Deborah Powell & Lily Ryan

Local Journalism Initiative

OUTAOUAIS – Members of the public had the opportunity to be walked through the Quebec public land forestry consultation process currently underway for operational development plans in an online session, November 7.

The presentation team included Charles Blais, coordinator for TRGIRTO (Outaouais regional table for the integrated management of resources and public land), Alexandra Belanger, regional Ministry of Natural Resources (MRNF) consultation coordinator and Marcelle Falardeau, MRNF forestry engineer.

The consultation, open until November 24, involves potential zones for non-commercial forest operations. Falardeau explained this doesn’t involve harvesting, but rather activities like land preparation, reforestation and thinning.

Blais explained how to access the consultations on the Quebec government’s website, explaining usage of the maps, and pointing out how to find sites currently under consultation, which appear in orange.

Alexandra Belanger described the public consultation process, explaining how to lodge queries related to specific sites.

New in this year’s consultative process is a system of note-taking that includes former briefs and comments for sites under consultation again this year. For each comment submitted, and therefore retained for the future, a reference number is issued. Email addresses or telephone numbers are requested so forestry use officials can follow-up with the public about their concerns.

Those interested in participating in the consultation can contact ministry specialists at (819) 246-4827, ext. 701449 or at consultationpafi-outaouais@gouv.qc.ca.

Photo – Areas targeted by the current consultation. (MRNF)