Given the short duration of the upcoming legislative session and the provincial election to follow, a government plan to introduce a scant two-paragraph bill granting it powers to fundamentally alter the course of forestry in B.C. is disturbing, to say the least. According to several sources who...
SFM in British Columbia
Ben Parfitt: Sneaky Liberals are planning a B.C. forest giveaway
Forests minister launches boost for timber industry at Victoria convention
In a bid to spur timber harvesting on the coast, the provincial government announced it will look at new technology for scaling logs, fast-track the auction of an additional 500,000 cubic metre of timber and make improvements to the log-export system. The initiatives were unveiled by Forests...
Steps taken to improve coastal forest economy
To increase harvesting activity on the coast, government is exploring the use of new scanner technology for scaling logs, accelerating the auction of an additional 500,000 cubic metres by BC Timber Sales, improving the log-export system and exploring ways to better harvest the timber profile....
Letter from Steve Thomson, BC’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations regarding timber supply action plan
With the release of ‘Beyond the Beetle: A Mid-Term Timber Supply Action Plan’, we have outlined a clear strategy to help our forests recover from the damage done by the mountain pine beetle infestation. Unfortunately the release of the action plan has led to the spread of misinformation and it’s...
Manage forests for the future
As it looks for ways to shore up the province's timber industry, the B.C. government is in danger of not seeing the forest for the trees. The harvesting of pine beetle-damaged logs is winding down, and now lumber mills in the Interior face a shortage of logs. The government, as it should, is...
Long-term plan needed for B.C.'s forests
Re: "Manage forests for the future," Oct. 17. The editorial is spot-on in many respects. What it omits is that presentations to the Special Committee on Timber Supply did not support the unsustainable logging of old-growth reserve forests, of sensitive areas and of marginally economic forests at...
Wisconsin tribe has much to teach us
Re: "Manage forests for the future," Oct. 17. The editorial correctly observes that B.C.'s public forests must be managed for the future. The Menominee native Americans in Wisconsin are an excellent example of people doing this. In 1854, they were confined to their current reservation of 235,000...
MLAs Blow Chance to Help Us See BC's Next Forest Industry
The Special Legislative Committee on Timber Supply has completed their report intended to help the forest sector and communities impacted by the Mountain Pine Beetle and more specifically address the issues related to possible re-building the Burns Lake sawmill destroyed by fire in January. The...
Forests need help
The unanimous decision of the special committee on timber sup-ply to support an increase of logging in "marginally economic forests" and in old-growth reserves previously ruled off limits to logging is outrageous. If acted upon, the committee's recommendations will worsen the current ecological...
More logging won't cure trade's ills
The B.C. Liberal government stirred up controversy recently by proposing to remove scenic forest protections in the Harrison, Chehalis and Stave Lakes regions near Vancouver. Their "quick-fix" attempt to provide more timber for logging fails to recognize that the coastal forest industry's 20-year...
Committee recommends measures to increase timber supply
VICTORIA –The Special Committee on Timber Supply today released its unanimous report making 22 recommendations to increase the supply and value of mid-term timber and to strengthen future forest management in the B.C. Central Interior. This region of the province has been hit hard by the current...
MLAs aren't facing the truth: B.C. forests are tapped out
Since May, when a special committee of the legislature was appointed to address a looming "timber supply" crisis, questions have arisen about what the committee would say about one community in particular. That community is Burns Lake, where an explosion and fire in January levelled the local...
B.C. Timber Supply committee releases report with recommendations to increase timber supply
The Special Committee on Timber Supply today released its unanimous report making 22 recommendations to increase the supply and value of mid-term timber and to strengthen future forest management in the B.C. Central Interior. This region of the province has been hit hard by the current mountain...
Opinion-Editorial from British Columbia’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
Ensuring a sustainable timber supply, with the right mix of tree species, is a top priority for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. British Columbia is world-renowned for its sustainable forest management. More than 53 million hectares of land are certified to one of...
PPWC takes stance against BC’s proposal to log protected areas
The Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) union has come out against British Columbia’s proposal to open up protected areas to logging. “It’s just short term gain for probably long term pain,” said Arnold Bercov, the forest resource officer for the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada,...
B.C. Forest Minister reappoints 4 Forest Practices Board members
British Columbia Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson has announced the reappointment of four board members to the Forest Practices Board for terms of two years each. The appointees are:
British Columbia’s Special Committee on Timber Supply consultation schedule
The British Columbia Special Committee on Timber Supply has announced its plans for conducting community and provincial consultations. The all-party committee was appointed in May 2012 to investigate and make recommendations to address the loss of mid-term timber supply in the central interior due...
New committee formed in British Columbia to examine mid-term timber supply
British Columbia’s Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson applauded today’s decision of the Legislative Assembly to form a Special Committee on Timber Supply to examine and make recommendations about mid-term timber supply in British Columbia, as a result of the...
Leaked Cabinet document reveals how far government was willing to go
When I was home during the Easter break I caught wind that the government was contemplating a “Burns Lake Recovery Act,” legislation designed to guarantee a log supply for Burns Lake to ensure Hampton Affiliates would rebuild the mill that burned down in January. Industry representatives told me...
Province considers 'option' of over-riding chief forester to supply mills with timber
A leaked Ministry of Forests document reveals a proposal that the B.C. government override the top official charged with managing the province's forests to find a timber supply for Burns Lake. The forestry-dependent town west of Prince George lost its main employer in a December fire that destroyed...
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