When I was in Victoria last week, the provincial government announced they were deferring logging in old growth forests for at least two years. This logging deferral applies to 2.6 million hectares of what the province deems to be B.C.’s most critical and sensitive old growth stands. The halt on logging in these areas is to ensure that irreversible loss of biodiversity does not occur while the Province works with First Nations and timber license holders on a comprehensive old growth strategy.
In effect, this deferral announcement is an attempt to avoid overharvesting of old growth during the period when a more comprehensive strategy is being developed. It can be viewed as a tool to prevent logging while the “talking” is going on.
The response to the announcement was to be expected: the Council of Forest Industries and the Steelworkers Union both decried the potential loss of jobs and investment using the most alarming statistics possible; the environmentalists said it wasn’t enough; First Nations claimed they hadn’t been consulted; and local governments worried about potential impacts on their local economy.
We’re so used to fighting about forestry in this province that it’s become our default position whenever any government does anything that impacts this sector. But, due to decades of procrastination, we’re running out of time to act to address significant threats like climate change and the loss of habitat and biodiversity. For the sake of our children’s futures, instead of fighting, we must find ways to start figuring things out together.
If anyone thinks we can address climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and other global environmental threats without economic pain, they are sadly mistaken. That’s why it was refreshing to see an admission in the provincial government’s announcement last week that they expect there will be mill closures and job losses as a result of their decision to defer old growth logging, and that they will be working with workers and communities to mitigate these impacts.
I want to be clear: it’s not “refreshing” that there will be mill closures and job losses, just that the provincial government has admitted this upfront – for too long governments have been disingenuous with citizens about the negative impacts of the kinds of decisions that now need to be made to try and keep our planet habitable for generations yet to come.
As a Municipal Council, we’ve long embraced that our forest sector, and therefore our community, is going through a very challenging transition period. It does not come as a shock to us that these challenges will deepen and, consequently, our responses will need to be more dramatic.
We’ve also taken the position that rather than fight change, we will embrace it and will be a productive partner with the Provincial Government, First Nations, industry, and forest-dependent contractors and workers to find creative solutions that both protect and enhance our forest landscapes while creating even more jobs and economic benefits.
To this end, we started our Future of Forestry Think Tank process in early 2018 and have continued this work throughout the pandemic. Our Forestry Innovation Centre is now a hub for research and innovation from the forest landscape to the manufacturing of new forest products. (quesnel.ca/forestry)
Like most others, we have many questions about the implications of the old growth deferral announcement on our forest sector. But rather than fighting this decision, we will work with all of the key players to figure out how we can achieve the province’s intent while mitigating any negative consequences that might result.
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