This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
Forest policy changes announced
May 21, 2008The B.C. government is making changes to speed up logging and road-building permits, as it continues its three-month regulatory review in response to the province-wide slump in the forest industry.
Forests Minister Rich Coleman said the government decided to move ahead with changes that don't require new legislation while the government and industry forest roundtable continues to tour the province.
Other changes include accepting electronic submissions for permits, eliminating some information requirements for licensees, simplifying salvage permits for woodlot owners, and consider options to automate weigh scales so log and chip trucks don't have to sit and wait for scales to open before delivering their loads.
"Government continues to listen to our concerns and we're looking forward to working together over the next 30 days on prioritizing further actions," said John Allan, president of the Council of Forest Industries.
The industry has lost more than 10,000 jobs in recent months, due mainly to the rise of the Canadian dollar and the collapse of housing construction in the U.S.
