Forestry roundtable comes to the Cariboo

The message was simple: communities must be true partners in any decisions made on the future of forestry.

The Working Roundtable on Forestry rolled into Quesnel Saturday, giving the city a chance to lobby change and influence government.

And Minister of Forests and Range Rich Coleman liked what he heard.

“This was the best vision I’ve heard so far by a community,” he said.

Mayor Nate Bello spoke on behalf of the city, focusing on community involvement in forestry-based decisions.

“It’s a logical step communities that have a special physical and historical connection with the land base should have a special relationship with it,” Bello said.

“If a city or town has provided infrastructure and base operations for a vibrant workforce, then when change comes to the forest industry, local government must be treated as a true partner.”

Bello said if government does take a partnership approach, the impending restructuring of the forest industry could be viewed as an opportunity.

Bello highlighted the need for community dialogue.

“Each affected community must know their concerns and plans for the future will be heard and will be responded to.

“The main point is government’s stated intention of empowering communities must be made real.”

Bello suggested the province hold a series of forums in each community to plan out prosperous economic futures.

Local government, senior government, as well as funding programs can then develop a singular, comprehensive and complementary package of aid, a package, he said, suited to the needs of that community.

Bello then pointed to the plethora of working groups, each with their own mandate and ideas on how to make forestry an important growth industry again.

Thus making it difficult to sort out particular mandates and how it relates to others.

“In particular, industry can help us with the more technical policy areas,” he said.

“Whether it is by reviewing the tenure system, diversifying product or expanding silvaculture for the future.

“They have ideas to share, especially in relation to land base.”

Coleman agrees.

“Nate’s suggestion about the forums was a good one,” he said.

“We plan on taking it back to the larger roundtable and hopefully holding public forums sometime in September.”

But not all meeting attendees came back with a sense of accomplishment.

Cariboo-North MLA and forestry critic Bob Simpson says what communities need is immediate action to the forestry crisis, something, he says, there seems to be no appetite for.

“The minister is hearing from communities the need for immediate action,” he said.

“He’s being presented with suggestions, but he doesn’t do anything about it.

“He’s a do-nothing minister.”

Simpson points to the need to review license tenures for timber supply.

“Industry has said ‘we have a logging volume problem...where is it?’” he said.

“Yet they continue to hand them out.”

And he doubts any immediate action to rectify the situation will materialize.

“We need to review our timber supply,” he said.

“But will he do it? Doubtful.”

The roundtable plans to visit more than 20 communities province-wide collecting information and suggestions.

Discussion items will then be prepared for September community forums with a full draft report handed to Premier Campbell’s cabinet by the end of December.