Category Archives: Opinion / EdiTOADial

Those who work in the woods know all too well that wildfires are undiscerning in what they burn: working forest, parks, old growth forests, wildlife habitat—if there is fuel, it will burn. No matter what your view on how our forests should be managed, it is hard to avoid the reality that wildfire is a threat to our businesses, our livelihoods, as well as to our health and well-being. …To gain a better sense of community perspectives regarding wildfire resiliency, the BC Council of Forest Industries worked with Abacus Data to survey 1,500 British Columbians last spring. The survey found the public perceives wildfires as a problem that is getting worse. Polling showed that 75% of the public follows the news about wildfires closely; in other words, it is a top-of-mind subject; 35% reported that wildfires have already had a large impact on their lives with 74% having experienced smoke from wildfires. 

Fortunately, for a province covered in forests, we are not without options. A recent study from the USDA Forest Service reviewed scientific literature from over 40 studies and concluded “proactive ecological forest management can change how fires behave and reduce wildfire severity, under a wide range of conditions and forest types… in reducing surface and ladder fuels and tree density through thinning, coupled with prescribed burning or pile burning could reduce future wildfire severity by more than 60%, relative to untreated areas.” The good news is that public opinion is aligned with the science. The polling showed almost everyone thinks forest fire severity can be reduced, that proper forest management is a good idea and that there is an acceptable solution available. …So let’s get busy and make the necessary investments and collaborations to turn that public support for forest management solutions for forest fuel reduction into reality!

Every few years, we witness new vocabulary emerge into the BC forest sector’s world.  The most recent term to emerge is resilience. …The question is, will it become another passing buzzword, lead towards true, positive changes to advance our sector, or will it be a cloak for protectionism? BC’s forest sector has long been a cornerstone of the province’s economy and culture deeply intertwined with the natural environment, providing livelihoods for thousands and sustaining communities. However, the sector is currently facing unprecedented challenges that require innovative and resilient approaches. In this context, building multi-dimensional resilience means considering comprehensive environmental, economic, and social factors to ensure the forest sector can adapt and thrive in the face of these stresses.

…There are many things resilience cannot mean. It should not be a surrogate for even more protectionism or unreasonable constraints. The discussions leading to implementation of any forest management plans need to be objective and not subjectively guided. The prescriptions on a stand level must be achievable and financially viable. The moves toward their utilization cannot be abrupt or ignore the practical need for a real transition strategy. Uncertainty on interpreting the impacts of new policies cannot continue ad infinitum because tangible investment decisions will simply not happen. In the opinion of many, which we share, our forests need more management, not less to become more resilient on all fronts. By adopting a strategy addressing all necessary elements, BC can ensure that its forest sector remains a vital, prosperous, and sustainable part of its economy and heritage. The challenges are significant, but if environmental, economic and social resilience is properly considered, the BC forest sector can adopt a pathway to thrive amidst the complexities of the 21 century.

Linda Coady

Mill closures and curtailments in B.C. last year led to the loss of 5,000 direct jobs in the forest industry, and another 5,000 indirect jobs in supply chains and services that support the industry. Current conditions in the sector are not only negatively impacting jobs and operations, but also exports, government revenue, and investment in the province. Reasons for the historic level of disruption have been well-documented. Insects, fire, markets, and policy shifts figure among them. …But getting the sector back on track to deliver the benefits that communities across B.C. rely upon requires more than understanding what the problem is — it requires a willingness to do something about it. …Here are five [solutions] that would help create more predictable timber supply in B.C. while meeting other important goals for forest health and environmental protection, and First Nations reconciliation.

• Fix current permit development processes to ensure that an environmentally sustainable and economically viable harvest can be consistently achieved. 
• Secure agreements with First Nations that advance progress on critical issues. Embrace new approaches to consultation, forest tenure, revenue sharing, and First Nations land use planning.
• Expedite new regional tables for Forest Landscape Planning. 
• Establish new targets and financing strategies to expand the role that research and forest management can play in wildfire resilience, community and biodiversity protection, and fibre utilization.
• Develop a long-term roadmap or economic strategy for the B.C. forest sector. …The vision needs to drive stronger performance on carbon management, sustainability, and Indigenous-led forest management and conservation.

Consensus is growing on what can be done to reboot one of B.C.’s most important industries. The time to act on that consensus is now.

Alice Palmer

What industry provides 18% of BC’s economic base, $12-14 billion to its economy, and $4 billion in government revenues? Forestry, of course. Therefore, one might think British Columbians would want to safeguard it. Yet, over the past five years, BC’s forest industry—one of our province’s biggest economic drivers—has been under increasing pressure. …Some of the harvest declines have been due to natural factors. …The driving force behind the remaining harvest reductions? Forest policy. BC intends to increase its protection of old-growth forests and their associated biodiversity values and has committed to protecting or conserving 30 per cent of its land base by 2030. This represents a near-doubling of the current amount under protection (17%). But this is just the start.

…With its ecosystem-based approach to forest management, the draft BC Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework philosophy appears to be that humankind should minimize its commercial use of forests. Forest-based activities should instead emphasize restoration activities. An alternative interpretation of “taking care of the land” could be “carrying out different management activities in different places.” For example, under the three-zone system recommended by the Old Growth Strategic Review (OGSR), the converted zone could include intensive silviculture. By zoning some of the land for industrial production and taking care of it for that specific purpose, British Columbians could continue to enjoy the economic benefits of logging, even while setting aside more land for conservation. Conservation of key ecosystem elements can also be achieved (and may be enhanced) while carrying out forest management activities on the land. …The OGSR’s recommended consistent zone—land managed to simulate the patterns of natural disturbance—could even count as part of the conserved and protected lands included in BC’s 30 per cent.

David Elstone

By now most have heard that the proposed amendment to the Land Act was cancelled, at least until after the October provincial
election. …”For me, the proposed amendment to the Land Act itself was not the problem, rather it was what it represented – yet another proposed policy change without the operational details to understand what it meant. The constant flow of changing policy to meet aspirational intentions has been crushing the BC forest sector. …Unfortunately, the opposition rallied against this amendment by stoking fear the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act would give a veto to First Nations on 95% of the province, despite the move towards shared decision-making not intended to be a blanket change. …Did anyone pause to think what the alternative to DRIPA could be? I would surmise it would likely mean even greater uncertainty for the forest industry!

With the amendment cancelled for now, it’s time to start figuring out answers to some of the tough questions on DRIPA, such as what happens when an impasse occurs? That’s the challenge with shared decision- making – one cannot really call it “shared” when one side always gets its way. Ironically, if the BC government can override opposition, which is actually a veto – something that First Nations have existed under for the last 150 years. …Obviously, there is much work to be done based on the recent polling that found seven-in-ten feel that the then pubic consultation was moving too quickly and that 94% of British Columbians see the proposed amendment as “a major transformation of the rules governing public land use…” The sooner we can collectively figure out operational level shared decision-making, in terms that the public can grasp, the sooner some of the current challenges facing the forest industry will likely find some relief.”

David Elstone

Will 2024 be another year of turmoil? It’s a provincial election year, which is typically when advocacy magic happens, but in the case of BC, will the politicians be listening more to the woes of the forest sector or that of the ENGOs? Here’s my quick prognostication on what to expect:

1. Softwood lumber trade agreement? – Given the distraction of the US election, do not hold your breath waiting.
2. Direction of North American markets in 2024? Market direction largely will depend on what the US Federal Reserve does with the federal funds rate. China does not look to be a major market mover. All in, we are likely to experience a sideways to modestly positive market.
3. BC forest policy will remain the slow-moving train wreck that it is. …If you thought the implementation of old growth deferrals has been disruptive, you had better buckle up given the Province’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework (although implementation could come after the election).
4. BC’s Crown (public lands) timber harvest will continue to decline in 2024, although maybe not by as much as in 2023.
5. The BC forest sector will continue to shrink – Challenging economic availability of log supply (including lack of permits) will cause sawmills and other forest products manufacturers to curtail or outright close. Interior collective agreements expired in 2023 without much progress.
6. Will a new cross-laminated timber (CLT) type, value-added wood products mass timber plant be proposed? Probably not, but if there is, it will likely be in partnership with a First Nations.

David Eby

Forests are at the heart of our identity as British Columbians. All of us in the province depend on the forests to provide the materials to build homes and businesses. …Forests sustain people by providing good jobs for tens of thousands of us in the woods, in the mills, and on the roads as truck loggers. Others create products from forestry that we use every day. Those are jobs that sustain many families and sustain wood products that are part of how we will reduce carbon pollution and fight climate change. But there are real challenges. We know forestry operations are having trouble getting access to fibre. The allowable annual cut has significantly decreased in many regions owing to devastating wildfires and the end of the beetle-kill harvest. The unfair and unfounded imposition of a softwood lumber duty by the United States, as well as unfavourable market conditions, have also contributed to challenging times.

We need to build on our longstanding strengths if we’re to overcome these challenges. Forestry is a foundation of the BC economy. We will continue to make investments to ensure it remains a strong and sustainable industry. …We are helping to diversify local economies to make them more resilient through the transition from high-volume to high-value production. We introduced a $180-million BC Jobs Manufacturing Fund to do just that. …In September, I spoke at a Global Buyers Mission conference, the first premier of the province to do so. Among the attendees in Whistler were buyers from all over the world. The reason for the interest is clear—BC has world-class forests, a world-class forest sector, and produces world-class forest products. Our province has deep roots and a proud history in forestry. All British Columbians have benefitted from the bounty of this natural resource, and we intend to do all we can to ensure these benefits are long-lasting.

Bob Brash

Suffice it to say there is an abundance of headlines about the environmental climate challenges facing us. …However, there remains a chore in convincing policy decision- makers… to deal with the current climate of uncertainty, instability, and lack of investment facing our sector. Today’s forestry world in BC is encountering many storm clouds in terms of the volume of policy and legislative changes impacting our sector in such a short period of time. Adding to the concern are the many unknowns about how such changes will actually be implemented across the landscape and how decision-makers will interpret them. …When viewed cumulatively, the effects upon our forest sector and businesses are decidedly negative contrary to the many announcements spun to a different narrative than those working in the woods are dealing with daily. 

Our sector has evolved over time to be one that is highly efficient at ensuring the harvested logs are fully utilized in all the various manufacturing facilities. It is a complex and integrated system requiring all components to be working properly. …Today’s work environment is not functioning as such. Across all components, uncertainty and instability dominate both the discussions and reality. Business decision-makers are typically drifting towards not making or deferring those needed investments to improve their business to the detriment of all in the sector. …Solutions abound to manage our forests for various objectives, mitigate the risks from wildfires, tackle climate change, provide the most sustainable product in the world, and meet the general expectations of both society and government. A good starting point would be government’s recognition of the immediate need for a collaborative and endorsed road map and vision for where BC’s forest sector is headed, including definitive targets for the overall annual harvest and land base in which we can be assured of operating upon.

Joe Nemeth

When the wildfire season mercifully ended in November, 2,217 wildfires had been counted, 2.8 million hectares of land had been burned, including forested and non-forested land. …The premier has appointed a task force to study this year’s fire season and develop ideas about what can be done. The pulp and paper sector applauds the premier for making wildfire risk reduction and salvage a priority, but challenges the need for another task force to add recommendations to those of previous studies and analyses. We know what to do and we need to act now. The top four steps we can take include: Streamlining the cutting permit approval process for fire-damaged trees; Creating fire breaks with roads and small openings; Removing fuel sources around small communities through brushing and thinning; and Making better use of First Nations historical practices such as cultural burning.

What happens to the millions of fire-damaged trees left in the wake of these big fires? …There is a ready use for that burned fibre in the province’s pulp and paper mills and sawmills. In fact, the pulp and paper sector is keen to be part of the solution by taking up to five million cubic metres of burnt wood every year. …But the industry has a problem. We are currently operating at about 80 per cent capacity, mainly due to a fibre shortfall of about two million cubic metres annually — a tiny percentage of all that fire-damaged wood left across B.C. It shouldn’t be that hard to access that fibre and get it into these mills so that jobs and communities and international markets can be sustained. …We just need a little will from government to speed up permitting decisions, direct funding to allow the use of wood waste and fire damaged stands to continue and grow, and to introduce a program to support thinning around communities to safeguard them from fire risk.

Wildfires have laid siege to British Columbia in 2023. Residents outside the province’s Lower Mainland region have endured a prolonged and surreal environment of fear and uncertainty, filled with toxic smoke and flurries of evacuation alerts and orders. …Land lost to wildfires in 2017, 2018 and 2021 set records—but the terrible trio’s toll was eclipsed by July in 2023, the beginning of what is traditionally the start of the worst two forest fire months of the season. …The warming climate’s interconnected impacts on the forest industry are the focus of a new report by the B.C. Forest Practices Board. The report says there’s an urgent need for a different and coordinated approach to forest fire management on B.C.’s Crown land. It points out fire can be a friend and not always the wildfire foe. Fire, when used judiciously, can help sustain a productive and healthy B.C. forest landscape as it did historically.

The report noted the policies that were applied in B.C. during the 20th century resulted in densely forested areas and an increase in the amounts and distribution of forest fuels. …“There is an urgent need to shift forest and fire management, policies, objectives and policies toward co-existing with fire on the landscape,” says the report. “Restoring landscape resilience is required and the first step toward that is to introduce landscape fire management into the land management framework in B.C.” The report continues: “Bold and immediate action is required by the provincial government to align policies and programs across all levels of government with a vision of landscape resilience and human co-existence with fire.” …The document’s recommendations are pertinent and timely. Suggestions for working practically with nature can help restore a badly damaged landscape diversity in B.C. That in turn will indicate paths forward for the forest industry to continue its renewal and vigour.

David Elstone

There has been plenty written on this year’s horrendous wildfire season. It’s justified, since it has been the worst year for hectares burnt, record value of insurance claims for destroyed property, and most sadly, the lives lost by those working to fight wildfire. Merchantable timber and non-timber natural values were burnt including old growth forests, wildlife habitat and parks – the fires were non-discerning to what we value. …The evidence is abundant that the status quo on wildfire management is no longer a viable path. In many respects, we may be quickly arriving at a pivot point on forest management driven by wildfire. The BC government recently announced a task force on emergency management during wildfire, but the task force will not address what is desperately needed. … BC has a long history of fire suppression [and] much of what we need to know has all been documented by successive reviewers, and yet not much has been done.

To substantially enhance the resilience of our forested landscapes to fire, it will require substantive change by government and by industry on how to manage our forests, and just as equally, it will require changes to our traditional notions of conservation. …This suggests areas we have protected from commercial timber harvesting will still need forest management if we want such areas to endure. …The provincial government hopefully will have the funding, but the industry is key to implementation. Unfortunately, industry capacity is shrinking and will continue to do so if something is not done to address this trend. …To some it may be counter-intuitive to believe that to promote and protect both conservation and economic values of our forested landscapes, intervention through more harvesting activities (thinning etc.), not less, will be the solution. The alternative is the status quo, no change nor action; we are already bearing witness as to how that’s working out.

David Elstone

To say that the BC forest industry has seen change over the past 20 years would be an understatement. There have been several editorials and analyses done quantifying how many mills have or will close; how many trees have been killed; and how many jobs have been lost. Interestingly, few have looked where the BC forest industry might end up as timber supply continues to decline. …In 2005, the forest industry was running on all cylinders with a Crown AAC of just under 86 million m3. …In the BC Interior, there were 14 veneer plants and 82 sawmills with a combined lumber production capacity of over 16 bbf operating, …On the coast, there were 3 veneer plants and 29 sawmills with a combined lumber production capacity of over 3 bbf operated. On the residual fibre/biomass side, the province had 16 pulp mills, 8 paper plants and the beginnings of pellet and biomass power businesses. The industry was flourishing with direct employment of close to 70,000 people.

When we look out to 2035, a full 30 years after the industry peak, the picture is sobering. Using a forecast for a province-wide Crown AAC of 38 million m3, only 33 or 40% of sawmills operating in the BC Interior in 2005 will remain and lumber production capacity will fall to a mere 38% of that peak. On the coast, 14 sawmills are expected to continue operating, with 56% of the capacity of 2005. On the pulp and paper side, more closures are forecast… with pulp capacity forecast to settle at 54% of that in 2005 with paper capacity at a mere 11%. For other forest products manufacturers there may be 10 veneer production facilities, 14 shake and shingle mills and potentially just a few specialty operations remaining. …Despite the ever-present prognostications of doom and gloom there are those still willing to invest in this province. Most recently, Canfor’s new state-of-the-art 350 million board feet sawmill in Houston. …The BC government wants more investment to transition the industry, and specifically to add more mass timber manufacturing. Unless a plan can be developed to cut short the current trends, a much smaller industry is forecast by 2035. 

David Elstone

Job losses and reductions in work have been confirmed as real consequences of BC’s initiatives on old growth forest policy. Spar Tree Group’s May 2023 BC forest sector survey found three quarters of timber harvesting and road building contractors were experiencing some amount of work reduction due to old growth deferrals. Furthermore, the survey results indicated at least 1,000 jobs may have been displaced because of the deferrals in timber harvesting alone (not including forest product manufacturers nor the other segments of the forest sector’s supply chain). …After a mild rebound from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the provincial Crown timber harvest has since decreased by 16 million cubic metres or over -30%. For 2023, timber harvesting is down -23% year-to-date to August. …Staying on this path will mean more closures. …To be fair, other factors such as the now-past mountain pine beetle epidemic and ongoing wildfires have definitely contributed to these decreases.

Anti-forestry advocates are calling for more and faster action on old growth forests. Giving into to such pressure is what got us into this trouble in the first place. It is incumbent on local governments and all members of the provincial government to ask what are the potential impacts of the next steps? Perhaps some analysis should actually be done on the outstanding fourteen recommendations of the A New Future For Older Forest report. …Yes – we should improve our efforts in managing for old growth, but it is a complete myth to believe we are harvesting the last of our old growth when at least 75% of the existing old growth forests in this province are not threatened by harvesting. We need to be open to new ways of managing forests in BC that are dynamic and active to promote forest resilience instead of creating static area set asides to achieve a target which meets some environmental or political agenda. 

Christine Gelowitz

Wildfires are part of the natural ecosystem — have been for thousands of years and will continue to be in the future. While the scale and impact of wildfire in B.C. appears to be increasing exponentially, there are more steps we could take to protect our communities and the forest, and to improve our ability to respond to and minimize the impact of wildfires. But doing so will not be easy or simple. It takes co-operation among the public, landowners, forest professionals, First Nations, firefighters, emergency responders and, most importantly, elected government representatives. …The core ingredients for a new vision and approach to wildfire is readily available in BC if governments are ready to make the investment and drive the required policy changes. Good ideas abound.

Earlier this year, the B.C. Forest Practices Board released a special report urging the provincial government to align policies and programs across all levels of government to enable landscape-level fire management. …Dr. Mike Flannigan of Thompson Rivers University, estimates that every dollar spent on prevention and mitigation saves $5 to $15 spent on fighting wildfires. The time for waiting and conducting more studies is over. In many communities, the planning is completed and solutions have been tabled. Now they need to be implemented by policy and government funding at a scale comparable with the efforts devoted to wildfire emergency response. B.C. has skilled and competent people who can help move wildfire prevention and mitigation activities forward. …We know the solutions. We have the expertise. Now we just need the will to act.

David Elstone

Past calls for power by the BC government drove the expansion of energy production by the private sector (IPPs). Many projects including pulp mill power, run-of-river and biomass projects were built over the last two decades to sell power to BC Hydro. However, a strong lobby campaign against IPPs led to dramatic policy change… and as a consequence, the government ended its standing call for power in 2020. This all occurred despite awareness of growing energy demand, and the province did not have enough capacity. . …Now with the goals to electrify the province and net zero emissions for LNG, the government has once again turned to IPPs for solutions. How does this shift in energy policy serve as a comment about forestry? 

Forest product markets may be tough now, but according to the UN FAO’s forest sector outlook to 2050, consumption of lumber, panels, and pulp will increase by 37% beyond 2020. …Unfortunately, just like the misguided end to the calls for power back in 2020… the Old Growth Strategic Review has brought about new and pending policy that will reduce our ability to manage forests for our needs. We should be expanding active forest management which would address our very Canadian reality that harvesting (and thinning) actually helps protect forests (and our communities) by reducing wildfire intensity as well as carbon emissions from forest fires. …It took three years for government to come to its senses on energy. How long will it take the government to do the same on forestry?

Bob Brash

It’s been three years since government received the Old Growth Strategic Review and promptly proceeded to accept all its recommendations. While debate continues about the overall merits of that decision, we need a reminder of the two key transition recommendations that were endorsed by government:

• Once developed, implement the new policies and strategies for the management of old forests through mandatory provincial and local transition plans that define, schedule and monitor the process.
• Support forest sector workers and communities as they adapt to changes resulting from a new forest management system.

Today, where are we at with these mandatory transition plans that support forest workers and communities as they adapt to the changes being imposed by government? Three long years later, I think it’s fair to say they remain non-existent.

Instead, the focus appears to be vaguely expressed through the future state of government’s newly proposed “paradigm shift” with all the necessary steps for a transition basically missing. And those opposed to forestry consider this “paradigm shift” to mean we stop harvesting all together. The TLA has long been on the record for recognizing and supporting change in BC’s forest sector. In fact, most of us have been transforming our sector for our whole careers. However, there are essential elements that need to be in place for any transformation to be successful. …Recently, Premier Eby challenged the forest sector to come up with “creative solutions on their own” to address current challenges. Well, we’re ready, with the caveat that it needs to be done together with government and must include effective actions to enable a successful transformation.

Alice Palmer

In a world where the only constant is change, anticipating the future helps us identify potential disruptions—and prepare for them — futurist Nikolas Badminton of Futurist.com. The BC forest industry is no stranger to change. On top of the constant ebb and flow of demand for forest products, we also have to contend with a seemingly ever-decreasing log supply. On a more positive note, emerging technologies such as global positioning systems are creating opportunities to increase automation and log more efficiently. Further, wood is increasingly being recognised as a carbon-friendly building material and is being used in a growing number of applications. …If we allowed ourselves to daydream about where we live and how we live 30 years into the future, what would we see? Will the world’s cities be full of wooden skyscrapers? Or, conversely, will society’s thoughts and beliefs about sustainable forestry lead to less forest harvesting, and ultimately, less wood usage overall? 

In Facing Our Futures, Nikolas Badminton points out that one person’s utopia may be another’s dystopia, and this is evident when we listen to forest policy discussion in BC. Consider, for example, the idea of designating tracts of forest land for intensive timber production. Are such forests the perfect solution for carbon sequestration on a smaller land base, or are they dense, dark, “biodiversity deserts”? If society’s overall goal is to have both wood production and conservation, we will probably have to incorporate both industrial and conservation forestry into our plans. …Facing Our Futures does not say much about negotiating between clashing worldviews. However, it does describe how scenario building can be used to stimulate broader interest and participation. 

It has been two years since the BC government presented its vision to reshape the province’s forest sector. …A large part of the reason for the industry’s underwhelming response is the lack of specific direction from government on what exactly it meant by “more jobs and higher value.” …The irony is that the industry recognizes that change is needed in order to continue operating in this province. Even without policy changes, there are various pressures driving decisions to shift paths including a declining BC Interior timber supply, wildfire management and need to grow relationships with First Nations to name a few. 

Without an overall plan with goals, the forest industry is left in paralysis and has no ability to move forward with investment to drive the government’s desired change. …From a politicians’ perspective, having no explicit goals is a conservative approach as it means no accountability. Unfortunately, the industry’s frustration mounts, and capacity continues to retrench. …Problems like those facing the sector can be resolved when there is decisive and clear direction with measurable, transparent goals. A vision to be implemented and expected to bear results within a four-year election cycle (or less) is not realistic given the size and complexity of the forest sector. A good first step that would hopefully withstand political pressures and help move the necessary conversations forward is having a forest sector economic strategy supported by all that rely on British Columbia’s forests…otherwise the Recipe For Gridlock will continue as evidenced by the closures of Canfor’s Houston sawmill and subsequently Brink’s Pleasant Valley Remanufacturing.

David Elstone

The following is a summary of David Elstone’s presentation at the BC Council of Forest Industries Convention in Prince George, BC

Last January, upwards of 40% of the sawmilling capacity in British Columbia was affected by some form of curtailment or closure, which in turn affected a number of pulp and paper mills. How far will reductions in future lumber production go as the BC industry transitions? A similar path or can we change? …What do we dare to dream about for the sector in order to change its path? Indigenous forestry? Ecological regenerative forestry? Silviculture investment? New value-added products and manufacturing innovation? The vision paper, Modernizing Forest Policy In British Columbia offers many good intentions but there are large gaps in understanding how several of the initiatives can be achieved. …For the industry’s transition to a future prosperous sector, investment will be needed but current conditions lack predictability largely due to current policy initiatives. 

One solution to help further current government policy priorities while creating the specific parameters needed by industry, would be to create a strategic plan or economic strategy. An economic strategy would be coordinated with social and ecological objectives and include the following components: i) a long-term provincial vision for the sector based on regional economic strategies made in partnership with First Nations; ii)  a data-driven economic plan that reflects regional strategies, specific goals and a realistic timeline for implementation; and iii) appropriate metrics for change to help guide the changes that are occurring and need to occur. …Such a plan could help position British Columbia as a leader in value-added manufacturing, indigenous forestry and conservation management. If the oil sector can change direction, surely, a “green” renewable resource like BC forestry can change as well.