After a two-year effort, a commission established to make recommendations aimed at preserving the province’s forests has highlighted the need to boost funding for programs aimed at assisting private woodlot owners. In its final report, the P.E.I. Forestry Commission, a 13-member advisory group chaired by Jean-Paul Arsenault, said successive P.E.I. governments have been “neglecting” the implementation of existing forestry policies since 2006. “The Forestry Program is a long-term victim of status quo budgeting, also called zero-based budgeting, an approach focused on maintaining expenditures at previous levels,” wrote the commissioners. …The report, which was completed last October, was not made public until March 19 by the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action. …The commission’s report notes that P.E.I. faces a unique challenge in forestry preservation, given that 85 per cent of the province’s forests are owned by private landowners.