The British Columbia forestry policing services (officially known as the Compliance and Enforcement Branch (CEB) is the province’s primary environmental policing service. Like other Canadian provinces’ environmental policing services, the officers in B.C. are tasked with investigating wildfire causes, forestry offences and other violations of laws designed to protect water and heritage sites.
Unfortunately, however, the forestry policing service in B.C. is facing critical challenges. Staffing is at historic lows, while officers are ill-equipped to do their jobs and are poorly supported.
The issues facing B.C. forestry policing also come at a time when recent revelations about “secret” forestry maps in the province point to the prioritization of industry interests and the flouting of the B.C.’s own forestry rules — all while severe forest fires grow ever more commonplace.
