Water Stewardship Information Sources
| Citation | Wise, M.P., G.D. Moore, and D.F. VanDine (editors). 2004. Landslide risk case studies in forest development planning and operations. B.C. Min. For., Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Land Manage. Handb. No. 56. |
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| Organization | FLNRO |
| URL | https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Lmh/Lmh56.pdf |
| Abstract/Description or Keywords | Landslide risk management associated with forest practices in the Province of British Columbia has progressed though a series of stages over the past 30 years. In the early 1970s, there was little understanding of landslide risks—a period of few regulatory requirements and a time of ongoing confrontation between resource agencies and forest licensees. In the mid-1970s, the first pilot terrain stability maps were introduced on the Queen Charlotte Islands. In the mid-1980s, the British Columbia Coastal Fisheries/ Forestry Guidelines were introduced to provide a basis for landslide risk management in environmentally sensitive areas. Then, in 1995, forest practices regulations were brought into force under the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, with protection of the environment as one of the primary objectives. Since the inception of the Forest Practices Code, landslide risk management in landslide-prone terrain involved legislated processes, including landslide hazard identification, terrain stability hazard mapping, and terrain stability field assessments to evaluate potential or existing effects of forest development on terrain stability. Often, the avoidance of all landslide risk was considered the best option within the realm of the Forest Practices Code requirement to conserve and protect forest resources. In February 2004, forest management in British Columbia began a transition to results-based management under the Forest and Range Practices Act. Under this Act, “…a person who carries out a primary forest activity must ensure that the primary forest activity does not cause a landslide that has a material adverse effect on forest resource values.” In addition, persons responsible for forest development will need to apply landslide risk management within a decision-making framework to adequately balance environmental and timber supply objectives associated with the planning and operations for forest roads and trails, and timber harvesting. Therefore, effective communication of landslide risk by terrain stability professionals becomes paramount so that forest resource managers can make sound decisions. Land Management Handbook 18, A Guide for the Management of Landslide-Prone Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, published in 1991 (with a second printing in 1994), arose out of the Fish-Forestry Interaction Research Program of the 1980s. This handbook provided needed information on landslide processes, techniques for recognition of landslide-prone terrain, and measures to manage unstable terrain. More recently, workshops, discussions, and expert input on snow avalanches culminated in 2002 with the publication of Land Management Handbook 55, Snow Avalanche Management in Forested Terrain. Acceptable practices are identified in that handbook for proactive forest management of snow avalanche risk in avalanche-prone terrain. In 2003/2004, the desire for better landslide management practices brought together terrain stability professionals working in the British Columbia forest sector with an objective to provide a common framework for landslide risk management. This handbook (Land Management Handbook 56, Landslide Risk Case Studies in Forest Development Planning and Operations) is the result. It is based on the general framework for risk management described in the 1997 Canadian Standards Association document, Risk Management: Guideline for Decision-Makers and in the 2000 Australian Geomechanics Society document, Landslide Risk Management Concepts and Guidelines. This handbook also provides a basis for a common understanding of terms and concepts for effective communication among forest resource managers, terrain stability professionals, and stakeholders. Case study examples are provided to demonstrate risk analysis for cutblocks, roads, gullies, and fans in coastal and interior settings. The case studies demonstrate qualitative and quantitative methods of risk analysis, and various types of risk management. We believe that this handbook will help provide a rational basis for informed and defensible decisions pertaining to landslide risk management associated with forest practices in British Columbia. |
| Information Type | report |
| Regional Watershed | Province |
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| Project status | complete |
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