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 value s. A significant body of public opinion believes that the Ministry fal ls far short of its stated objectives. Forests were visited on Vancouv er Island and in the southern and central interior. The Ministry is pr omoting an image of integrated resource use but I found little evidenc e of this. Allowable Cuts are not locally sustainable and integrated r esource planning is either poor or non-existent, with little effort be ing made to balance objectives. Interest groups are participating in t he 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 o f the last undisturbed watersheds on Vancouver Island to be logged cou ld easily end CORE's chances of a successful conclusion.