Special Use Permit - Forestry

A special use permit (SUP) gives non-exclusive authority to a company or an individual to occupy and use an area of Crown land within the Provincial Forest. Deposits, annual charges and taxes may be applied to a special use permit.

On this page

• Intended use of a SUP
• Applications for SUPs
• Legislative guidance for SUPs
• Assign or transfer a SUP

Intended use of a SUP

Companies and/or individuals must demonstrate that the intended use is ancillary for their licence, agreement, permit or authorization and the purpose of the permit is for:

• Construction and maintenance of roads, including construction and maintenance of bridges and other drainage structures for natural resource development activities
• Sand pits gravel pits, rock quarries and other quarries that provide materials for road construction for use on an authorization under the Forest Act or a SUP
• A communication site related to a remote work site
• A short term logging camp and associated facilities, including a waste disposal site
• A log dump or dry land sort
• Disposal of organic debris from a log dump or dry land sort
• A short term timber processing facility
• A lookout
• A weather station
• An airstrip, helipad or other air transportation landing site required for forestry related or mining related activities
• Educational or research purposes
• Temporary weigh scales
• Silviculture treatments including associated facilities and camps
• Wildlife habitat enhancement treatments including associated facilities and camps (includes restoration if related to wildlife habitat)

Where a special use permit is not the appropriate form of authority of occupation, or the area is outside of a Provincial Forest, an authority to occupy is required under the Land Act which may be obtained through FrontCounterBC.

Applications for SUPs

If interested in applying for a SUP, please review the following special use permit procedures and policies:

• Special Use Permit Administration Guide - Issuance (2021) (PDF 593KB)
• Special Use Permit / Licence of Occupation - Log Dumps and Sort (2011) (PDF 58KB)

To acquire a Special Use Permit or to learn more, please contact your local Natural Resource District office and fill out the following application form as the first step in gathering the required information.

• Special Use Permit Application Form (PDF, 405KB)
• SUP Plan Companion Guide (DOCX, 74KB)

Legislative guidance for SUPs

Changes to the administration of Special Use Permits have occurred due to amendments to the Provincial Forest Use Regulation on March 11, 2024.  To understand the legislative changes, please visit BC Laws.  In addition, the following guidance is available.

• Fact Sheet – Summary of Changes to the Provincial Forest Use Regulation (PDF, 122KB)
• Interim Guidance – Transition for existing SUPs 2024 (PDF, 355KB)
• Memo - Introduction of Silviculture Treatments and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement SUP (2019) (PDF 121KB)
• Memo – Bill 23 FRPA 2.1 Regulations (PDF 219KB)

Assign or transfer a SUP

To start an application to assign or transfer a SUP, please review the following interim guidance and fill out the SUP assignment request form.  Please send the completed forms to your local Natural Resource District office.

• SUP Assignments - Interim Guidance (2023) (PDF, 179KB)
• SUP Assignment - Request to Assign an SUP (2023) (DOCX, 42KB)

In agreement of taking on an existing SUP for the approved purpose, the intended recipient will assume all risks and liabilities to that site which includes the requirements to clean, restore and revegetate a site or deactivate a road in accordance with the existing management plan for the SUP. This may also include the management of contaminated sites under the Contaminated Site Regulation under the Environmental Assessment Act.