WHEREAS the forest industry has long been the backbone of the CaribooChilcotin economy and a significant contributor to provincial revenues; AND WHEREAS the effects of the mountain pine beetle, exacerbated by climate change, have resulted in significant reductions in the available fibre supply leading to reductions in the Annual Allowable Cut available for harvesting of up to 60; AND WHEREAS remote stands of dead pine that cannot be economically harvested with the normal silviculture requirements means they will be left standing dead for decades to come rather than return to healthy, productive forest land; AND WHEREAS dead stands returned to healthy, live forests improve air quality by removing carbon emissions, thereby improving our overall environment; AND WHEREAS implementing the type 4 silviculture plan with adequate funding to ensure that those stands that are uneconomical for industry to harvest and replant are brought back into productive capacity as quickly as possible, through increased funding of the Land Base Investment Funding and the Forests for Tomorrow funding are imperative to the regions continued ability to prosper and support provincial initiatives by keeping secure, well-paying jobs that contribute to the local and provincial economies, and that allow healthy families to remain in rural communities to support community amenities such as parks, libraries and schools: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM call on the provincial government to support the Type 4 silviculture strategies and provide the funding to support those strategies including planting, spacing, pre-commercial thinning, fertilization, rehabilitation of dead pine stands uneconomical to harvest by increasing the funding allotment for Land Base Investment and Forests for Tomorrow specifically for those areas impacted by the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.
Ministry of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations Managing for Mountain Pine Beetle recovery through activities such as silviculture remains a government priority. Updated silviculture strategies that consider the Mountain Pine Beetle recovery have been completed or are near completion in all heavily impacted mountain pine beetle timber supply areas. Larger landscape-level integrated silviculture strategies are being piloted in several timber supply areas. These include addressing emerging needs such as drought, habitat creation, and results from multiple users on the land base. The Province is actively developing a Forest Sector Competitiveness Strategy with the primary goals of maintaining and enhancing the forest industry, protecting jobs and forestry-dependent communities, and extracting maximum value from public forestry resources. Forests for Tomorrow funding is projected to increase in 201617 and in subsequent years to 48 million per year. Approximately 13 million of the amount is planned to be spent within the Cariboo Region. The program is planning to increase the number of trees planted in 201718 to 28 million trees per year, and a target of 10 million trees per year in the Cariboo by 201920. The provincial government is committed to supporting rural communities. Parliamentary Secretary Donna Barnett is working with the Rural Advisory Council to review the needs of rural resource-dependent communities and ensure rural citizens have input on how to promote and foster prosperity in their communities.