Prince George, B.C.- In the wake of the release of the Province’s Forest Sector Jobs strategy, Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson is calling on the government to make public a report outlining options for increasing timber supply in the most heavily impacted mountain pine beetle areas by allowing logging in forest reserves.  

“The private discussions the government has been having with industry over the past year must be made public,” said Simpson. “Otherwise, as we’re beginning to see, other stakeholders who have an interest in maintaining the forest reserves will say ‘no’ before we ever have a chance to have a meaningful public discussion of the options outlined in the report.”  

Over the past year the provincial government, in conjunction with the major forest licensees in the mountain pine beetle impacted areas, conducted a technical appraisal of how much additional timber supply could be made available if land use plan restrictions were lifted. Simpson says a report outlining various options for logging in forest reserves in the Lakes, Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake Timber Supply Areas (TSAs) has been in the hands of the Minister of Forests since early this year. 

“The Association of BC Forest Professionals (ABCFP) has already stated its members do not believe that mills will be saved by opening up restricted areas to logging, and other groups are starting to voice objections to eliminating visual quality and other land use objectives – all before we’ve even seen the options paper that’s sitting on the Minister’s desk,” said Simpson.  

Simpson is calling on the Government to immediately begin a public information and consultation process on the options paper that was provided to the government by staff and forest industry representatives earlier this year. Simpson noted that the government’s Forest Sector Strategy, released earlier this week, made no mention of this important public debate.

“As the ABCFP, the voice of BC’s Professional Foresters, pointed out in their report, BC’s forests are a public resource. The land use plans were the result of a public process, and eliminating these plans will have consequences for generations yet to come” says Simpson. “ The public must be informed and engaged, immediately, before any decisions are made about the future of BC’s forests and the communities and industry that depend on them.”