B
Backlog area: defined in the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act as an area from which the timber was harvested, damaged or destroyed before October 1, 1987, and that in the district manager's opinion is insufficiently stocked with healthy well spaced trees of a commercially acceptable species.
Base case (land and resource management planning (LRMP): present conditions and likely future developments in a planning area in the absence of any changes to existing land and resource management. This should include a description of current resources and resource uses, current management strategies and land use designations, and relevant historical conditions and trends, as well as a discussion of their contribution to current and long term social, economic and environmental conditions. In land and resource management planning (LRMP), the base case provides a benchmark for scenario evaluation.
Benefit/cost analysis: an analytical technique that estimates the net benefits and costs of a management scenario using fully quantified social (non-market) costs and benefits as well as financial (market) costs and benefits.
Biodiversity: (see biological diversity)
Biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification: a hierarchical classification scheme having three levels of integration: regional, local and chronological; and combining climatic, vegetation, and site factors.
Biogeoclimatic zone: a geographic area with a broadly homogeneous macroclimate. Each zone is named after one or more of the dominant climax species of the ecosystems in the zone, and a geographic or climatic modifier (e.g., Interior Douglas Fir). British Columbia has 14 biogeoclimatic zones.
Biological diversity: the diversity of plants, animals and other living organisms in all their forms and levels of organization, including genes, species, ecosystems, and the evolutionary and functional processes that link them.
Biota: all living organisms of an area; the flora and fauna of a region and/or time period.
Blowdown: uprooting by the wind; also refers to a tree or trees so uprooted.
Blue-listed species: sensitive or vulnerable species as identified by the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. Blue-listed species are considered to be vulnerable and "at risk" but not yet endangered or threatened. Populations of these species may not be declining but their habitat or other requirements are such that they are sensitive to disturbance. The blue list also includes species that are generally suspected of being vulnerable, but for which information is too limited to allow designation in another category.
Botanical forest product: non-timber based products gathered from forest and range land. There are currently seven recognized categories: wild edible mushrooms, floral greenery, medicinal products, fruits and berries, herbs and vegetables, landscaping products, and craft products.
Buffer strip: a strip of land where disturbance is not allowed or is closely monitored to preserve or enhance aesthetic and other qualities along or adjacent to roads, trails, watercourses and recreation sites.
