KAMLOOPS — It won’t be long before B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson makes his decision on the annual allowable cut for the Kamloops timber supply area (TSA).
Donaldson made the announcement while in Kamloops Friday after meeting with major forest licensees in town including Canfor, West Fraser and Tolko.
It was almost two years ago B.C.’s chief forester recommended the annual allowable cut should decrease from 2.6 or 2.7 million cubic metres down to 2.3 million cubic metres — roughly a 12 per cent drop.
“The chief forester makes the determination based on a scientific process then it comes to me for my decision to say, ‘Okay, now that she’s made that determination about how much volume is sustainable, I and my ministry makes the decision about how it’s divvied up amongst the stakeholders,’” he said.
Donaldson said the industry leaders shared its views in no uncertain terms.
“They brought their perspective about how the aportionment decision — in other words, how much volume should be divvied amongst themselves and B.C. timber sales and First Nations interests,” he said. “The licensees made the point that they depend on certainty of that volume to make investments. So, I heard that point loud and clear.”
Donaldson added that just because the chief forester recommended a 12 per cent drop in the annual allowable cut, that doesn’t mean there will likely be a 12 per cent cut in forestry jobs.
“You can’t equate it to that. I don’t think 12 per cent is a huge cut and when you’re looking at lumber prices at the highest level they’ve ever been that keeps a lot of shifts running. So, there’s a lot of factors at place, including softwood lumber. So, it’s hard to draw the line between that amount of volume and the number of jobs at play.”
Once Donaldson makes his final decision, he says it will remain in effect for five years.
