Mayor Cook speaks at Special Timber Committee

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

City of Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook made a presentation to the Provincial Special Committee on Timber Supply July 5. The Committee was in the city gathering input as part of its role to examine and make recommendations to address an estimated loss of mid-term timber supply.

Mayor Cook’s comments outlined the City’s recommendation that the Province develop a mitigation strategy and plan which recognizes that:

• Mitigation strategy development must be open to community stakeholders, be fact based, and encourage elements of certainty, not foster economic crisis and instability by propagating speculation and rumour.
• Timber supply mitigation must be developed specific to the timber supply area, as each area is unique.
• Mitigation plans have to consider other users of the provincial land base.
• The plan must be based on principles of sustainability (social, economic and environment) and should consider the long term; not sacrificing future community health.
• The Province must adequately resource both the development and implementation of timber mitigation strategies so that forest resources can continue to benefit our community and the province well into the future.

“Provincial resources have to be prioritized and expedited to address timber supply issues. Our local stakeholders have to be an active part of the process to determine how we will maintain a sustainable timber supply,” Mayor Cook says. “We need certainty about what opportunities our forest resource will provide. Our families, companies, and communities can plan and adapt if we know what the sustainable harvest level is going to be.”