Minister Donaldson identified Government’s vision for the forest sector in the Spring 2019 issue of the Truck Logger magazine. It is “a forest sector made up of successful and innovative large and small companies that can create and maintain good jobs and generate wealth from our forests to support healthy communities.” There has not been much elaboration on the type of companies. Let’s hope this includes diversification so not all companies are producing traditional commodity or solid wood products.  The indication is this could be part of the Minister’s vision.  However, it is critical for him to send this message to the forest sector and Ministry staff as not much  has been done in this regard over the last couple of years.   Maybe the recent re-organization transferring the staff with this file to the Chief Forester’s office will produce positive results.

To provide resiliency to communities we need companies that can bridge the traditional economic cycle of solid wood products mainly destined for housing. Government needs to create an environment to encourage investment in other wood products such as bio-fuels and bio-chemicals. This will require long-term access to fibre. Hopefully the Coast and Interior Forest Sector Revitalization initiatives will include achieving this critical diversification.

Chief Forester Diane Nicholls talked about adaptation in forestry to CIF-Vancouver Section members and students on March 19th. A key point was “there is no one size fits all in managing BC forests under the expected climate, social and economic projections.” Foresters need to assess the conditions and projections on each site and landscape when making forest management decisions. This is a marked change from the traditional Government desire to have policies and regulations that trend toward standardization. A breath of fresh air. She will need support and good luck in moving this forward. Foresters and concerned citizens need to show her their support.

There are critics who maintain nothing has changed relative to forest practices since the NDP formed Government while at the same time industry and Government staff continue to mention they are overwhelmed by all the Ministry initiatives.  An investigation identified Government has 10 major on-going forest related initiatives. These are identified in the attached file with associated actions taken or planned. Comments are provided regarding the process being used.

John Innes, Dean, Faculty of Forestry, UBC, says the BC forest sector “is facing a crisis” and “a clear, insightful and long-term plan needs to be developed” by the BC Government.  The call to action in dealing with the crisis is not new. It was identified in the Healthy Forest-Healthy Communities dialogue of 2011-2012 (https://www.bcforestconversation.com/restoring-bcs-forest-legacy/). Government did nothing from this point until 2017. Is Government doing enough now to deal with the situation which has become more critical?