Ontario enacts forest tenure bill

May 18, 2011 – The new Ontario Forest
Tenure Modernization Act (Bill 151) was passed in
the Ontario legislature on May 17, 2011. It changes the forest tenure system to
provide a more competitive market environment in the allocation and pricing of
Crown timber. Under the new system, Ontario will introduce two new forest
management models for harvesting wood from Ontario's forests:

• Local Forest Management Corporations
  (LFMCs) will manage Crown forests and oversee the competitive sale of the
  timber in a given area;
• Enhanced Shareholder Sustainable
  Forest Licences (SFLs) will be given to groups of mills and/or harvesters that
  collectively form a new company to manage Crown forests under the Sustainable
  Forest Licence that is issued to them.

These two new models will help make
Ontario's timber supply and prices more responsive to market demand, make it
easier for entrepreneurs to participate in the forest economy, and facilitate
greater Aboriginal and local involvement in the forest sector.

See Ontario passes Ontario Forest Tenure
Modernization Act | Foresttalk.com for additional commentary and reaction.