B.C. Forest Minister Steve Thomson said he is confident in the estimates used by the province to determine not satisfactorily restocked (NSR) forest land.
The ministry has identified 730,000 hectares of forest which is understocked due to mountain pine beetle damage, fire and other causes, he said.
Veteran forester Anthony Britneff has challenged that number, saying the real NSR area could be closer to 9.1 million hectares.
The Forest Practices Board, B.C.'s independent forest watchdog agency, launched a special investigation in September, 2011 to clear up the debate about NSR forest land in B.C.
"I look forward to reading and receiving that report when the Forest Practices Board completes it. I think it'll be useful for us," Thomson said. "I think the important policy is to ensure we have a common understanding of the definition [of NSR]."
Currently logging companies are required to replant forest areas which they log, he said. Through the Forests for Tomorrow program, the provincial government is investing $34.5 million in 2011-12 into reforestation, and nearly $20 million in forest health and timber management programs.
The Forests for Tomorrow program is expected to replant 40,000 hectares of NSR forest this year.
Earlier this month, the province announced a plan aimed at selling the right to replant B.C. forests in exchange for carbon credits, Thomson added. The program is expected to see up to 10,000 hectares per year replanted by 2015.
"We continue to work on a number of policy fronts. We're confident we're continuing to work actively to reforest our lands," Thomson said.
The province has also invested in research and search for new seed varieties which will regenerate B.C.'s forests faster, he said.
However, Thomson said, the ministry is open to advice on how the province can improve its reforestation programs.
Questions still remain about what percentage of land infested by the mountain pine beetle will become NSR, he said, and how quickly the forests will naturally regenerate.
"I've met with the [Forest Practices] Board and had a preliminary discussion on the work they're doing," he said. "I think the work they're doing will asset us."
NDP forest critic Norm MacDonald said the Forest Practices Board shouldn't have to be doing the work which was once done by the ministry.
"It's shocking they don't know and it's shocking they've let it get to a place ... where the gross NSR is 15 per cent of the land," MacDonald said. "There was a time, before 2002, when the ministry reported the NSR annually. If you don't know what's happening with the timber, then you don't know what's happening with the other forest health issues."
B.C.'s Crown forests are a public asset worth approximately a trillion dollars, MacDonald said.
The provincial government is charged with managing that resource, he said, which includes having an accurate picture of how much forest is not satisfactorily restocked.
"We just need more information. And there has to be a concerted effort to get a handle on the forest health issues that are out there," MacDonald said. "We have to explain to the public that, with all the cost pressures that are out there, that these are wise investments. It's our most valuable resource."
