Forestry Roundtable Coming to P.G. May 3rd

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C.  - The Forestry Roundtable will be holding a session in Prince George on Saturday May 3^rd. 

The session is by invitation only,  “Invitations have been sent out to key stakeholders” was the response from the Ministry of Forests public relations person.

The public, or those who have not been invited but who want to make a submission, are invited to do so by e-mail. Forestry.RoundTable@gov.bc.ca

Members of the public have expressed concerns over the   dropping of the policy of appurtancy i.e., requiring companies to process the logs near the communities where they are harvested.  At the recent meeting in Mackenzie, (the third in a series of sessions)  

The feeling by audience members was that the cancellation of the appurtancy requirement by the provincial government had been an utter failure as a policy.  Indeed, as a result of this cancellation, communities like Mackenzie had no protection from companies who shut down their mill operations, yet still ship out logs to other regions. 

One person proposed that what was needed was a new kind of appurtancy which, while requiring companies to process the logs near the communities where they are harvested, would still have enough flexibility so that companies could remain viable and the region as a whole could prosper.

Other audience members made the proposal that raw log exports, whether these were out of the country or out of the region, should be outright banned, and that, in regards to forest tenure, companies that hold onto tree farm licenses after closing mill operations, should have to sell them if other buyers are interested.  In addition, the existing tenure system should be reviewed with the view to allowing value-added companies and smaller operators more access to the timber basket.

An audience member also raised the concern of forest fire in regards to the millions of hectares of dead beetle wood.  Many communities in the Interior and North are very close to the dead trees, yet there is often little or no buffer area to shield these communities from forest fires, which can be unusually intense in beetle wood timber.

The Forestry round table is scheduled to hold a session in Mackenzie on May 23^rd.

Key considerations  during all sessions will include:

   climate change and the challenges and opportunities it presents for B.C. forests;  

   remaining competitive in evolving world economies;

   the impact of innovation and technology on forestry;

   changing demographics within an aging workforce;

   issues affecting B.C.'s forests, suchas themountain pine beetle

   changing social expectations of forests and the forest industry and

upholding First Nations’ rights;

sustaining B.C.’s world-renowned environmental standards.

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