Government Drops Plan to Switch to Area Based Tenure
Prince George, B.C. – The Provincial Government has backed off on plans to change volume based forest licenses to area-based forest licenses.
In making the announcement, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Steve Thomson says there is a need for more public consultation on the proposed change. "This is an important piece of public policy, however, it has become clear to me that greater public engagement is needed before legislative amendments can proceedÈ says Thomson.
He says the broader public consultation will be undertaken over the summer "More public engagement will ensure everyone is better informed about area-based tenures, their intent and their benefits."
The proposed change was a move aimed at improving the mid-term timber supply in the wake of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
Comments
This change would have caused more problems then help.There are many users of the forest base and woudl have brought us back into a major fight with ranchers, farmers, trappers, First nations and envios.
Just wondering if this decision by government will prompt Hampton Affiliates to reconsider the rebuild at Babine?
Much of the criticism of the legislation was overblown, but it’s hard to see how it would have been in the public interest.
Kicked the can down the road until after the election, as the Americans say.
CL
I don’t see what the issue was all about. Instead of logging all over the place, sawmills would know in advance where they were logging. They might have been able to do a better managing out forests too.
Would Canfor build a better road if they knew they’d get to use it next year? Probably. Would they do a better job if they thought West Fraser would get the benifit? Probably not.
If each company was responsible for an area, they might take more responsibility. There would be an incentive to do a better job.
And once they are responsible they gate the road and tell you to keep out….nice try.
Jim do some homework. Dead wrong. meanwhile we have tragedy of the commons, no silviculture, and terrible planning.
Look, this gov’t has talked about privatizing our forests and essentially giving them over to private companies. This would just be the first step. If you think that wouldn’t lead to gated areas you are dead wrong. They are already gating local people out of areas in the northwest on ROR projects, and these are not even BC companies. If we don’t watch it, we will soon be like a good part of the US and most of Europe, and that is virtually no public forest left for camping, fishing, hunting, etc. It will all be done on a permit basis, if you are lucky enough to get one. You will have to book in way in advance to go into an area for recreation or enter a lottery system to access areas. There are virtually no public areas in Europe where the average person can go and camp and have a campfire anymore. I talk to a lot of Europeans and they can’t believe how easy it is to go camping here in BC. Do you want to lose that?
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