The Economy of B.C--The Forest Industry

Made by Jason Ma

The Evolution of the BC Forest Service

• First Nations– Traditional uses of the forests and rangelands

• Early Explorers– 1778 Captain Cook cuts ships spars– 1788 Captain Meares exports spars to China

• Early Settlers– 1848 First sawmill near Victoria– 1853 First regulations regarding cutting and milling– 1865 First timber lease issued

• Early Development and Expansion– 1871 BC enters into confederation– 1874 Bush Fire Act introduced– 1884 Timber Act introduced– 1888 First Provincial Timber Inspector

The Evolution of the BC Forest Service

• 1888 Amendments to Land Act– Public ownership of forest lands

• Timber resources to be used to build home industry– Major revenue to be collected when timber cut

• 1890 Timber Mark Act• 1897 Inquiry into Crown timber disposition• 1905 Province opens up licences to cut• 1906 Timber Manufacturing Act• 1909 Fulton Royal Commission established• 1910 Commission recommended:

– Complete timber cruise of all crown forests– Reserve on non-alienated timber land– Protection of forests from fire– Regulations to end waste, reduce fire risk and promote regeneration– Establish a Department of Forests

• 1911 Martin Grainger drafts 1st Forest Act

The forest industry is an important part of the BC economy and will continue to be long into the future. In

addition to the typical products produced from BC forests, new and innovative areas such as biomass, green

building and carbon credits are creating opportunities for innovation and the creation of new forest products that

will help B.C. fight climate change. Currently 1 in 5 jobs in BC is related to forestry. The

industry in B.C. is forecasted to be one of three industry groups to experience the fastest growth from 2007 to 2017—with an average annual growth rate of 1.7%.

A Brighter FutureCanada is well positioned to capitalize on a strong global recovery led by the solid wood sector with demand for paper products stabilized, new products

successfully introduced and a greater presence in emerging new markets. In the most optimistic of future possibilities, Canadian forest product

enterprises will need to hire as many as 120,000 new workers by 2020 to meet demand. In a less optimistic future, the sector’s labor force demand will essentially hold its own in the face of continued macro-economic challenges. Even in this situation the industry will require nearly 40,000 new workers to

fill demand (Forest Products Sector Council).What does a Forest Professional do?

You could become a Forest Engineer and be responsible for tree harvesting or road and bridge building—using best practices to reduce harmful impacts.

Or you could become a Planning Forester, creating operational plans following ecosystem-based-management. As an Urban Forester you can help to keep cities green. Combining your forestry credentials with further

education, you could go on to become a teacher, accountant or lawyer. The options are endless.

The mountain pine beetle is just over six millimeters long (about the size of a grain of rice). But the tiny forest insect has infested huge

areas of mature pine around the interior of British Columbia, causing colossal amounts of damage on B.C. forests.

The beetle likes mature pine and mild weather. Because B.C. has more old pine than ever before, and has had several consecutive mild winters, mountain pine beetle populations have exploded to

epidemic levels.British Columbia’s beetle infestations doubled in size in 2003 over

the previous year. About 4.2 million hectares were attacked in 2002 and mapped this year. Varying degrees of mountain pine beetle

attacks occur in all forest regions of the province, with the largest infested area extending from the south Caribou region north to Fort

St. James. It has been described as the worst-ever insect infestation in a North American forest.

The beetles attack lodge pole pine, ponderosa pine and more rarely, white pine. Lodge pole pine, the predominant commercial species in the province, accounts for more than half of the growing stock in B.C.’s interior. About 160 million cubic meters of timber is now affected by the mountain pine beetle.

In October 2003 the province’s chief forester reported that the mountain pine beetle epidemic may significantly reduce interior B.C.’s timber supply in

about 15 years or sooner. It may not be possible to salvage all the beetle-killed trees for traditional uses, making it necessary for stakeholders to

explore the potential for innovative and alternative uses.The damage done by the mountain pine beetle may also add to the risk of

wildfire. Mature pine stands have been killed at such an unprecedented rate that not all the wood can be salvaged, posing a fuel-load threat on the forest

floor.

Forest ProblemsForests - the problems We are destroying ancient forests at an unprecedented rate. As demand for anything made from wood increases - whether it's books, furniture, construction materials or even toilet paper - we risk stripping away the last remaining ancient forest areas.

• Destructive and illegal loggingMore and more areas of pristine forest are being cut down to feed timber and paper mills around the world - an area the size of a football pitch disappears every two seconds. Much of this logging is destructive and can also be illegal, particularly in poorer countries where corruption, weak governance, and a lack of money make it difficult for the authorities to police and enforce the law.

• Agriculture Deforestation is also being driven by another human factor -

agriculture. Ancient rainforests are being cleared to open up new land for crops such as soya and palm oil, which are grown on an industrial scale to supply the growing demand from food companies across the world, including the UK. The land is often stolen from the people who live there, and in the Amazon farms in cleared areas of forest still use slave labour.

• Climate change From storing carbon to recycling water into the atmosphere,

it's increasingly clear that ancient forests play a critical role in the regulation of the global climate while their destruction is a major contributor to climate change. Deforestation accounts for 18 per cent of all emissions, more than the entire global transport sector, so protecting our ancient forests from further devastation is absolutely essential if we're serious about tackling climate change.

• The role of governments and companies• If these threats are so apparent, why have

governments not done more to combat them? Simply put, there is a distinct lack of political will on all sides to take action. In the developing world, a lack of funding for management and policing protected areas is aggravated by widespread corruption, while in industrialised nations products made from illegally logged timber are cheaper than those produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

• Even our own government can't abide by its own guidelines for buying timber- despite Tony Blair's verbal commitments towards forest protection, it's still absurdly easy to find products made from illegal and unsustainably logged timber on sale in this country.

resources

WEBSITES:• https://www2.viu.ca/forestry/Careers/Forestry-in-BC.asp• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Posts_Brook_fro

m_Norvin_Green_State_Forest_Lower_Trail.jpg• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Pine_forest_in_E

stonia.jpg• http://www.penticton.ca/assets/Departments/Images/pine-beetle.jpg• https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/bbbrochure.htm• http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/problems• http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/technology/copenhage

n_consensus_2012/2012/05/120501_COPE_deforestation.jpg.CROP.rectangle3-large.jpg

TEXTBOOK:• Horizons