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FOREST INK: Ongoing challenge of finding forestry information

One positive is that stumpage rates are much lower than a year ago
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Jim Hilton pens a column each week for Williams Lake Tribune.

Getting accurate and current information on forestry issues in B.C. can be challenging. When I was working on my professional forestry degree in the 1990s I found the Forestry Handbook- Forth edition published in 1983 a very useful resource. In 2005 the latest (fifth edition) was edited by Susan B Watts and Lynne Tolland and published by the The Forestry Undergraduate Society Faculty of Forestry University of British Columbia.

As indicated in the introduction, “Since the first (1953) edition, which the students of the day were able to put together themselves, this new 800-page tome has involved the efforts of UBC students undergraduate and graduate, staff, faculty and other experts from provincial and federal government agencies, consulting and professional organizations.

This fifth edition contains mostly new material. Every chapter has been re-written and several new chapters have been added. New topics to the fifth edition are chapters on visual resource management, fish and stream protection, ecosystem management and conservation biology, modelling stand and forest dynamics, and geographic information systems.”

Hopefully edition six is in being worked on.Some information is changing so rapidly it is best obtained on the B.C. Government site or some other reliable platform rather than from a book. The provincial annual allowable cut (AAC) is a good example. The provincial cut is the amalgamation of the latest updates of the Timber Supply Areas(TSAs) and Tree Farm Licences (TFLs).

Using the latest Forest Inventory information the chief forester consults with the regional government and industry representatives and makes a final determination of the AAC which many last for 10 or more years depending on the circumstances. When I did a search for BC AAC (TSA and TFL), on the B.C. Government site I got a total of 56.4million m3.

According to the Evergreen Alliance the AAC for 2000- 2023 was about 58.2 million cubic metres per year (the difference could be from woodlots and community forests). The article goes on to say “the actual cut had fallen to 36.2 million cubic metres, far below the AAC. In the past, the cut has dipped during periods of low demand. I

n 2021-2022, however, lumber prices were at record high levels yet B.C.’s production of wood products actually fell even lower. The Ministry of Forests blames this decline in the logging industry’s fortunes on forest fires and the mountain pine beetle. More likely, the ministry has overestimated growth and yield over a long period of time, overestimated the size of the timber harvesting land base, underestimated the impact of climate change and allowed over cutting.

The result? A steeply declining area of commercially viable forest. B.C. Premier David Eby has accurately described the situation as “exhausted forests”. If you want another perspective you could go to the Spar Tree Group Jan 2023 which had the following to say “British Columbia forest policy will remain the slow-moving train wreck that it is. Until decisions that are good for forest stewardship, communities (including First Nations) and the industry are put ahead of votes, this will remain a challenging front.

One positive is that stumpage rates are much lower than a year ago and policy changes have supposedly reduced the reaction lag in stumpage rates to market fluctuations. If you thought the implementation of old growth deferrals has been disruptive, you had better buckle up given the province’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health Framework and other half-cooked policy initiatives.

“The impact of wildfires and beetles depends on how much of the timber harvest land base was impacted. For a detailed analysis I suggest the following: Impacts of 2023 Fires on Forests and Timber Supply in British Columbia Forest Analysis and Inventory Branch Office of the Chief Forester Ministry of Forests March 2024.