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Coleman convinced of future for forest industry
May 18, 2008There is a future for the B.C. forest industry, said Forests Minister Rich Coleman in Vernon last Friday at the latest forestry roundtable.
Coleman came to town to hear the ideas for long-term success in the forest industry from over 40 local stakeholders.
“It had a couple of purposes,” Coleman said. “The first one was to listen to local concerns, and we did that. The roundtable portion was really geared to what the future looks like. We have a changing land base, we have the pine beetle, we have climate change, and all these pressures on the land, so what does the forestry industry look like in five years?”
Coleman said that the forest industry has to recognize that the B.C. government can’t change the current market, and they don’t have a “switch that could turn off layoffs or curtailments” with the biggest market to the south faltering.
“When two-thirds of your market disappears there is nowhere to send the wood,” said Coleman. “Companies have to make tough business decisions in this cycle.”
Present at the meeting were varied local government, regional districts, chip yard owners, loggers, and mid-size to big-size forest industry.
Coleman recommended government programs for older workers to transition into retirement, or government re-training programs for younger workers.
“They have to recognize, and I think they know, that this is a cyclical industry,” Coleman said, “and this is one of the biggest downturns in history.”
His analysts predict in 18 months the market will bounce back. Also, they predict a “fibre crunch” where there will be a demand for environmentally well-managed wood that could draw the market from other countries.
In the future, Coleman said industry will be better prepared because there will be lessons learned from this collapse.
By mid-June the forests minister will have talked to over 20 communities and the discussion will be taken back to a larger roundtable that includes expert submission, and looking at other jurisdictions around the world. Once the information is compiled, there will be a report draft by December.
On a different note, and with May Long Weekend upon us, Coleman also mentioned the mud-bogging legislation that the government put in place last year.
He said there are 50,000 kilometres of forestry roads that recreational vehicles are welcome to use as long as riders respect sensitive ecosystems.
This summer there will be enforcement from the ministry of environment and RCMP, and fines range up to $5,000.
