BC Government Planning Huge Forest Giveaway

You will be seeing a lot more Vancouver Island clear cuts if the BC government has its way. 
Carmanah Contrasts, 1989, Robert Bateman

The BC Liberal government has never seen a tree that it didn't want to cut or give away to their business buddies. Now, the bad news for our forests continues.

With our provincial government's continued giveaway of our public forests to corporate entities, how does a dedicated tree-lover find the time to enjoy what is obviously slipping out of our control? 

If we could get a break from this relentless assault on public forests we might be able to actually get out there and enjoy them before they are gone. 

Recently revealed is that our nefarious government plans, according to Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives analyst Ben Parfitt writing in Sunday's Province, to:

"introduce a scant two-paragraph bill granting it powers to fundamentally alter the course of forestry in B.C.

"...the bill would give the provincial cabinet powers to grant forest companies de facto private control over public forestlands without first having to notify or consult with the public.

Instead of companies enjoying rights to log set volumes of trees on public forestlands, companies would gain dramatically expanded powers to log trees on defined areas that in effect become their own semi-private fiefdoms.

"...the provincial cabinet could grant forest companies the rights to roll over numerous volume-based forest licences into area-based Tree Farm Licences. TFLs bestow by far the most secure rights of access to publicly owned trees of any arrangement with the provincial government. The new legislation could massively expand their use, beyond the limited number now issued.


"...various government documents were leaked indicating that the provincial government was revisiting a controversial “rollover” idea first pursued 25 years ago. At that time it met with such a groundswell of political and public opposition that the initiative was scuttled.

Then-provincial forest critic and MLA for Prince Rupert, Dan Miller, called it “privatization on a massive scale” and warned: “Never before in the history of the province has this kind of giveaway been contemplated.”

The policy as then envisioned is precisely the one now being contemplated by the... Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson.

"...giving what remains of our forests away is lunacy. A responsible government would delay implementing such contentious legislation and give the public time to digest the implications of such a move. Or the Opposition could signal now that should such a bill pass it would be immediately repealed upon a change in government."


Read more here.

Enough! It is time to let our pro-corporate, anti-environmental 'leaders' that we want responsible stewardship of our resources NOW!

Stop the further privatization of our public forestry resources. Everything is linked and interdependent. When trees die, people die.