Bruce St. John
With Premier David Eby visiting India last month on a trade mission, the South Asian country has been in the spotlight as a potential new market for B.C.’s forestry sector—among the Canadian sectors hit hardest by U.S. tariffs. …India offers long-term potential for B.C. forestry. But turning that potential into major demand will take time, according to industry experts. “[India has] got a history of using wood, and what’s happened is their domestic species have been reduced. They are looking for new products,” said Bruce St. John, president of Vancouver-based Canada Wood Group, a Vancouver-based government-funded organization to promote Canadian wood products. “It’s the logistics that’s an issue. It’s more expensive to transport to India than our other traditional markets. It takes longer and it’s more expensive.” Shipping to India from B.C. could take a month or more, while transit to Japan takes about 10 days.
The national head of the union representing workers at the Crofton pulp mill is not in favour of efforts to have a special task force formed locally to investigate the reasons for the troubles in the forest industry. Geoff Dawe is the president of the Public and Private Workers of Canada which represents more than 400 workers at the Crofton pulp mill, which will soon close permanently. He spoke to North Cowichan’s council at its meeting on Jan. 21 about a proposed motion by Coun. Tek Manhas for the municipality to set up the special task force that, if approved, would undertake an investigation into the reasons for the closure of the Crofton mill and the ongoing curtailment of the Chemainus sawmill, impacting another approximately 150 workers. …Dawe said his concern is that a task force that is not working collaboratively with his union and its workers may get into some finger pointing at government…
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Several programs have been suspended at North Island College, but before the decision came down, students and alumni made their displeasure known outside Koumox Hall in two different rallies. …The Ministry of Post Secondary Education sent out a provincial mandate for schools to review all programs last June after federal policy changes regarding the reduction of international student visas issued. The ministry projected it could lead to a province-wide negative annual revenue impact of a $300 million deficit. 15 programs are being considered for suspension including Coastal Forestry Certificate, Coastal Forestry Diploma, and Furniture Design and Joinery Certificate.
Reducing wolves to protect endangered caribou doesn’t always deliver the expected results—and the shape of the land may be the deciding factor. That’s according to 
A forest advisory council has recommended shifting BC’s forest regime towards more local decision-making. The plan has received applause from forestry groups, the BC Greens and the head of the BC First Nations Forestry Council. But some experts warn the plan lacks teeth and risks putting fragile forest ecosystems at risk. …“I think of this like the cod fishery,” said Garry Merkel, a forester and co-chair of the advisory council, at the report’s launch event Monday. Merkel likened B.C.’s crisis to the fishery collapse on Canada’s East Coast. …BC First Nations Forestry Council’s Lennard Joe said he supports efforts to bring forest decision-making closer to people it affects. …But UBC forest management professor Peter Wood noted that the report made little mention of the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review. …Rachel Holt, a conservation ecologist worries that the council’s recommendations stop short of changes that are required to protect key ecosystems.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmer hosted the high-profile first National Wildfire Symposium in Vancouver and wildfire risk featured prominently at the 23rd B.C. Natural Resources Forum in Prince George. Dialogue at the symposium made it clear that wildfire is a coast-to-coast-to-coast challenge. It has stretched the resources of all provinces and territories. …But what if there is a way for our provincial government to more effectively spend available dollars to maintain wildfire suppression, improve prevention capabilities and support beneficial fires as an essential ecological function, while at the same time becoming better at identifying cross-government areas for new investments to improve wildfire resilience? This is the focus of a new report being published by the 
The attorney general of BC has decided to take over any potential prosecutions of those arrested for violating an injunction prohibiting people from blocking roads in an area of the Walbran Valley. Forestry company Tsawak-qin Forestry Limited Partnership, which has rights to log in the area where protesters have set up blockades, asked the attorney general to take over the proceedings, and to determine if there is enough evidence to charge those arrested with criminal contempt. Those arrested have faced civil contempt of court charges for alleged breaches of the injunction. …Lawyer Noah Ross, who represents Bill Jones, a Pacheedaht First Nation elder who opposes the logging, said, “By being willing to step in and fund the prosecution, they make it effectively cheaper for the logging company”. …The decision means it’s now up to the BC Prosecution Service to determine what charges, if any, it will approve against those arrested.
Victoria, B.C. – A new independent report from the Provincial Forestry Advisory Council (PFAC) finds that British Columbia’s current forest management system is failing to meet a range needs, including communities, First Nations, businesses and the environment. The report concludes that small, incremental reforms are not enough to address the scale of challenges facing the sector. Titled 
VANCOUVER — A government-commissioned review of forestry in British Columbia is calling for the system to be razed and rebuilt with a focus on trust and transparency about the state of the province’s forests, shifting away “from managing harvest volumes to managing lands.” …The authors of the report, including industry representatives and academics, pitch a model that would change who makes decisions about lumber allotment, taking that power away from the provincial government and shifting it to regional bodies that manage defined areas. …Shannon Janzen a co-chair of the advisory council, and former chief forester, said the use of area-based land management is not a new idea and is already in use in places like Ontario and Alberta. …Forest Minister Ravi Parmar would not commit to implementing the report’s recommendations, telling reporters that he has to consult with other ministries. …A statement from the BC Council of Forest Industries said it would be reviewing the recommendations with its members. …Brian Menzies, the executive director of the Independent Wood Processors Association of B.C., said there’s little detail in the report about how its members would access more fibre.
A First Nations-owned company west of Williams Lake says continued funding is essential for projects that use fire-killed wood instead of burning it in slash piles or leaving it to decay. Percy Guichon and Daniel Persson with Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) attended a Jan. 27 regular city council meeting in Williams Lake to provide an update on the Palmer Project, a multi-year Indigenous-led stewardship initiative which aims to reduce wildfire risk and improve public safety and forest health through spacing treatments that remove hazardous fuels. To date, the project located along Palmer Lake Road, about one and a half hour west of Williams Lake, has treated more than 1,500 hectares with recovered fibre utilized by Atlantic Power for biomass and Cariboo Pulp & Paper for pulp. Fibre was also previously utilized by Drax, which closed in Williams Lake by the end of 2025, into fibre pellets for bioenergy.
Residents of a Bonnington, 18 km west of Nelson, hope they can rely on B.C. Timber Sales’ assurances that logging in their watershed will reduce wildfire risk and won’t threaten their water supply. For nearly a year, BCTS has engaged in an elaborate communication process with the residents of Bonnington about its plans for the Falls Creek watershed. The agency has a timber license on Crown land in the watershed, which provides drinking water to the rural community of about 600 people. …BCTS plans and designs logging operations, builds logging roads, then sells the timber to the highest bidder. The B.C. government added wildfire mitigation to the BCTS mandate last year. In the spring of 2025, the province hired Cathy Scott-May, a communications consultant, to steer a communication process along with BCTS professional forester Mark Tallman of Nelson. …Tallman said this consultation process is different from anything BCTS has done in the past…
Another dire warning is coming from B.C.’s forest industry, but this time from the tree-planting side, with those working in reforestation saying funding is running out as record wildfires took out huge sections of the province’s forests. A Western Forest Products greenhouse in Saanichton produces hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings. Many will be planted on Vancouver Island, according to Christina Lavoie, nursery supervisor, Western Forest Products, Saanich Forestry Centre. B.C. logging companies are legally required to restore the trees they harvest, but as the industry shrinks, fewer trees are being planted. Add to that the loss of trees due to years of record forest fires. …At the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association annual conference, there is concern about just how many trees are being lost to forest fires, and pests on public lands. …Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says he’s working with industry on solutions.
The latest newsletter from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC reflects on ongoing forestry challenges and emphasizes the value of collaboration, proactive planning, and shared solutions to strengthen forest health and resilience across British Columbia. It highlights a safety tip from the BC Forest Safety Council focused on mental health support for forestry workers, offering a free, confidential service to help industry professionals navigate stress. The newsletter also announces a new Extension Specialist position through a partnership with the Silviculture Innovation Program (SIP) aimed at translating technical and field knowledge into practical forestry resources. There’s a Faces of Forestry feature on Jennifer Grenz, plus links to a range of recent FESBC-funded project stories — from wildfire rehabilitation to biomass utilization — showcasing work being done by partners and communities province-wide.
What do northern communities need to make bioenergy projects successful? That was a key question addressed during the Arctic Bioenergy Summit and Tour in Yellowknife earlier this week. Hosted by the Arctic Energy Alliance and Wood Pellet Association of Canada, the event began with a day-long tour of buildings in Yellowknife that use biomass heating systems followed by a two-day conference at the Chateau Nova Hotel. “We’re the lead jurisdiction in Canada in terms of adoption of biomass for space heating and wood pellets,” Mark Heyck, executive director of the Arctic Energy Alliance, told Cabin Radio. “We want to continue that conversation, see where the future of that fuel source is going here in the Northwest Territories, but also learn from other jurisdictions in Canada and around the circumpolar world about what they’re working on.” …Following the conference, the Arctic Energy Alliance hosted a biomass boiler operator training course.