I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FRPA. If you want an actual nonpartisan view of what going on you have to talk to MLA Mike Morris who is the only person in government who will give a straight answer: "we are simply out of wood".
The Liberal's 2002 policy change to FRPA destroyed my home community and yet the community's TFL is still logged at 180 000 cubic meters a year, with almost no local jobs to benefit. But the community takes on all the risk and losses: increased fire risk of a young conifer plantation forest, loss of natural ecosystem, loss of biodiversity, increased carbon loss.
correction (and a lot of colour commentary), Jenn: the BCL "ripped up" the Forest Practices Code and introduced the Forest Range and Practices Act. I was in the room when the gov't of the day met with environmental organizations in Vancouver to announce the changes (I was working for one of those groups and had no idea that these meetings were a thing - I was so young and innocent!). We went from a prescriptive forest management environment to one that shifted strongly to professional reliance. As in, "here are the targets for stand-level biodiversity. You figure out how to get there" management environment. And the targets were "defaults" and really not a lot different from the previous Code - apologies if my memory is a little rusty on this, as I was just doing my own professional training and exam, so was straddling both regimes and things were in flux at that time.
Now, as a forester, professional reliance is a good thing because it holds us accountable to the decisions we make and the actions we take. The thing that didn't work with that reliance was the expected "innovation" that was supposed to improve forest management above the gov't defaults never came. Everyone just continued on with same ol', same ol'. And I would argue too, that industry foresters may have the best of information to improve forest management but ultimately, their bosses tell them to stick to the basics and continue on with squeezing as much profit as possible.
And to your point about the removal of appurtenancy in the Forest Act (i.e. tying wood supply to a mill in a community), my husband travels quite a bit to Houston for non-forestry work. From what he has heard, Canfor has no problem "economically" sending all that timber down the road to PG. Mike Morris is fairly correct in saying "we are simply out of wood", but I would add there is still a lot out there and no corporate interest in building a new mill in those hinterlands of the PG TSA and elsewhere.
Thanks for fixing my typo: I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FRPA. Should be "I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FPC and replaced with FRPA."
This is the important perspective missing from your forestry media round up: https://pgdailynews.ca/index.php/2024/05/13/opinion-deregulation-of-forest-industry-is-the-real-culprit-behind-mill-closures/
I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FRPA. If you want an actual nonpartisan view of what going on you have to talk to MLA Mike Morris who is the only person in government who will give a straight answer: "we are simply out of wood".
Also this video is a bit old, but still relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoQ2XGbCHxQ&t=2s
The Liberal's 2002 policy change to FRPA destroyed my home community and yet the community's TFL is still logged at 180 000 cubic meters a year, with almost no local jobs to benefit. But the community takes on all the risk and losses: increased fire risk of a young conifer plantation forest, loss of natural ecosystem, loss of biodiversity, increased carbon loss.
correction (and a lot of colour commentary), Jenn: the BCL "ripped up" the Forest Practices Code and introduced the Forest Range and Practices Act. I was in the room when the gov't of the day met with environmental organizations in Vancouver to announce the changes (I was working for one of those groups and had no idea that these meetings were a thing - I was so young and innocent!). We went from a prescriptive forest management environment to one that shifted strongly to professional reliance. As in, "here are the targets for stand-level biodiversity. You figure out how to get there" management environment. And the targets were "defaults" and really not a lot different from the previous Code - apologies if my memory is a little rusty on this, as I was just doing my own professional training and exam, so was straddling both regimes and things were in flux at that time.
Now, as a forester, professional reliance is a good thing because it holds us accountable to the decisions we make and the actions we take. The thing that didn't work with that reliance was the expected "innovation" that was supposed to improve forest management above the gov't defaults never came. Everyone just continued on with same ol', same ol'. And I would argue too, that industry foresters may have the best of information to improve forest management but ultimately, their bosses tell them to stick to the basics and continue on with squeezing as much profit as possible.
And to your point about the removal of appurtenancy in the Forest Act (i.e. tying wood supply to a mill in a community), my husband travels quite a bit to Houston for non-forestry work. From what he has heard, Canfor has no problem "economically" sending all that timber down the road to PG. Mike Morris is fairly correct in saying "we are simply out of wood", but I would add there is still a lot out there and no corporate interest in building a new mill in those hinterlands of the PG TSA and elsewhere.
Thanks for fixing my typo: I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FRPA. Should be "I have no love for the NDP, but The BC Liberals/UCP put the final nail in local forestry in 2002 when they ripped up FPC and replaced with FRPA."