Forestry has been an important source of livelihood in our community since long before British Columbia was a province, and the industry still accounts for nearly 140,000 jobs today1. While forestry and logging have a long and complicated history with environmental practices and Indigenous relations, sustainable forest and timber management is a priority for the provincial government2.
Here is what some of the political parties have proposed to manage the forestry sector moving forward:
Green Party of BC
The Green Party of BC has proposed to3:
- Shift the forest management framework away from an exclusive focus on timber supply to managing for all the values that our forests hold,
- Adopt a wider variety of logging practices, including selective logging and longer stand rotations,
- Undertake landscape-level, ecosystem-based planning forest management, reforestation, and restoration in partnership with local communities and First Nations,
- Restore government capacity to ensure forest stewardship, monitoring and enforcement, and enhance funding for forestry research, inventory research, and primary research,
- Immediately move to fully implement the recommendations of the Old Growth Review panel in partnership with First Nations, which includes an end to logging old-growth forests in high-risk ecosystems,
- Establish funding mechanisms to support the preservation of our old-growth forests,
- Ensure that small producers have access to fibre and incentivize value-added forestry by product innovation, such as wood fibre-based biofuels and productive uses of residual fibre,
- Apply the Carbon Tax to slash-pile burning to reduce carbon emissions from the forestry sector and ensure that residual materials are used,
- Put an end to raw log exports,
- Ensure that the benefits of BC resources flow to local communities by directly sharing more resource revenues with local First Nations, municipalities, and regional districts,
- Better support forestry workers and communities, including through additional retraining investments and support in finding new job opportunities,
- Investigate opportunities to diversify milling and secondary manufacturing to better use existing timber, and
- Promote more sustainable development of forest resources, including investment in tourism opportunities and carbon economies.
BC Liberal Party
The BC Liberals have proposed to4:
- Implement efficient, effective, and responsive market pricing for timber to help keep the industry competitive,
- Work with industry to modernize forest management practices and lower costs,
- Work with the federal government to resolve the softwood lumber dispute with the US,
- Invest in expanded tree-planting efforts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
- Introduce legislation to protect the working forest,
- Expedite the certification of mass timber products for construction, and
- Support the development of mass timber structural products.
BC NDP
BC NDPs have proposed to5:
- Continue making significant investments in forest health, wildfire protection, growth, cultivation, and revitalization of our forests,
- Dedicate a specific portion of the annual allowable cuts toward higher value producers who can demonstrate their ability to create new jobs for workers in BC, and
- Work with Indigenous leaders, labour, industry, and environmental groups to implement recommendations of the Old Growth Strategic Review to protect additional stands.
References
- The BC Council of Industries website: British Columbia’s Forest Industry and the Regional Economies. March 2019.
- The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development website: Provincial Timber Management Goals, Objectives and Targets. July 10 2017.
- BC Green Party website: The BC Green’s Plan for a more Equitable and Sustainable BC. October 13 2020.
- BC Liberal website: Restore Confidence. Rebuild BC. October 13 2020.
- BC New Democratic Party website: John Horgan’s Commitments to BC. Oct 7th, 2020.
For additional information on our Quick Snips! series, see the introduction post.
Page last updated October 14, 2020