Features Environment & Sustainability
Three named to B.C. Forest Practices Board

May 8, 2018 – Three individuals have been appointed to the British Columbia Forest Practices Board where they will serve two-year terms.

Bruce Larson, Tara Marsden and Rick Monchak were announced to their posts by Doug Donaldson, minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development.

Larson, who will also serve as vice-chair, has been a professor at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry since 2002. He has a PhD in forestry from the University of Washington and a masters degree in forestry from Yale University. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Forestry and an honourary member of the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals. He was awarded the Canadian Institute of Foresters, Forestry Achievement Award in 2015.

Marsden has a master of arts degree in political science from the University of Northern British Columbia, and has worked with First Nations governments across northern B.C. on land and resource governance and management issues. She is the sustainability director with the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office in Gitanyow. She also served as the B.C. leadership chair for aboriginal environmental health at the University of Northern British Columbia and has been an instructor at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She is a member of the Gitanyow First Nation.

Monchak is a professional forester with a long history of working on the B.C. coast. Retired from TimberWest in 2017, he holds degrees in biology and forestry from the University of British Columbia. A member of the Coast Region Implementation Team and Silviculture Sub-Committee, he has experience in every aspect of forestry operations and administration. He was awarded the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals Distinguished Forest Professional in 2013, and was the Coastal Silviculture Committee Silviculturalist of the Year in 2016.

The Forest Practices Board is B.C.’s independent watchdog for sound forest and range practices, reporting its findings and recommendations directly to the public and government. The board audits forest and range practices and appropriateness of government enforcement on public lands, investigates public complaints and current forestry issues, participates in administrative appeals, and makes recommendations for improvement to practices and legislation.

For more information on the Forest Practices Board, visit http://www.bcfpb.ca.