Whereas the forest industry continues to be an economic mainstay of the province, providing stable employment for tens of thousands of families, and contributing 12.4 billion to provincial GDP and 2.5 billion in taxes and fees to the three levels of government; And whereas the competitive advantage of the British Columbia forest industry has been eroded by cumulative impacts including timber supply declines, uncertainty on the land base, and delays in provincial market pricing processes; And whereas these cumulative impacts threaten the economic well-being of communities throughout British Columbia: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call upon the Province to deliver the full allowable cut under the BC Timber Sales program, complete a science-based inventory of the available timber supply, and move assertively to increase operating certainty on the working forest land base.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations Forestry is a key driver of the provincial economy, and the Province is supportive of actions to ensure its continued competitiveness. We have committed to develop a Forest Sector Competitiveness Strategy to maintain and enhance the industry, protect jobs and forest-dependent communities, and extract maximum value from our forestry resources. As a result of the BC Timber Sales BCTS effectiveness review, BCTS now has an objective to sell its full apportionment over its five-year business cycle ending March 31, 2020. As part of its business plan, BCTS sets annual targets for timber volume sold. In 201415, BCTS met its target for the program, selling 13.1 million cubic metres of timber. For the business cycle, BCTS is targeting to have each business area sell as close to 100 percent of their apportionment as possible. In addition, the Provinces ten-year strategic forest inventory plan released in 2013 is targeting re-inventory of beetle-attacked areas as a priority. The forest inventories in BC are designed using scientific principles and methods, and are completed to a published statistical standard and are checked through rigorous quality assurance procedures. Allowable Annual Cuts are determined using timber supply projections that use these science-based inventories in conjunction with other available data and information gathered from stakeholders, First Nations and the public. That said, the economic viability of beetle killed stands remains uncertain as it depends on many factors. The availability of stands therefore will remain uncertain and can only be dealt with through frequent re-evaluation The Ministry will endeavor to do this and provide the most up to date information possible to stakeholders to assess the opportunity in beetle-impacted stands.