This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
This could be a step in the right direction, if it does stop the high-grading that runs rampant in the industry and as long as enough fiber is left to return nutrient to the cut-block.
We will have to wait and see how the 'lump-sum' stumpage is determined, to see if it really creates this incentive for industry without providing subsidizingly low stumpage rates.
It is also worrying that there is such a focus on burning trees for energy, as wood is a low density fuel which creates 3-4 times the carbon emissions as diesel.
New timber pricing scheme takes aim at waste wood
Sep 23, 2008
By Gordon Hamilton
The provincial government launched a new plan Monday to reduce the millions of cubic metres of wood left to rot after logging by changing the way it values timber.
Forests Minister Pat Bell announced the changes -- to be introduced in small pilot projects around the province this fall -- during a conference call with news media. He said he is "very concerned" about the volume of wood being left behind in the province's forests.
The Ministry of Forests estimates that up to four million cubic metres of wood -- enough to fill 130,000 logging trucks -- goes to waste every year.
Bells believes the real amount is higher.
"I believe there is a lot more out there. Tens of millions of cubic metres is a very real possibility," he said in a recent interview before the new policy was announced.
At the heart of the changes is a new form of forest tenure. Instead of charging loggers a set price for every cubic metre of wood that's deemed to be merchantable, the province will charge them a flat rate for all the timber in a stand or specific area. Bell called it a lump-sum sale.
"You are purchasing all of the fibre in that area for a single price," Bell said.
The government expects the changes will provide economic incentive for loggers to utilize "every single piece of timber in that stand," he said, providing sources of fibre for emerging industries such as wood pellet manufacturers.
The current system of charging a higher stumpage rate, but just on timber deemed merchantable for sawmills or pulp mills, means loggers have no incentive to haul out wood if their costs are higher than the price they can get for it.
The current policy has led to "high-grading" of timber by loggers, who take only higher-valued saw logs that are profitable after all their costs -- including stumpage -- have been factored in.
"The temptation to cream the stands is very real for people," Bell said in acknowledging the flaws in the current provincial practice.
Further, loggers are not even bothering to bid for government timber sales if they believe they will not be able to pay the stumpage and break even.
Recent statistics show timber harvests have declined dramatically. The volume of timber harvested through the province's B.C. Timber Sales agency, which accounts for 20 per cent of the timber harvest, dropped to 1.2 million cubic metres of wood for the quarter ending June 30, 2008 -- down 34 per cent from the 1.7 million cubic metres harvested during the same period last year.
Rick Publicover, executive director of the Central Interior Logging Association, said he is hopeful the new forest tenures will solve some of the problems faced by contract loggers if problematic details can be resolved.
"I like the concept," he said. "Normally, if our members only have one market they can sell into [sawmills], they are stymied in terms of developing new opportunities."
With the province charging a flat rate for all timber, he said loggers will be encouraged to haul out marginal timber.
However, he said loggers already see several impediments to the new stumpage system. Loggers are to be charged upfront for the new timber licence before they have harvested it, increasing their risk and the risk their bankers will face.
Further, he said, it remains unclear how the government will estimate the value of all the wood, whether it is merchantable or not, in arriving at a lump sum value for the area to be logged.
He said some contractors in some regions have stopped bidding for timber because of the current stumpage system.
"To log it and haul it out, you couldn't deliver it for the price some mills are paying.
"I think this will open up more areas for marketing timber that currently aren't being utilized," he said.
Bell also introduced a plan to reduce the impact on forest communities of the mountain pine beetle epidemic by encouraging more use of the dead pine for purposes other than lumber, such as biofuel. That would take some of the pressure off green stands of timber, which could be used to fill the gap once the pine is gone, he said.
Bell also said the province is considering investing more heavily in silviculture to bring the new generation of pine on-stream faster.
Forests Minister Pat Bell announced the changes -- to be introduced in small pilot projects around the province this fall -- during a conference call with news media. He said he is "very concerned" about the volume of wood being left behind in the province's forests.
The Ministry of Forests estimates that up to four million cubic metres of wood -- enough to fill 130,000 logging trucks -- goes to waste every year.
Bells believes the real amount is higher.
"I believe there is a lot more out there. Tens of millions of cubic metres is a very real possibility," he said in a recent interview before the new policy was announced.
At the heart of the changes is a new form of forest tenure. Instead of charging loggers a set price for every cubic metre of wood that's deemed to be merchantable, the province will charge them a flat rate for all the timber in a stand or specific area. Bell called it a lump-sum sale.
"You are purchasing all of the fibre in that area for a single price," Bell said.
The government expects the changes will provide economic incentive for loggers to utilize "every single piece of timber in that stand," he said, providing sources of fibre for emerging industries such as wood pellet manufacturers.
The current system of charging a higher stumpage rate, but just on timber deemed merchantable for sawmills or pulp mills, means loggers have no incentive to haul out wood if their costs are higher than the price they can get for it.
The current policy has led to "high-grading" of timber by loggers, who take only higher-valued saw logs that are profitable after all their costs -- including stumpage -- have been factored in.
"The temptation to cream the stands is very real for people," Bell said in acknowledging the flaws in the current provincial practice.
Further, loggers are not even bothering to bid for government timber sales if they believe they will not be able to pay the stumpage and break even.
Recent statistics show timber harvests have declined dramatically. The volume of timber harvested through the province's B.C. Timber Sales agency, which accounts for 20 per cent of the timber harvest, dropped to 1.2 million cubic metres of wood for the quarter ending June 30, 2008 -- down 34 per cent from the 1.7 million cubic metres harvested during the same period last year.
Rick Publicover, executive director of the Central Interior Logging Association, said he is hopeful the new forest tenures will solve some of the problems faced by contract loggers if problematic details can be resolved.
"I like the concept," he said. "Normally, if our members only have one market they can sell into [sawmills], they are stymied in terms of developing new opportunities."
With the province charging a flat rate for all timber, he said loggers will be encouraged to haul out marginal timber.
However, he said loggers already see several impediments to the new stumpage system. Loggers are to be charged upfront for the new timber licence before they have harvested it, increasing their risk and the risk their bankers will face.
Further, he said, it remains unclear how the government will estimate the value of all the wood, whether it is merchantable or not, in arriving at a lump sum value for the area to be logged.
He said some contractors in some regions have stopped bidding for timber because of the current stumpage system.
"To log it and haul it out, you couldn't deliver it for the price some mills are paying.
"I think this will open up more areas for marketing timber that currently aren't being utilized," he said.
Bell also introduced a plan to reduce the impact on forest communities of the mountain pine beetle epidemic by encouraging more use of the dead pine for purposes other than lumber, such as biofuel. That would take some of the pressure off green stands of timber, which could be used to fill the gap once the pine is gone, he said.
Bell also said the province is considering investing more heavily in silviculture to bring the new generation of pine on-stream faster.
