FORESTRY IN BRITISH-COLUMBIA - A STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL-ISSUES

This paper is an account of a tour of British Columbia from January to March 1993, hosted by logging companies, the Ministry of Forests and representatives of the environmental movement. Overall 85 per cent of BC's forests are under public ownership although the forest is largely managed by logging companies under various forms of long-term tenure. The Ministry of Forests has a remit to regulate the industry, approve sustainable Annual Allowable Cuts and account for environmental values. A significant body of public opinion believes that the Ministry falls far short of its stated objectives. Forests were visited on Vancouver Island and in the southern and central interior. The Ministry is promoting an image of integrated resource use but I found little evidence of this. Allowable Cuts are not locally sustainable and integrated resource planning is either poor or non-existent, with little effort being made to balance objectives. Interest groups are participating in the Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE) process that is seen by many as the last hope for a peaceful settlement of conflicts. A recent Government announcement allowing all but 33 per cent of one of the last undisturbed watersheds on Vancouver Island to be logged could easily end CORE's chances of a successful conclusion.