Revisions to the Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes (2014) and Forest Management Guide for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Landscapes (2010)

Background and purpose of the Landscape Guides:

Forest management guides are an important part of sustainable forest management in Ontario. Forest managers use guides when they are developing and implementing forest management plans. They provide guidelines, standards, and best management practices based on the best available science and knowledge.

The Landscape Guides provides direction for conserving biodiversity and managing wildlife habitat at the landscape scale. The purpose of the Landscape Guides is to direct forest management activities to maintain or enhance natural landscape structure, composition and patterns that provide for the long-term health of forest ecosystems in an efficient and effective manner.

For example, the Landscape guides direct forest management planning teams to:

• Manage the amount and arrangement of mature and old forest consistent with natural conditions,
• Manage the size of young forest patches consistent with natural landscape patterns, and
• Use large landscape patches to address strategic objectives for landscape pattern or habitat indicators.

A series of Science and Information Packages provide background information that support direction in the Landscape Guides.

Why we are proposing revisions:

We review forest management guides at least once every ten years to ensure they reflect the best available evidence, such as:

• Results of applicable scientific investigations
• Results of monitoring programs
• Feedback from practitioners, Indigenous peoples, and stakeholders
• Advances in technology and changes to operational practices

The recent Landscape Guide reviews (2024) generally supported current direction while providing short- and long- term recommendations for consideration. Based on these recommendations minor revisions to the guides were drafted with the intent to support forest management planning efforts in the short-term. Additional revisions will be considered in the longer-term as new science, information and knowledge becomes available.

Proposed revisions to the Landscape Guides address:

• recommendations from the guide review, and
• input received from the Provincial Forest Technical Committee.

Key proposed revisions to the Landscape Guides:

To assist with your review of the proposed revisions, we are providing (see attachments referred to in the supporting materials section below): 

• Draft revised Forest Management Guide for Boreal Landscapes.
• Draft revised Forest Management Guide for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Landscapes.
• A summary of the proposed revisions with rationale.

The following is an overview of some of the proposed changes:

• Change to Landscape Guide Region to include the Spanish Forest in the Boreal Landscape Guide Regions and remove the Spanish forest from Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Landscape Guide Regions.
• Align timing of spatial assessments with recent changes in the Forest Management Planning Manual 2024.
• Clarify landscape guide application, for example where there is misalignment between the guide and science packages.
• Update references to policies and legislation.

There are no anticipated negative environmental implications associated with this proposal. 

• Implementing the revised Landscape Guides will maintain or enhance stewardship of Ontario’s Crown forests, including consideration of biodiversity at the landscape scales.

Regulatory impact analysis

The environmental consequences of the proposal are neutral. 

• Stewardship of Ontario’s Crown forests will continue to be maintained or enhanced by implementing the proposed revised Landscape Guides. The best available science and knowledge was considered in the revised guide direction including considerations for biodiversity at landscape scales. The proposed revisions are minor in nature and will continue to conserve biodiversity and long-term health of public forests by guiding forest management planning teams to emulate natural disturbances and landscape patterns while minimizing adverse effects on plant and animal life, water, and soil.

The social consequences of the proposal are neutral to positive. 

• The proposed revisions have considered potential social implications to other forest users including those who use forests for recreation and tourism. Additionally, proposed revisions are expected to reduce burden and increase flexibility for Ontario’s forest sector and the socio-economic wellness of associated rural and Indigenous communities.

The economic consequences of the proposal are neutral to positive. 

An economic analysis showed that, compared to the current guide as a baseline, the new and revised direction will not impact wood supply or wood costs for the forest industry. The proposed revisions and modernization of the Landscape Guides are expected to provide benefit to Indigenous communities, forest industry, government, and stakeholders by:

• Improving clarity of direction and text to support consistent implementation of the Landscape Guides.
• Reducing burden for forest industry by reducing the number of regulatory compliance requirements and streamlining direction
• Adjusting landscape guide region boundaries to better align with current ecological conditions and operational practices.
• Using modern tools when developing forest management plan products
• Updating policy references to align with other policy mechanisms.

Overall, no new administrative costs are anticipated as a result of this proposal.