This letter has been sent to Premier David Eby urging him to incorporate the following actions in the Ministry of Forests’ new mandate:
1. Implement Old Growth Strategic Review Recommendations: Set clear timeframes for enacting specific recommendations. Prioritize and legislate immediate protections for all high-productivity, characteristic old-growth forests.
2. Review B.C. Timber Sales: Fulfill the B.C. NDP’s election promise for an independent review, while ensuring the panel includes voices from First Nations, ecologists, biologists, and conservation groups, and lower-ranking Ministry staff.
3. Strengthen Forest Act with Legislated Protections: Update the Forests Act with strong legal protections for what little is left of unprotected primary forests, including old-growth forests. Accurate mapping of these areas is essential—a glaring oversight that has persisted for decades.
4. Define “Sustainable” Forestry: Create a legal definition of sustainability that prioritizes long-term ecological and economic viability. The Ministry must also distance itself from industry-led initiatives like SFI to restore public trust.
5. Expand Protected Areas: Allocate at least 25 per cent of B.C. Timber Sales’ operating area to permanent protections, helping meet the target of 30 per cent protected land by 2030. Fairly involve First Nations in stewardship and focus on ecologically valuable areas, such as low-elevation primary forests, not just rock and ice.
Without change, the decline in forestry jobs will continue, and the degradation of our environment will continue unchecked. I fear the premier’s office is listening more to forestry industry lobbyists and biased Ministry of Forests bureaucrats than to rational, evidence-based analyses.
Modern ecological, biological, and hydrological science, combined with simple economic studies, demonstrate that current practices are financially and environmentally unsustainable.
It’s time for the B.C. NDP to focus on building a lasting legacy — one that fosters a greener province in every sense, from thriving forests to sustainable economic growth.
Joe Karthein
Save What’s Left Conservation Society
