Decision Date: April 24, 1998

Panel: Toby Vigod, Rob Kyle, Howard Saunders

Keywords: Consent order

Mr. Cecil Pangburn appealed a decision of a Review Panel that varied the decision of a District Manager who found Mr. Pangburn had contravened sections 67(1) and (2)(d), 96(1), 35(1)(b) and 54(6)(c) of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. The District Manager had assessed a penalty of $34,572 for contravention of section 96(1), which was based on one-and-one-half times the estimated market value of the logs, which had been taken from a riparian management area. The Review Panel upheld the contraventions of sections 67(1) and (2)(d), 96(1) and 54(6)(c). It found no contravention of section 35(1)(b) of the Code and found less volume of timber had been taken without authorization than originally calculated. The Panel varied the penalty from $34, 572 to $10, 752 based on a reduced volume and one times the market value of the timber.

At the commencement of the hearing, the parties requested a brief adjournment to see if the matter could be resolved. Counsel for the government of British Columbia informed the Commission that a senior Ministry of Forests official had conducted an additional cruise and determined that even less timber had been taken without authorization than found by the Review Panel. Counsel also stated that the Government had found that the riparian management area had been compromised and that a penalty of one times market value was not adequate. The parties agreed on a new estimate of timber and a new penalty.

Based on the consent of the parties, the Commission upheld the contraventions of sections 67(1) and (2)(d), 96(1) and 54(6)(c) and varied the penalty to $7,400. The appeal was allowed by consent.