Whereas the closure of sawmills in the region has caused significant economic distress within local communities that has led to a decline in local employment opportunities which negatively impacts the livelihoods of residents and local businesses; And whereas recent shutdowns provide a concern that wood harvested in one area will be transported to another for processing, thus jeopardizing the local economic value for communities most impacted: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM requests that the Province considers policy to ensure that timber rights that can reasonably be considered attached to a sawmill that is being closed, or that were originally provided to the company or companies that owned that sawmill, be transferred to local andor Indigenous governments upon closure in order to foster economic diversification and community resilience.
