News in timber

According to Torrance Coste, the campaign director for the Wilderness Committee, a West Coast conservation group, the B.C. government’s failure to immediately act on the old-growth forest deferrals (announced on November 2) has allowed logging companies to continue to clear cut at-risk old-growth forests previously identified by the government for protection.

On November 2, 2021, the British Columbia government announced that it would defer logging on 2.6 million hectares of old growth forests. At the same time the B.C. government gave the First Nations 30 days to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with deferrals. The Huu-ay-aht First Nation has now provided an answer for the government: It disagrees with the deferrals, and it will make its own decisions on how it manages its own treaty lands.

While emphasizing the importance of preserving at-risk ecosystems, indigenous leaders and experts in British Columbia presented their concerns on Wednesday (12-1-21) over the B.C. provincial government’s process to defer logging in old-growth forests. On November 2, 2021, the province announced that an independent panel of scientific experts had mapped out 26,000 square kilometers of old-growth forests at risk of permanent biodiversity loss.

Over the objections of B.C.’s Liberal and Green party members, the NDP used its majority to cut off debate on two major bills to remake B.C.’s forest industry. The two bills in question are a 160-page set of amendments that gives cabinet the authority to change or end timber licenses, determine what compensation may be paid to forest companies, and redistribute Crown logging rights to community and Indigenous land title holders.

Skeena Sawmills has announced that they are temporarily suspended operations at their Terrace, B.C. sawmill this week. This is the result of a lack of sufficient log deck to justify operations. The mill is scheduled to re-open next week.

In California, wildfires are an expected occurrence for the state’s timber industry and natural and restorative to these ecosystems. However, the severity of wildfires in 2020 and 2021 are expected to result in significant — some are calling it catastrophic — destruction in the timber industry, posing a threat to 32 million acres of territory blanketed by forests and the people who live and work there.

The fight over whether or not to ban roads on the more than 9 million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest has been ongoing on for over 20 years. The Biden administration plans on settling that question once and for all. The restrictions had managed to stay in place for years through a series of court battles; however, the Trump administration reversed those legal decisions.

The B.C. government is moving forward with its far-reaching measures to remake the forest tenure system. The measures include reducing existing company cutting rights, paying compensation, and reassigning logging rights to Indigenous and community forests. It also is requiring transparency by requiring area-based tenure holders to share forest inventory information with the chief forester

It was about 25 years ago that managers in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park noticed a patch of beetle killed pine trees. It is popularly believed that this was the starting point for the infestation that ravaged much of the BC interior Lodgepole pine stands and, had aggressive measures been taken, the extent of the damage might have been reduced.