Ontario Bridge Training Program for Foresters

Forest ecosystem management balances ecological, social, and economic demands with the capacity of forest resources to provide for present and future values.

Standard 3 - Module 1 - Forest Values ($350)

Describe the variety of values and competing interests in a forest.
a. Identify and describe the range of values (timber and non-timber) in a forest.
b. Identify the interests and rights present in a forest including Indigenous Peoples’ rights, claims and interests in forests and the importance of implementing processes to determine and address them.
c. Describe the requirements of and interaction among these values.

Standard 3 - Module 2 - Forest Strategic and Operational Principals ($350)

Explain forest strategic and operational planning principles.
a. Explain why forest planning is required.
b. Discuss basic principles of planning.
c. Discuss planning tools.
d. Differentiate among levels of planning.
e. Describe the specific operational elements that should be included in a plan.

Standard 3 - Module 3 - Forest Cover Manipulation Strategies ($350)

Analyze and apply a range of forest cover manipulation strategies that effectively achieve a given set of objectives while minimizing negative impacts on other values from a perspective emphasizing:
a. Commercial extraction as the management objective; and
b. Management objectives that are non-extractive.

Standard 3 - Module 4 - Legal and Policy Framework in Forest Management ($350)

Explain the legal and policy framework.
a. Describe forest regulation/legislation /policies and procedures (nationally and regionally specific) and the importance to forest management.

Standard 3 - Module 5 - Forest Management Concepts ($350)

Discuss forest management concepts.
a. Explain various management approaches and situations where they might be used.
b. Describe risk and uncertainty in forest management options.
c. Describe the application, design and function of adaptive management.
d. Discuss the cumulative impacts of forestry and other land use practices (e.g. oil and gas, urban development) on various forest resources.
e. Describe the role and application of monitoring in forestry.

Standard 3 - Module 6 - Global Trends in Forest Management ($350)

Describe how global drive trends and influence forest management.
a. Identify global trends.
b. Explain the influence of global trends on regionally specific forest management.

Standard 3 - Module 7 - Resource Plan Development ‘Capstone Project’ ($500)

Develop a resource planning document that incorporates current economic, environmental and social values into actions that lead to achieving the planning objectives and to future desired conditions and goals.
a. Identify and describe resource abundance through time and space and determine the management activities required to provide for a sustainable supply of consumptive and non- consumptive goods and services.
b. Plan resource use decisions and determine the harvest of resources (including timber) within the context of larger, socially-defined goals.

Canada’s forest resources provide a wide variety of goods and services. Utilizing forest resources requires knowledge of the principles of allocation of limited resources among competing interests and the economic, policy and administrative forces that cause change.

Standard 4 - Module 1 - Business & Project Plans ($200)

Describe the content and importance of business and project plans.
a. Explain the importance of business plans and project plans.
b. Identify the components of a business plan.
c. Prepare a project plan.

Standard 4 - Module 2 - Risk Management ($200)

Describe risk management relative to forest resources.
a. Describe the limitations, including risk and uncertainty, in managing forests and forest operations.
b. Perform a sensitivity analysis for a management action or strategy.
c. Recognize the impact of natural disturbance on the availability of forest resources.

Standard 4 - Module 3 - Organizational Structure & Function ($200)

Describe organizational structure and function.
a. Discuss social, environmental and economic effects of policies and strategies that impact forestry as developed by various organizations.
b. Describe Indigenous peoples’ interactions with relevant organizations.
c. Describe effects of labour relations on forestry.
d. Explain the effects of certification programs on forestry.
e. Describe the role of government in society as a process for establishing legislation and policy.

Standard 4 - Module 4 - Business Concepts in Resource Management Planning ($200)

Discuss business concepts that apply to a management plan.
a. Describe the business objectives that must be considered in resource management planning.
b. Discuss the concept of balancing environmental, social, and economical considerations in resource management planning.
c. Identify various products produced from forests and the markets they serve.
d. Discuss concepts of best end-use and value-added products as related to forest resources.

Standard 4 - Module 5 - Forest Products & National & Global Trends ($200)

Recognize the effects of national and global trends on supply and demand, and flow of forest-based products including price and production.
a. Describe basic principles of macroeconomics and their application to forest resources.
b. Discuss the effects of international policies on Canada’s ability to compete.
c. Explain Canada’s evolving position in global markets.
d. Recognize full cost analysis for multiple-use where information is available.

Standard 4 - Module 6 - Operational Plan Development ($400)

Prepare and defend a basic operational plan for a project to achieve resource management objectives within available resources.
a. Plan and implement a project with emphasis on human resources, production schedules and budgeting
b. Explain the role of performance measures (e.g. human resources, financial, timelines and production).
c. Defend a plan of action.

OPFA Bridging - Module 1 - Concepts and Principles of Forest Administration Policy ($200)

This module will define and describe how Ontario developed a system of forest management policies, the course of events that lead to the current policy framework, and where federal policy interacts with provincial. It will also explain how policy has developed to ensure that management is sustainable and people’s rights and responsibilities are respected. Specific policies impacting forest management and forestry resources will be examined.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module the successful candidate will:

• Understand the history and development of forest and land development policy in Ontario.
• Understand how we got to where we are.
• Be able to explain the current state of forest management across Ontario.
• Be able to define sustainable forest management, especially as to the analyses of sustainability for public forests in Ontario.
• Know the divisions between federal and provincial jurisdictions.
• Understand how policy is developed, who helps craft it, what tools are used and what forms policy can take.
• Understand how international agreements and commitments impact forest policy in Ontario.
• Be able to list federal legislation that impacts provincial forest policy and explain the impact of said legislation.
• Understand the role of professional foresters.