A dwindling supply of wood fibre and the B.C. government’s move to create a “paradigm shift” in the forestry industry is leading to a “vicious cycle” that is scaring investment away from the province, warned private equity experts and industry leaders Thursday. The comments, made at the BC Council of Forest Industries annual meeting in Vancouver, came following a year in which about 32 million cubic metres of wood was harvested — nearly half of what it was five years ago, said COFI’s president and CEO Linda Coady. …Andrew Mercier, who was appointed as B.C. Minister of State for Sustainable Forestry Innovation about three months ago, said he has been relentlessly touring the province to understand what is ailing forestry. …“There’s a short-term crunch here,” he conceded. …While industry says bad policy pushed B.C.’s forest industry to suffer unnecessary losses, others have suggested the situation is of their own making.