COFI Says Future Bright for Forestry
COFI’s Doug Routledge, Nick Arkle and James Gorman meet with reporters – photo 250News
Prince George B.C.- “Things are good in the forest industry” that’s how Council of Forest Industries President and CEO James Gorman started a roundtable discussion with media today.
COFI is in Prince George for its annual Community Dinner which will be held this evening.
There are many issues on the table for forestry in B.C, and there are plenty of positives. The US housing market starts are still below the predicted 1.1 million, but Gorman says prices are improving “The US market is getting stronger, at the same time, the Asian market is very strong. The Chinese market in particular has been an enormous part of growth for us as an industry and we’re taking advantage of that diversity which is a diversity that didn’t exist in our industry from a market perspective 7 or 8 years ago.”
But the vision for the future isn’t all roses, the reality is, there will be an issue with mid-term timber supply as a result of the mountain pine beetle epidemic, “We do face some significant challenges” says Gorman, “We do expect over the years both government forecasts and private economists forecasts that production will decline in British Columbia between now and 2022 and we would expect that to be the case as we watch the annual allowable cut decline.” Gorman adds there is time to prepare for those challenges “We are able to plan for them, anticipate them and be able to work with government and communities to manage them.”
There is another positive sign for the future of forestry says Nick Arkle, chair of COFI’s Management Committee, that is that more young people are being attracted to forestry management education programs. “Young people today are far more aware of the industry, they see it as a ‘green’ industry “ says Arkle.
Comments
Ha,ha yeah right, should have thought about sustainability 10 yrs ago before transporting all the pine beetle across the entire province of B.C. From what I see the timber licenses have increased allowing more timber to be harvested and forestry companies are taking advantage of the low stumpage rates by scaling and stock piling logs for future reloading.
The only thing sustainable is the rich are getting richer and the middle class are left working knowing full well that the egg will crack eventually bring the province to its knees. Anyone with half a brain knows that B.C. biggest employer is the forest industry.
Our harvesting has never been sustainable. When they model to predict the volume in the future they use a best case scenario which never, ever happens.
BC’s biggest employer is the government. Anyone with half a brain knows that.
Well time will tell axman when all the direct and indirect jobs are gone in the forest industry! Than I guess you’ll be right the government will be the biggest employer of people on E.I and welfare.
hate to be the bearer of good news but
Sweden 40 million hectares 20 million forested 85 million cubic meters cut
BC 100 million hectares 60 million forested 70 million cubic meters cut
The coast grows 5 times more wood per year than the best areas of sweden.
What we will see is less sawlogs and more pulplogs. By logging more pulpwood we will finally see the benefits of commercial thinning, which employs more loggers per cubic meter than clear cutting.
The future is very rosy. Anyone who argues can take a look at 2″ tops rolling over the Pine pass from Chetwynd to Mackenzie, or notice grinders mulching slash piles for pellets.
Further more the pine beetle epidemic was caused firstly by fire suppression creating too much old pine. Need to cut it down before it all gets 80 again.
Didn’t the economists rank the marijuana industry higher than forestry in BC? ☻
$3,000,000,000.00 and getting bigger!
Will the mid-term AAC be adjusted downward for the huge amount of over cutting of green timber by Canfor and West Fraser in the past couple of years? Will it be further downward adjusted for the volume of timber that went to fires this summer?
If not, how come? If yes, how can we believe “bright future” for forest industry? Will “bright future” be in any way compatible with sustainability, not to mention habitat for all the variety of wildlife BC has been famous for?
“Bright future” for the COFI represented corporations may mean something quite different from “bright future” for the people who live here.
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