Here is my latest update on forestry in B.C. for the January/February Watershed Sentinel, www.watershedsentinel.ca
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B.C. forest update

by Jim Cooperman

Many forest activists gave up and moved on to other issues when the B.C. Liberals formed government in 2001 and handed forest management over to the industry. Now over a decade later, the status of B.C.’s forests is grim: research is gone, the beetles have devastated 20 percent of the province, there could be well over 2-million hectares of NSR (not satisfactorily restocked) land, overcutting and highgrading along with the beetles have led to severe timber shortages and mill closures, land use plans may soon be gutted to allow logging in protected zones, forest inventories are woefully out of date, and the number of workers is at a record low due to mechanization, the economic downturn and the drop in planting and stand tending.

Since the B.C. Liberals are on their way to getting turfed in the upcoming election, what should we expect of the NDP to address the litany of problems in the forests? For the last few years, a group of concerned foresters and academics under the leadership of Bill Bourgeois have been working on this very issue. Their “Healthy Forests – Healthy Communities” initiative has been leading a “Conversation on B.C.’s Forests” to produce a series of recommendations for the upcoming new government. A draft of their strategic plan is now being reviewed in workshops across the province.

At their heart of their plan is the goal to build a sustainable forest management infrastructure that will restore forest health, improve community and public involvement, diversify the forest economy, revive the research sector and improve knowledge of all forest values through proper inventory, monitoring and assessments. The plan calls upon the government to establish the necessary mechanisms, such as consultations and review panels to create the much needed paradigm shift from a focus based on ensuring corporate profits to a focus based on sustainability.

However, the group’s strategic plan is far from comprehensive, as it avoids topics such as the unsustainable level of cut, the question of whether the ministry should be re-organized, and the most controversial, tenure reform. Clearly, the AAC needs to go down, as for years it has been far higher than the actually cut level because the timber is just not there.

The Ministry of Forests has been combined with all the other resource ministries and a review is needed to determine if a re-alignment is needed. Certainly, centralization has been detrimental, as it is now rare for government staff to even make it out into the forests. As well, the current results-based management system also needs a review to determine if the forest service should bring back government oversight. And there has long been a need to reform the tenure system, to wrestle the control of our forests back from the corporations, especially since the current government is now considering the opposite, increasing the number and size of Tree Farm Licenses.

Perhaps the most significant change occurring in our forests is due to in part to climate change and the impact of the pine beetles, as well as mis-management. B.C.’s forests switched from being a carbon sink to source of carbon in 2002 and produce more carbon (82 million tons/year) than all emissions in the province from the burning of fossil fuels (62 million tons/year). The sources of this carbon include logging, slash burning, forest fires and decay. Essentially, B.C.s forests are now part of a feedback loop that will further intensify climate change.

Learn more about the Healthy Forests – Healthy Communities initiative at:

bcforestconversation.com

Below is the latest news about White Lake – NOTE – I do not think that most White Lake residents will be happy with the logging – it will be visible, and damaging – especially when they stump the block, which leaves a mess of stumps above the ground for decades and decades.
I plan to hike to the lookout after the logging and will send out before and after photos.
Another huge problem with the plans is that the trees in the block are so young and small – the desire to log this block is indicative of the declining supply of good timber – there is now such a lack of truly mature timber that they want to log trees that are 100 years old and younger. – Jim Cooperman

White Lake logging plan changed

By Barb Brouwer – Salmon Arm Observer

Published: January 18, 2013 8:00 AM

Members of the White Lake Residents Association are delighted a cut block above their community has been altered to protect a major viewscape. Executive member Bryon Every says the discussion process was long and arduous but the result was worth it. “It was a difficult process with the government and the BC Timber Sales (BCTS)  but we were finally able to come up with something that worked for everybody,” he says.

As well as having one of the highest-profile viewscapes above the lake, the proposed cut block was a very young and healthy stand of timber. “The question was, why do you have to log that piece knowing how important it is to the community when there are other areas that could be logged,” said Every.

“Through many discussions and emails, we were able to get several different parties together and had a five-hour meeting on Nov. 6,” he says, noting there was representation from the Ministry of Forests, Vernon Forest District, and BC Timber Sales. “What stemmed from the meeting and what we inevitably ended up with was a 40-60 split.”

Every says BCTS originally planned to take 70 per cent of the timber in the stand in a patch form that concerned White Lake residents.

“We felt there were flaws in the design of that block and the long and the short of it is we actually came out with more than we asked for.”

“BCTS became willing and nice to work with,” he says. “They took our concerns to heart and pretty much implemented what we asked for, and changed their logging plans accordingly.”

An originally non-existent buffer between the proposed cut block and private property was replaced with a 75-metre wide buffer, something Every describes as a huge gain for the community.

“They redesigned patches, added to some that were weak, and made a considerable amount of adjustments to the logging plan,” he says. “There was a list of some pretty strict rules that normally don’t go into a logging plan and they’ve committed to putting a BCTS rep on site every second day to make sure everything is being followed.”

Every says he’s hoping the association’s work will benefit other communities.

“What we’re hoping now, and we have had confirmation, is that they also agreed a community shouldn’t have to go through what we did to resolve issues,” Every says. “We feel we made a milestone and that this could affect future negotiations about logging with other communities.”

But Every’s talk of a negotiation does not sit well with Colin Johnston, a woodlands supervisor for BC Timber Sales’ Okanagan-Columbia Business Area.

“It’s very important we don’t get on the negotiation thing,” he says.  “Our job is to balance all the values for all British Columbians as it is a public resource.”

Johnston says one of those values is to get a fair return to the province’s taxpayers, while other values include meeting visual quality objectives set by government, protecting recreational trails and dealing with wildlife concerns.

“We’re not going to negotiate,” he emphasizes. “We can’t negotiate everything, but we can listen to the concerns and find solutions that meet those concerns.”

Having made it clear that the word discussion should replace negotiation, Johnston says White Lake residents were extremely easy to get along with and worked to a good compromise.

“It is important to us because we have other forestry operations in the area and other timber sales, and we want to make sure to set the right precedent in community involvement and  working with the community,” Johnston says, noting the White Lake cut block included some old approved blocks. “The community had one perception and we had another perception, so it took some discussion.”

Through the discussion it made sense to retain some of the timber, says Johnston, who maintains BCTS is happy the parties were able to work it out and come to an amenable solution.