Five volunteers with the Ancient Forest Alliance at the first viewing platform they built by Canada’s Gnarliest Tree in the Upper Grove of Avatar Grover in Port Renfrew. There is still more work to be done there but they’re off to a good start.
[Sooke News article no longer available]
New maps of the remaining old-growth forests on Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland highlight the large-scale ecological crisis underway in B.C.’s woods.
In the 1990s, conservationists fought for whole valleys. Those are now gone, except in Clayoquot Sound. Today, almost all of our ancient forests are tattered and fragmented.
At least 74 per cent of the original, productive old-growth forests on our southern coast have been logged, underscoring the need for a science-based provincial plan to protect our remaining old-growth forests and for a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.
Most significantly, at least 91 per cent of the biggest, best “high productivity” old-growth forests in the valley bottoms have been logged. These are the classic monumental stands rich in biodiversity that most people visit and picture in their minds, places like Cathedral Grove, the Carmanah, Walbran, Goldstream and Avatar Grove.
A century of unsustainable high-grade logging has depleted these lowland ancient forests, resulting in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lesser in value and more expensive to reach.
The ecological footprint from logging millions of hectares of B.C.’s grandest ancient forests — an area bigger than many European nations — is at least on par with any pipeline or fossil-fuel megaproject.
Scientific studies show that our coastal old-growth forests store two times or more carbon per hectare than the ensuing second-growth tree plantations. Only a tiny fraction of the carbon gets stored in long-lasting wood products. The vast majority ends up decomposing as wood waste in clearcuts, landfills and sewage. It would take 200 years or more for the second-growth to re-sequester all of the released carbon, which won’t happen with our 70-year rotations.
A recent B.C. Sierra Club report showed that just one year’s worth of old-growth logging in southwest B.C. in 2011 released more carbon than the province’s entire “official” greenhouse-gas reductions over three years, from 2007 to 2010.
The dramatic decline of old-growth species reveals our collapsing ecosystems. An estimated 1,000 breeding adult spotted owls once inhabited B.C.’s wilds. Today, fewer than a dozen individuals survive. Marbled murrelets have declined substantially over much of the coast, while in B.C.’s interior, mountain caribou have declined by 40 per cent since 1995.
Across B.C., thousands of salmon- and trout-bearing streams have been decimated by siltation and logging debris.
B.C.’s diverse First Nations cultures are being impoverished, not only by the destruction of salmon streams, but by the disappearance of monumental cedars that many once carved into canoes and totem poles.
The massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the government’s deregulation agenda and by the unsustainable depletion of the prime old-growth red cedar, Douglas fir and Sitka spruce stands in the lowlands that coastal sawmills were originally built to process.
At a critical juncture in 2003, the B.C. government removed the local milling requirement for companies with logging rights so that they didn’t have to retool their mills to process the changing forest profile — the smaller old-growth hemlocks and Amabilis firs higher up, and the maturing second-growth trees in the previously cut lowlands.
Without any government regulations or incentives to retool or add value to second-growth logs, this resulted in three million logging-truck loads of raw logs going to foreign mills in China, the U.S. and elsewhere over the last decade. More than 70 B.C. mills closed and 30,000 forestry jobs were lost. B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past.
Most of our remaining old-growth forests are “low-productivity” marginal stands of smaller trees with little to no timber value, growing at high elevations, on steep, rocky mountainsides and in bogs. The B.C. government has been spinning a tale that “old-growth forests are not disappearing” with their statistics that fail to mention how much productive old-growth forests once stood, and that include vast tracts of stunted, low-productivity forests to overinflate how much remains. It’s like combining your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?
The history of unsustainable resource extraction around the world is filled with examples where the biggest and best stocks have been depleted, one after another, causing the collapse of ecosystems and the loss of thousands of jobs along the way. B.C.’s politicians must not allow this familiar pattern to continue in B.C.’s forests under their watch — or through their active support.
A major change in the status quo of unsustainable forestry is vital. Politicians who fail to understand this fundamental concept don’t deserve power. Those who do will finally bring an end to B.C.’s War in the Woods.
Ken Wu is the executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
New maps of B.C.’s forests put together by conservation groups using provincial government data show 74 per cent of productive old-growth forests has been logged and much of the remaining old growth is made up of small, stunted trees.
On the valley bottoms, where the largest old-growth trees grow, 91 per cent has been logged, leaving only nine per cent of the classic old forest with iconic trees, the maps show.
Victoria conservationist Vicky Husband said it’s an ecological crisis due to a century of overcutting the biggest and best trees.
“[It] has resulted in the increasing collapse of ecosystems and rural communities,” Husband said.
Even 20 years ago, there were intact watersheds and whole valleys to save, but now they are all gone, except in Clayoquot Sound, Husband said.
With ancient forests mostly tattered and fragmented, she said, B.C. needs a government that would “have the wisdom” to implement a science-based old-growth protection plan immediately to save what remains. They also need to ensure a sustainable value-added second-growth forest industry, she added.
The maps are based on last year’s inventory data from the Forests Ministry.
The analysis is based on conservative calculations, said Ken Wu of the Ancient Forest Alliance. “The actual amount of logging is probably much higher,” he said.
The depletion of larger trees has left the industry in a financial crunch as the trees get smaller, since they’re worth less but more expensive to reach, Wu said.
The government counters that large swaths of old-growth are protected in park and old-growth management areas.
On Vancouver Island, 46 per cent of the forest on Crown land is old-growth, says a ministry statement: “Of the 862,125 hectares of old-growth forest, it is estimated that over 520,000 hectares will never be harvested.”
But Wu said those figures do not present the real picture. “The B.C. government, for the past decade, has been spinning a tale that all is well in the woods and that old-growth forests are not disappearing, by their promotion of totally misleading statistics,” Wu said.
Much of the old-growth included in the government’s estimates are “bonsai” forests in bogs or at high altitudes, where the stunted trees have little commercial value, he said.
“It’s like combining your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why curtail spending?”
“The Green, Liberal, and NDP platforms on old-growth logging and sustainable forestry can best be summarized as ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Wobbly’,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The Greens have committed to ending logging of our endangered old-growth forests, the BC Liberals are still spinning their anti-environmental fairy tale that ‘old-growth forests are not disappearing’, and the NDP are trying to figure out how far they’ll go to protect old-growth forests but have not provided any details or made any strong commitments.”
On old-growth logging and sustainable forestry, the parties’ platforms are as follows:
The Green Party’s platform can be described as “Good”.
The Greens have committed to a science-based plan to fully protect BC’s old-growth forests in endangered regions, to reduce the unsustainable overcutting of second-growth forests with longer rotations and to phase-out clearcutting, and to increase the fee on raw log exports to support value-added processing of BC wood products. https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forest_action_plan and https://www.greenparty.bc.ca/forestry
The BC Liberals’ platform can be described as “Bad”.
The BC Liberals maintain that old-growth forests are not disappearing, that raw log exports are necessary, and continue to support the status quo of large-scale old-growth liquidation. See this article in the Times Colonist.
The BC Liberals have been promoting misleading statistics for a decade where they’ve overinflated the amount of remaining old-growth forests by including vast tracts of stunted, non-commercial “bonsai” forests in bogs and at high altitudes in their statistics. “It’s like including your Monopoly money with your real money and then claiming to be a millionaire, so why stop spending?” Wu noted. “The BC Liberals have been the ‘Despoilers of Beautiful BC’ when it comes to supporting large-scale old-growth logging and unsustainable forestry across most of the province.”
The NDP’s platform platform can be described as “Wobbly” or “Vague”.
The NDP mention protecting “valuable old-growth forests” in their main platform (see page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf- Link no longer available), but don’t provide any key details like “how”, “how much”, “where”, and “when”. The party has not committed to ending old-growth logging in any region of BC, nor to a science-based old-growth protection plan for the province. The party says it aims to reduce raw log exports, but provides no details how except to “work with stakeholders”. During the election campaign, thousands of people have written emails and called NDP candidates (see https://www.BCForestMovement.com – Link no longer available) asking them to end logging of endangered old-growth forests. The NDP’s position has evolved from no mention of old-growth, sustainable forestry or the environment in their status quo Forestry Platform (April 15), to a brief mention of old-growth in their Main Platform (April 24), and in recent days increasing mention of saving old-growth forests in their various PR initiatives (but still lacking detailed, strong commitments).
“As the NDP are likely to be the next government, I sure hope they remember the 1990’s ‘War in the Woods’, and that they truly listen to the conservation movement and implement a science-based old-growth protection plan that will end endangered old-growth logging and ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry,” stated Ken Wu.
New maps of BC’s southern coast highlight the ecological crisis in BC’s forests due to old-growth logging. At least 74% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including at least 91% of the biggest, best old-growth stands (ie. the“classic” high productivity valley-bottom old-growth forests with the largest monumental trees most heavily visited by tourists and featured in photos). See the new maps and statistics at: https://16.52.162.165/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/
Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.
The BC Conservatives have made no mention in their platform or website about old-growth protection, sustainable forestry, or anything environment-related to forestry. About the only mention of forestry in their platform is a strange statement that “the BC Liberals have shown little enthusiasm for the development of British Columbia’s abundant natural resources.” “They must have a pretty scary platform on the environment if they think that,” Wu observed.
MORE BACKGROUND INFO:
How has the NDP’s Position Evolved on Old-Growth Forests?
– From 2006-2008 (Forestry Critic Bob Simpson) the party called for a “Provincial Old-Growth Plan for the Coast and Interior”. During this time, Simpson moved the party into a strong position in favour of protecting old-growth forests, but was ousted from the party a couple years later.
– In 2011 during Adrian Dix’s NDP party leadership bid, Dix had quickly followed the lead of his opponent, John Horgan, who was also vying for party leadership and who had made old-growth forest protection a key part of his platform. Dix soon followed, committing to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the Province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans…” See point 4 under “Ecosystem Management” at: [Original article no longer available] . This commitment has since not been further developed, re-mentioned, or even officially adopted by the party.
– On April 15, 2013, the NDP’s Forestry Platform was launched (Forestry Critics Norm MacDonald and Bill Routley). There was no mention of old-growth forests, sustainability, or the environment. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BG-BCNDP-130415_-_Forestry.pdf
– On April 22 (Earth Day), 2013, the NDP’s Environment Platform was launched. There was no mention of old-growth forests in the media release or in public. See: https://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/dix-invests-green-projects-ends-carbon-credit-fund-and-reaffirms-opposition-enbridge
– On April 24, 2013, the NDP’s Main Platform was launched. The words “Protect significant ecological areas like wetlands, estuaries and valuable old-growth forests” were included in the Environment section. This was a recent step forward, but still vague without details. See page 42: https://www.bcndp.ca/files/BCNDP-Platform-2013-Web.pdf
Tracts of old-growth forests are regularly protected in BC each year through the implementation of regional land use plans that designate new Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s), often in marginal old-growth stands with stunted trees – while at the same time larger areas of productive old-growth forests are logged.
Key questions about the NDP’s old-growth commitment include if it would be above and beyond the protection levels of current land use plans; if it would be a limited, ad-hoc approach on the party’s whim wherever they choose to or choose not to protect, or if would be a comprehensive, systematic protection plan across the province; if it would involve science-based conservation assessments that set old-growth protection/ restoration targets in each ecosystem and region of the province that must be met to minimize biodiversity loss; and if they would actually end old-growth logging in any regions deemed endangered by science.
“A crucial question is if the NDP’s old-growth protection commitment would exceed the inadequate protection levels of the status quo under the BC Liberals and restrict or fully end the logging of endangered old-growth forests in any regions of the province. Without further details, the NDP’s stance could very well be just a continuation of the unsustainable status quo. In fact, BC’s top industry insiders say it is,” stated Ken Wu.
The presidents of BC’s two largest old-growth logging industry associations, Rick Jeffrey of the Coast Forest Products Association (CFPA) and John Allen of the Council Of Forest Industries (COFI), have both stated that the NDP’s forestry platform represents the status quo, with little difference from the BC Liberal government’s policies. See “Parties’ Forestry Platforms Show Few Differences, Industry Insiders Say”: https://www.timescolonist.com/parties-forestry-platforms-show-few-differences-industry-insiders-say-1.111472 and “Global TV: Cathedral Grove and NDP on Forestry” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOz232HDx3Y
See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/.
See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE
Whatever happens in the election this week, it is clear the newly elected premier, whether it is Adrian Dix or Christy Clark, will have to put the environment high on the agenda for early action.
Pipelines and liquefied natural gas development emerged as key, perhaps even defining, issues during the campaign, but there are more problems out there.
Here are 10 things the premier has to act on if he, or she, wants credibility on the green file.
No. 1: Withdraw from the Environmental Assessment Equivalency Agreement that the province signed with the federal government. There is an exit clause in the deal, which essentially gives the National Energy Board the power to do environmental assessments for B.C. By opting out, the province will have a lot more say over pipeline proposals, natural gas processing plants and off-shore oil or gas facilities. The NDP has said it will get out within 30 days. A Liberal government should do the same.
No. 2: Scrap Site C. The province shouldn’t drown valuable farm land that can produce food for thousands of years to provide power to LNG plants that will be relatively short-lived.
No. 3: Bring the rapidly expanding number of independent power projects under tighter environmental scrutiny. Under the Liberals, 55 private hydro projects have been built and another 35 are proposed. But the government has done a poor job of monitoring them, allowing fish kills and other damaging impacts.
No. 4: Bring in legislation to make it illegal to cut any more giant, old-growth trees. The Ancient Forest Alliance alerted the public to plans to log the Avatar Grove, near Port Renfrew, saving it just in time. But the group is now warning the last of B.C.’s ancient trees will soon be lost unless something is done.
Vicky Husband, one of B.C.’s leading conservationists, says the group’s new maps “clearly show the ecological crisis in B.C.’s forests due to a century of overcutting.”
No. 5: Modernize the 150-year-old Mineral Tenure Act, which was drafted during the gold-rush and has given mining companies “free entry” for far too long. The law allows miners to stake claims virtually anywhere they want to in B.C., without consulting the government or First Nations. Should mining companies really be allowed to stake claims over places such as the Gulf Islands? They are now, under an antiquated law that should have been revised when miners stopped using mules.
No. 6: Don’t allow coal mining to expand in the Elk Valley until the companies working there have demonstrated they can stop polluting streams with selenium. The water in some areas is already so toxic it can deform fish eggs and kill aquatic insects. Do we really need to see a two-headed trout before bringing this issue under control?
No. 7: Strike an all-party committee to come up with a plan to take over the duties of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. DFO has been so badly managed that our salmon stocks are in peril. It’s time to stop managing B.C.’s fish from Ottawa.
No. 8: Take meaningful steps to protect endangered species. B.C.’s spotted owl population has fallen from 1,000 breeding pairs to less than a dozen birds. Marbled murrelets are in decline and so are mountain caribou. Extinction should not be acceptable to any government, anywhere.
No. 9: Form an elders council to provide the government with advice on how to best manage the environment. This approach has worked for First Nations for about 10,000 years.
N0. 10: Listen to the Greens. Whether or not the party gets any seats, it has a lot of smart things to say about the environment.
Link to Globe & Mail online article: www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/whoever-wins-election-needs-to-take-early-action-on-environment/article11881474/
Environment
“In many ecosystems of B.C., old-growth forest is incredibly scarce — 91 per cent of valley bottom ancient forest growth on the southern coast has been logged of the classic monumental trees. Are you willing to commit to fully ending old-growth logging in any regions or ecosystems of B.C.?”
Ken Wu , Executive Director, Ancient Forest Alliance
Jane Sterk, Green: Yes. It is a policy of BC Greens that we stop all old-growth logging in B.C.
Carole James, NDP: The BC NDP is committed to protecting our province’s environment and coasts and will take measures to protect significant ecological areas including wetlands, estuaries and valuable old-growth forests.
Karen Bill, Liberal: Old-growth forests are not disappearing. There are more than 25 million hectares of old-growth forests in B.C. About 4.5 million hectares are fully protected, representing an area larger than Vancouver Island. Conserving old growth is an important part of long-term resource management. By law, forests that reflect the working definition of old growth must be retained in ecological units to meet biodiversity needs.
John Shaw, BC Communist Party: Yes, all regions of the province containing old-growth forests should be protected and maintained. The provincial government must ban raw log exports, and legislate the processing of timber locally for export as lumber or value-added products under public ownership and control.
Other key findings of the preliminary analysis include:
• Of the 5.5 million hectares of old-growth forests originally on BC’s southern coast, 2.2 million hectares (40%) were “low productivity” old-growth forests (generally smaller, stunted trees growing in bogs, in the subalpine zone, or on steep rocky slopes – most of which have little to no commercial timber value), while 3.3 million hectares (60%) were medium to high productivity old-growth forests (large trees targeted by logging). NOTE: Medium to high productivity forests are referred to here as simply “productive”.
• Of 3.3 million hectares of productive old-growth forests on BC’s southern coast, only 860,000 hectares (26%) currently remain.
• Only 260,000 hectares (8% of the original) of productive old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMA’s).
• Of 360,000 hectares of the high productivity, valley-bottom stands (ie. the biggest, best stands with the richest biodiversity – the “classic” iconic old-growth forests of coastal BC) that once existed, only 31,000 hectares (9%) remain.
• Only 11,700 hectares (3% of the original) of the high productivity, valley bottom old-growth forests are protected in parks and Old-Growth Management Areas.
MORE BACKGROUND INFO
Ancient forests are vital to sustain endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, wild salmon, and many First Nations cultures.
The evidence of collapsing ecosystems due to massive old-growth logging is revealed through the dramatic decline of old-growth dependent species across the province, like spotted owls, marbled murrelets, and mountain caribou.
BC’s spotted owl population was once estimated to consist of 1000 breeding adults, or likely several thousand individuals – today less than a dozen individuals are believed to exist in BC’s wilds. Marbled murrelets, a seabird that nests in old-growth trees, are considered to have undergone a “substantial to moderate decline” by BC’s Conservation Data Center. Mountain caribou populations, found in BC’s interior, have declined by 40% since the 1990’s, from 2500 individuals in 1995 to 1500 individuals today.
The BC government more than tripled the amount of unprocessed, raw logs leaving the province to foreign mills during their reign of power, according to recent figures provided by BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations (Min. of FLNRO) to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA).
From 2002 to 2012, over 47 million cubic meters of raw logs were exported from BC to foreign mills in China, the USA, Japan, Korea, and other nations. This contrasts to about 14.8 million cubic meters from 1991 to 2001 under the previous government. Over the past two years alone, in 2011 and 2012, record levels of raw logs were exported from BC, 13.2 million cubic meters in total.
At its core, the massive export of raw logs has been driven by a combination of the BC government’s deregulation of the forest industry and by the industry’s unsustainable depletion of the biggest best old-growth trees at the lower elevations.
The overcutting of the prime stands of old-growth redcedars, Douglas-firs and Sitka spruce in the lowlands that historically built the wealth of the forest industry – and for which coastal sawmills were originally built to process – has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, lower in value, different in species, and harder to reach high up the mountainsides and in the valley headwaters. Today, more than 90 per cent of the most productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms on B.C.’s southern coast are gone.
Coastal mills generally haven’t been retooled to handle the changing profile of the forest with smaller trees as the lowland ancient forests have been depleted. Today hemlock and Amabilis fir stands (“hem-bal” in industry jargon) constitute most of the remaining old-growth stands, and Douglas-fir, cedar, and hemlock constitute most of the maturing second-growth stands. At a critical juncture in 2003 the BC Liberal government removed the local milling requirements (through the Forestry Revitalization Act), thus allowing tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile. This allowed the companies to then export the unprocessed logs to foreign countries.
In a report for the B.C. Ministry of Forests (Ready for Change, 2001), Dr. Peter Pearse described the history of high-grade overcutting in BC`s coastal forests: “The general pattern was to take the nearest, most accessible, and most valuable timber first, gradually expand up coastal valleys and mountainsides into more remote and lower quality timber, less valuable, and costlier to harvest. Today, loggers are approaching the end of the merchantable old-growth in many areas … Caught in the vise of rising costs and declining harvest value, the primary sector of the industry no longer earns an adequate return …”
B.C.’s coastal forest industry, once Canada’s mightiest, is now a remnant of its past. Over the past decade, more than 70 B.C. mills have closed and over 30,000 forestry jobs lost. As old-growth stands are depleted and harvesting shifts to the second-growth, B.C.’s forestry jobs are being exported as raw logs to foreign mills due to a failure to retool old-growth mills to handle the smaller second-growth logs and invest in related manufacturing facilities.
In his 2001 report, Pearse also stated: “Over the next decade, the second-growth component of timber harvest can be expected to increase sharply, to around 10 million cubic metres … To efficiently manufacture the second-growth component of the harvest, 11 to 14 large mills will be needed.” Today, more than a decade later, there is only one large and a handful of smaller second-growth mills on the coast.
While old-growth forests are being liquidated, second-growth stands are also currently being overcut at a rapid pace mainly for raw log exports, thus limiting future options in general for a sustainable forest industry.
See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://16.52.162.165/photos-media/ (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)
See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE
Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act.
Ancient Forest Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada
The volume of raw logs exported from B.C. more than tripled between 2002 and 2012, prompting forestry workers to join with the Ancient Forest Alliance to push for more stringent log-export restrictions.
During the last decade, 30,000 forest workers lost their jobs and more than 70 mills shut down, said Arnold Bercov, Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada forestry officer.
“The B.C. Liberals have decimated the province’s forestry workforce through massive raw-log exports, industry deregulation and unsustainable jobs,” he said. “We lost both our forests and our jobs. It’s nuts.”
However, Forests Minister Steve Thomson said it was necessary to increase raw-log exports to protect jobs during an economic downturn.
“The increased value available from the export of logs helped keep harvest rates up and that kept people employed and kept coastal communities going,” Thomson said.
“I think we would all agree that we would rather add value here and have those logs manufactured here, but we recognize that, in the economics of the coastal industry, we need exports to keep the level of harvest up. That services mills and keeps additional jobs going.”
Overall exports for the province are about 10 per cent of the total harvest, which makes it important in the economics of the coastal industry, Thomson said.
The union and the Ancient Forest Alliance, a conservation group, want policy changes to protect remaining stands of old growth and to push the industry into retooling coastal mills to process second growth.
Over the last decade, more than 47 million cubic metres of raw logs were exported from Crown and private lands.
The province issues permits for exports from Crown land when logs are declared surplus to the needs of local mills, but the federal government is responsible for export permits from private land.
The figures show that the equivalent of almost three million loaded logging trucks of raw logs were exported from B.C. between 2002 and 2012, said Ken Wu, executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance.
In 2002, according to provincial government figures, 1.5 million cubic metres of logs were exported from Crown lands and 2.3 million cubic metres from private lands.
Last year, four million cubic metres were exported from Crown lands and 2.4 million from private lands.
The lowest years for exports from Crown lands were 2007, with 900,000 cubic metres, and 2008, with one million cubic metres going to China, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
Wu also blames the province for much of the increase in exports from private lands, since, in 2004 and 2007, Island Timberlands and Western Forest Products were allowed to remove huge swaths of land from tree farm licences.
If that hadn’t happened, jurisdiction would have remained with the province.
Modern mills in the interior of the province are designed to handle smaller trees, but on the coast, most mills have not retooled to process second growth.
That can largely be explained by the government removing local milling requirements in 2003, Wu said. Prior to the change, companies were required to mill logs at specified local mills, but after 2003, many simply shipped them to Vancouver or overseas.
“That allowed tenured logging companies to shut down their mills instead of being forced to retool them to handle the changing forest profile,” he said.
Thomson said that if the Liberals are re-elected, they will work to make the industry as competitive as possible through low tax rates and regulatory costs.
“We have put in over $900 million in investment in the industry, despite the downturn. I would expect, as the market improves, to see investment in the mills,” he said.
Changes in January to the log-export system saw government fees reduced for companies cutting low and mid-grade logs in an effort to increase harvesting while curtailing exports.
The NDP has pledged to limit log exports and reinstate a jobs-protection commissioner.
The Ancient Forest Alliance would like to thank LUSH Handmade Cosmetics for the contribution made through their “Charity Pot” grant program. This great support helps us push forward our major provincial campaign to protect endangered old-growth forests and ensure sustainable second-growth forestry in BC. The Charity Pot program works to fund a diversity of grassroots organizations including ones such as Sea Shepherd.
You can visit LUSH online at www.lush.ca and learn more about the Charity Pot at: https://bit.ly/18D7tIx
The following is a graph from Statistics Canada showing the steep decline in forestry employment levels in British Columbia that took place most dramatically during the reign of the BC Liberal Party from 2001 until 2013 (2011 is the last year shown in this graph).
Source: BC Stats “BC’s Exports Moving out of the Woods” March 2012
Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada
