WHEREAS BC Stats 2008 indicate the destruction of 14.5 million hectares of BCs provincial forest by the pine beetle which will lead to the release of 990 million tonnes of CO2, five times that of annual emissions from all transportation in Canada; AND WHEREAS using BCs pine beetle infested wood to generate biomass energy will improve the local environment by clearing dead trees that would otherwise cause problems with soil erosion, habitat and the threat to communities from wild fires; AND WHEREAS the use of biomass contributes to reducing emissions that contribute to climate change, in accordance with the Kyoto Agreement; AND WHEREAS the plantation of seedlings on harvested BCs beetle infected forests will result in a healthy reforestation in the most expedient manner and lead to more jobs: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM lobby the Ministry of Forests and Range and the provincial government to immediately implement effective policies which will allow for BCs pine beetle infested wood to be utilized for bio-energy opportunities that will create new jobs; reduce BCs carbon footprint; mitigate wild fire threat; and lead to the plantation of new healthy forests.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Mines A key priority for the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Mines Ministry is to improve utilization. Several measures have already been taken to help solidify bioenergy as a major forest product. The Forest Act has been amended to encourage the use of wood waste for bioenergy with the creation of licences to cut that give secondary harvesters the right to remove and process waste and debris in roadside or landing piles. As part of the Clean Energy Bill, the Minister is now able to issue orders to primary harvesters not to burn logging waste if there is an interested secondary harvester and market for the debris. Amendments have also been made to the Forest Act to create more flexible scaling options for bioenergy products such as wood chips or hog fuel. BC Timber Sales offers an innovative form of licence lump-sum sales to encourage more use of beetle-attacked timber. We have moved to stand-as-a-whole pricing for beetle-killed stands to strengthen the incentive for bringing more biomass fibre into the marketplace. The Ministry has also supported BC Hydro in both phases of its Bioenergy Call.