On his first visit to Revelstoke, B.C.’s minister of forests spoke Tuesday about his hopes for local saw mills, old-growth and caribou protection. Ravi Parmar, also the province’s deputy government house leader, had just arrived to town on June 9 after a visit to the Pacific Woodtech mill in Golden. One of his first stops in Revelstoke was the Downie Street Development, where the Revelstoke Community Housing Society met Parmar to showcase the major 166-unit housing project and its use of B.C. lumber. Black Press Media, tipped that the minister was visiting, got 20 minutes interviewing him as it poured. Parmar spoke highly of Gorman Group, which has owned Revelstoke’s Downie Timber and Selkirk Cedar mills since 1990. These operations are the “lifeblood” of rural communities, he said. …Parmar invited British Columbians to walk in the shoes of forestry workers, and consider the balance of supporting the lumber industry while also prioritizing biodiversity and ecology.