Woodlot Licence

A woodlot licence grants licence holders exclusive rights to manage and harvest Crown timber within the woodlot licence area.

Woodlot licences are awarded either through an advertised, competitive application process or a direct award. About 3.5 million cubic metres of timber is currently allocated for small tenures such as community forest agreement and woodlot licences.

On this page

• Woodlot Licence - Competitive Award
• Woodlot Licence - Direct Award
• Licence Holder Requirements
• One Cutting Permit Over the Woodlot Licence
• Stumpage Calculations
• Woodlot Guidance

Woodlot Licence - Competitive Award

Eligible competitive award applications will be evaluated in accordance with:

• Forest Act, section 44 - Applications
• Woodlot Licence Regulation - Part 1

The following three components of the evaluation will be weighted to determine the scores for each applicant:

• Bonus offer: Amount of money offered as a non-refundable lump sum (50 points total possible)
• Private land: Amount and proximity to the woodlot licence Crown land (25 points total possible)
• Proximity: Proximity of applicant's principal residence to the woodlot licence Crown land (25 points total possible)

Woodlot Licence - Direct Award

Direct award woodlot licences are typically awarded to further an agreement for First Nations or their representatives, or mitigate the effects of treaty or treaty-related measures, interim measures, or economic measures on a First Nation.

• Forest Act, section 47.3 - Direct award of specified licences

Licence Holder Requirements

In exchange for the right to harvest timber on the Crown portion (Schedule B) of the woodlot licence area, the licence holder must also manage any private land (Schedule A) contribution in accordance with provincial forestry legislation such as the Forest and Range Practices Act, Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act and the Wildfire Act.

The maximum amount of Crown land that can be included in a woodlot licence is 800 hectares on the coast and 1,200 hectares in the interior. Any amount of Schedule A land can be included in a woodlot licence area. Schedule A lands can include both fee simple lands (competitive award woodlot licences) as well as Indian Reserve lands (as may be applicable only for First Nation direct awards woodlot licences).

One Cutting Permit Over the Woodlot Licence

Woodlot licences are eligible, subject to decision-maker discretion, for one cutting permit over the entire woodlot licence area. A one cutting permit saves time for both the woodlot licensee and the B.C. government as timber on a Woodlot Licence is priced through the tabular pricing scheme, the need for appraisal information is eliminated. One cutting permit provides the licensee the ability to quickly react to niche markets and demand. In keeping with a results-based model, the licensee must report on activities once they are completed consistent with requirements in Forest & Range Practices Act (FRPA).

• Memo to District Managers and Regional Executive Directors (PDF 47KB): January 1, 2011
• 1CP Business Process Map (PDF 147KB): December 2019
• Administration Manual for Community Forest Agreements and Woodlot Licences (PDF 303KB): July, 2019
• WL Road Reporting Information Submission (PDF 1.6MB): October 28, 2020
• Chief Forester Memo - Road Reporting (PDF 560KB): July 5, 2019
• Forest Act Bulletin Number 12 - Managing Priority Old Growth within Woodlot Licence with 1 CP (PDF 230KB): September, 2022

Stumpage Calculations

All woodlot licences use tabular rates for stumpage calculations. Tabular rates (and the one cutting permit) provide for lower administrative cost given the small scale of these licences.

• Look up the stumpage rates for B.C. 

Woodlot Guidance