Jason Krips

Like everyone else in Alberta, the forest industry was saddened by what happened in Jasper. …There is a conversation to be had and a way forward. Our association penned an opinion piece in the Edmonton Journal in October 2017. It said: “If you ask a professional forester where the next devastating fire might happen, they’d probably point to Hinton and Jasper. That’s because a massive pine beetle epidemic has killed much of the pine in Jasper National Park and is surging towards Hinton.” The article proceeded to talk about the value of managing our forests sustainably. It offered constructive solutions, like identifying and harvesting at-risk pine stands and regenerating them with younger forests. This is a concrete step we can take to safeguard our communities and environment.

We know that Indigenous communities have lived on these lands from time immemorial and have knowledge that is highly valuable, but underutilized. We know that our foresters are on the land every day and supplement their practical experience with a strong scientific and educational foundation. …What we should not do is impose top-down solutions that apply to very different land bases. One frustration I hear frequently in our industry and communities is that federal policy on items like management of our national parks or protection of species at risk is top-down, hard to implement at the ground level. …We all share the same goal of healthy landscapes within parks and thriving wildlife species. If this is the goal, the way to get there inevitably leads through conversations at the community level and more active management. …As an industry that lives in forest communities and is deeply tied to the land base, we are ready to have this conversation. The future of communities we love depends on it.