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.