Forest Operations Prescription (FOP)

Forest Operations Prescription is a recorded, site-specific set of harvest, renewal and maintenance activities to be used to achieve expected forest conditions.

• Under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act [CFSA] Forest Operations Prescription is mandatory for operations on Crown forest and must be certified by a Registered Professional Forester in Ontario [OPFA]. FOP constitutes the link between FMP and the reality on the ground.
• Forest Management Plan identifies preliminary prescription for each area selected for operations, however, this rudimentary, generic prescription is based on the Forest Resource Inventory (FRI) data, which needs to be verified on the ground.
• In order to operate in the extremely diverse natural and social environment and fulfil a multitude of regulatory requirements, Forest Operations Prescriptions in Mazinaw-Lanark Forest are usually very detailed and complex.
• Site visit and collecting data on the ground and from other sources (site history, adjacent land ownership etc) is the first step in developing our FOP’s.
• The information is used in the decision path that involves the following steps:
  • Verify current Forest Condition for each stand: species, age, eco site, structure.
  • Re-draw stand boundaries if necessary, group areas into treatment sections.
  • Identify the objective for each treatment section - future Forest Unit [FU]
  • Identify Silvicultural Ground Rule [SGR] - silvicultural system, logging method & other standards.
  • Provide direction for layout, tree marking, treatment of areas of concern [AOC], identify operational issues.
  • Create a FOP map and summary.
• Once created, FOP is used as a template for tree marking, logging, monitoring and auditing by both SFL staff and NDMNRF staff, annual reporting [AR], planning follow-up treatments (site preparation, tree planting, tending) and Silvicultural Assessment Monitoring [SEM].
• New information acquired after FOP preparation, most often involving detection of Species at Risk or other new Values requires updating the FOP and adjustments on the ground.
• Because of the high level of complexity, implementation of Mazinaw-Lanark FOP’s requires skills, experience and specialization from all involved.