WHEREAS BCs forest dependent communities wish to recover from the forest industrys downturn of recent years, and the small scale forest operators including community forests, First Nations tenures, woodlot licensees and small private woodland owners are integral to that recovery; AND WHEREAS the BRIDGES project is an innovative web-based tool to connect British Columbia-based buyers and sellers that is supported by a consortium of partners including: BC Community Forest Association, Federation of BC Woodlot Associations, all three interior Beetle Action Coalitions, Community Futures, Northern Development Initiative Trust, Western Economic Diversification and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government be strongly urged to continue to support the establishment and ongoing maintenance of the BRIDGES project for the success and expansion of the small scale forestry industry in BCs forest dependent communities with the same vigour that it has created Forest Innovation Investment to support BCs major forest companies with their foreign export marketing.
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism Innovation The Province has undertaken a variety of significant initiatives over the past five years to promote value-added wood production and increase the amount of timber available to Community Forests, Woodlots and First Nations tenures. The province will continue to aggressively promote the use of wood and promotion of value-added wood production in BC. As acknowledged, the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation has financially contributed to the creation of the BRIDGES web tool with other funding partners. However, the Ministry believes that the BRIDGES web tool - once fully operational - needs to be financially self-supporting.