The forest products sector has long served as both BC’s leading source of exports and a foundation for jobs and other economic activity across the province. …In reviewing trends affecting forestry over the past decade, I was shocked by the magnitude of the drop in timber harvesting in BC. Much of this reflects fallout from the pine beetle infestation that devastated the BC Interior in the early to mid-2000s. …However, government policy has also contributed to the sharp decline in timber harvesting which, in turn, has reduced the supply of logs and other raw materials needed by lumber manufacturers and pulp and paper mills in B.C. As a consequence, not only has the upstream logging industry been badly hurt by curtailed harvesting – the commercial viability of the wood products and pulp and paper segments of the larger industry has also been put at risk by a mix of “natural” and “policy-driven” developments.