17.19. The Minister shall establish and make public a policy on the basis of which the Minister may divide land areas into local forests in order to foster socio-economic development projects in a particular region or community. The policy must define, among other things, the criteria for selecting land areas and dividing them into local forests.
Before the policy is published, the Minister consults Native communities and the rest of the population. Before the division into local forests is carried out, the Minister also consults the ministers, regional bodies and Native communities concerned.
The division into local forests is made public. The perimeter of the forests is drawn on maps posted on the department’s website.