Glossary of Resource Planning Terms

Identified wildlife: defined in the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act Operational Planning Regulation as those species at risk that the Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks or a person authorized by that deputy minister, and the chief forester, agree will be managed through a higher level plan, wildlife habitat area or general wildlife measure.

Impact assessment: a study of the potential future effects of a resource development option on other resources and on social, economic and/or environmental conditions.

Indicator: analytical tools that provide quantitative or qualitative information by which bio-physical conditions can be measured. In land and resource management planning (LRMP), indicators are used to identify the existing state of the resource(s) as part of the base case, to assess the impacts of alternative plan scenarios, and to monitor progress toward achieving management objectives.

Indicator species: in forestry, species of plants used to infer site quality and site characteristics.

Inoperable areas: defined in the Forest Practices Code Timber Supply Analysis as areas unavailable for harvest for terrain-related or economic reasons. Characteristics used in defining inoperability include slope, topography (e.g., the presence of gullies or exposed rock), difficulty of road access, soil stability, elevation and timber quality. Operability can change over time as a function of changing harvesting technology and economics.

Integrated resource management (IRM): a land management regime that identifies and considers resource values, in the context of social, economic and environmental objectives.

Integrated Resource Planning Committee (IRPC): the interagency committee that is responsible for coordinating the development of principles, policies and procedures for strategic land use planning.

Interagency Management Committee (IAMC): the interagency committee of senior land and resource management officials in each region of the province. The committee is responsible for integrating all resource planning and protected areas work in a region and for setting regional planning priorities.

Interagency Planning Team (IPT): committee of local resource managers from government agencies who provide technical support for a land and resource management plan (LRMP).

Interest: in reference to land, includes a right or estate in the land, and only occurs in the case of leases, rights of way and Crown grants.

Interior: that geographic area east of the Cascade Mountains, as officially delineated by the Cascade Mountains Administrative Line through British Columbia from Washington state to Alaska, including the portions of the Kalum Forest District and Cariboo Forest Region lying west of the line, but excluding the lower Fraser River area south of Hell's Gate (south of Boston Bar), taking in the Coquihalla, Silverhope, and Skagit River drainages lying east of the line.

Interior patch conditions: conditions achieved at a point where edge effects no longer influence environmental conditions within a patch. For coastal B.C. forests, the edge effect is generally felt for a distance equivalent to two to four times average tree height into the patch. The conditions changed usually involve light intensity, temperature, wind, relative humidity and snow accumulation and melt.

Interpretive forest site: an interpretive forest site established under Section 6 of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act or designated under the Forest Act before the coming into force of the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act. It is a site and any ancillary facilities developed by the Ministry of Forests to interpret, demonstrate or facilitate the discussion of the natural environment, forest practices and integrated resource management