must be governed like infrastructure.
The full PMFLA Replacement Appendix is now available as part of the New Forest Act proposal.
Read it.
Share it.
And if you want to see this framework advanced – through research, outreach, briefings, and legislative development – support the project.
Structural change only moves when it is organized and resourced.
Watch the video: