Two experts hired by the BC government to review the future of the province’s forestry sector did more than just issue recommendations this week. They quietly shredded more than five years of New Democrat forest policy that underpins Premier David Eby’s entire approach to the industry. Foresters Garry Merkel and Shannon Janzen co-authored a report proposing a wholesale shift from government-led forestry decisions to as many as 100 community-led, area-based planning bodies. It would be the most significant overhaul in forest policy in decades, with the goal of stabilizing the collapsing sector. Implicit in that recommendation is a blunt verdict on the current system: It isn’t working or sustainable. …Merkel contrasted his and Janzen’s recommendations of up to 100 Regional Forest Management Areas as a better way because they are truly local and “we need the… major decision-makers to be small enough so they’re connected to it.” All of which puts the NDP government in a bind.