B.C. Drops Stumpage Rates, Delays Log Export Charge Increase and Wood Waste Penalties in Coastal Region

Facing a crisis in the Coastal forest products industry, the B.C. government is dropping stumpage fees on Crown land in the Coastal region and delaying previously announced reforms. High costs and a six-month strike against Western Forest Products has forced logging operations to shut down in the Coast. The B.C. government is substantially cutting provincial stumpage fees on timber from Crown land and revising the pricing formula to make logging more viable. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson announced “We’re revisiting and revising the stumpage system on the coast, and as of Jan. 1 it will be a lumber-based system primarily, versus a log price system,” Donaldson said. “That means that the average stumpage rate on the coast will be $8.82 cents [per cubic metre] versus $18.73 now. The government is also delaying increases to coastal log export charges by six months and relaxing new regulations on the removal of wood waste from logging sites eased.