Bell Predicts Forestry Revenues Just Half of Norm

Monday, November 24, 2008 09:58 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Provincial Minister of Forests and Range, Pat Bell, says he fully expects the revenue from forestry to be in the $600 million dollar range this year.

Speaking on the Meisner program on CFIS FM this morning , Bell says that amount is about half of the revenue received by the Province on a normal good year, so this will be one of the worst years ever for forestry revenues in B.C. “We have been below the $900 million dollar mark about 6 times over the past 30 years, but there is no doubt this will be the worst year ever for forestry revenues.”

“It’s a good thing we still have gas and oil chugging along” says Bell. The province has already sold $2.1 billion in lease and rights sales for this year.

Bell says things will be worse for those who live further east in the country as they don’t have the links to the Pacific gateway. He says with those reduced revenues, the Province may have to tighten its belt, as deficit spending only puts the burden on our children.

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Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008 09:58 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Don Wilkins on November 24 2008 2:05 PM

Yes, we need to tighten our belts. We have grown to expect too much. However, simple economics tells us that when times are tough the government needs to spend to keep the economy moving. When times are good, the government needs to put funds aside for tough times. If we don;t spend now, our children may have a very bleak future,

Posted by: listentome on November 25 2008 11:03 AM

How about 1/2 of that.300 million and that's on the high side.

Posted by: Shellshadow on November 25 2008 3:25 PM

Again I see Mr Bell preaching on tightening our belts. I truly agree with this and it is a must!! What I am very concerned with is WHEN government will follow this advice?? Why is MOF ( Ministry of Forests) doing a huge renovation on the 5th floor of the Plaza 400 building right now? Who gave the okay to spend up near 300,000.00 of the tax payers money?? After all the job losses in the forest industry, how can this be justified?? After all that the world is going through in this finacial crisis how does hundreds of thousands of tax dollars get poured into office furniture and renovations??? Right smack in the middle of the finacial crisis MOF renovates!! Truly amazing and blind to how this may look to tax payers. Rediculous!!
Yes Mr Bell, we MUST TIGHTEN OUR BELTS!!! Or did you just mean the tax payers????