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NDP Forestry Platform Fails Ecologically and Continues the Unsustainable Status Quo of Old-Growth Depletion and Overcutting

Apr 16 2013/in Media Release

For Immediate Release

April 15, 2013

NDP Forestry Platform Fails Ecologically and Continues the Unsustainable Status Quo of Old-Growth Depletion and Overcutting

This morning the BC NDP released their forestry platform that fails to bring in any environmental measures and essentially continues the unsustainable status quo of old-growth forest liquidation and overcutting at the expense of ecosystems and communities.

“This is a disappointing flop of a forestry platform, ecologically-speaking. It continues the unsustainable status quo of resource depletion in this province that is causing the collapse of species, ecosystems, and human communities. Nowhere does it mention the need to protect endangered old-growth forests and to ensure sustainable second-growth forestry, the central forestry land-use conflicts. All it says is to plant more trees. Tree farms do not replicate ancient forests for supporting endangered species, tourism, the climate, clean water, or wild salmon,” stated Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director.

The NDP’s forestry platform includes such items as investing in more tree-planting, expanding global markets for BC wood products, reducing raw log exports (with no details how besides “work with stakeholders”), creating a jobs commissioner, training more workers, and better inventorying forestry resources. See: www.bcndp.ca/files/BG-BCNDP-130415_-_Forestry.pdf

A legislative proposal released last Thursday for an “Old Growth Protection Act” by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre (ELC) would incorporate science-based targets and timelines to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/news-item.php?ID=624 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb09Z0-4rmE

The BC Green Party committed last Friday to the key parts of the Old-Growth Protection Act. See: [Original article no longer available]

The BC Liberals’ have not indicated any change from their unscientific stance that old-growth forests are not endangered, and that they’ve managed them well. They leave a largely anti-environmental legacy of supporting old-growth liquidation across most of the province, large-scale environmental deregulation, grossly unsustainable expanded harvest levels, massive raw log exports, and the loss of over 30,000 forestry jobs while tens of millions of raw logs have been exported.

“The NDP’s forestry platform fundamentally fails forestry-dependent communities, as the main driver in the loss of forestry jobs over the past 20 years is unsustainable resource depletion. Continuing the status quo of high-grading the biggest and best old-growth trees in the lower elevations, and overcutting in general has resulted in diminishing returns as the trees get smaller, more expensive to reach, and lower in value. As our second-growth forests mature, we’ve been shipping them off as raw logs to foreign mills,” stated Wu. “We need to protect our endangered old-growth forests, ensure the sustainable logging of second-growth forests, and to have clearly defined policies that will end the export of raw, unprocessed logs out of the country. The NDP’s forestry platform does none of that.”

NDP Leader Adrian Dix, during his 2011 campaign to become party leader, promised to: “Develop a long term strategy for old growth forests in the province, including protection of specific areas that are facing immediate logging plans.” (see point #4 in “Ecosystem Management”) [Original article no longer available]

While several NDP MLA’s have championed protecting specific old-growth forests while in Opposition, which the Ancient Forest Alliance has given kudos for, at this time Dix and the NDP party as a whole have not followed up, developed any specifics, re-mentioned, or even officially adopted Dix’s earlier leadership promise for a province-wide old-growth plan.

On Saturday, comments by the NDP’s Environment Critic Rob Fleming in the Times Colonist suggests the party supports scientific conservation assessments of our old-growth forests as proposed by the “Old-Growth Protection Act”. See: www.timescolonist.com/news/world/ancient-forest-alliance-calls-for-science-based-forest-plan-1.109973 This is a recent step forward. However, the party has not committed yet to the plan’s actual protection scheme that would end old-growth logging in endangered regions – the crux of the plan.

“The NDP seem to have a short memory and have forgotten about the ‘War in the Woods’ during their reign in the 1990’s, and we need to push them to remember,” stated Wu. “We’ll give credit where credit is due, and we want to give the NDP credit. They can still move forward with additional policy commitments before the election, such as a provincial old-growth plan based on science and timelines – if they don’t, then clearly Adrian Dix has broken his promise. That’s no way to head into an election.”

On Vancouver Island, about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. Most productive forests on Vancouver Island and in BC are now second-growth which should be managed sustainably. See: www.ancientforestalliance.org/old-growth-maps.php

See spectacular photos of our old-growth forests at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/ (NOTE: Media are free to reprint any photos, credit to “TJ Watt” if possible. Let us know if you need higher res shots too)

See a recent ancient forest campaign video at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6YTizBF-jE

Authorized by the Ancient Forest Alliance, registered sponsor under the Election Act
Ancient Forest, Alliance, Victoria Main PO, PO Box 8459, Victoria, BC, V8W 3S1 Canada

Old-growth redcedar stump in the Klanawa Valley. Vancouver Island

NDP forest plan ‘minor deviation from unsustainable status quo’: critic

Apr 16 2013/in News Coverage

The New Democratic Party's forestry platform released this morning is a major disappointment, said Ken Wu, the executive director of the Ancient Forest Alliance environmental group.

“I'm just looking at this with rage here,” he said in an interview. “This is a minor deviation from the unsustainable status quo.”

This morning NDP leader Adrian Dix released a five point plan for forestry. It included a commitment to skills training for the industry, more emphasis on forest health, improved inventory and building markets for B.C. wood. It also talked about reducing the export of raw logs and re-instating a jobs protection commissioner.

The plan calls for $30 million in added spending on forestry in 2013-2014, building to $100 million five years from now.

“There are some aspects that are progressive, but there's not a lot of detail,” said Wu. Restricting raw log exports is positive, for example, but today's announcement didn't say how the NDP would do that, he said.

During the NDP leadership contest, Dix promised an NDP government would develop “a long-term strategy for old-growth forests,” which Wu made note of at the time.

“He has not kept his promise,” said Wu, adding the NDP could still make that commitment. “They need to do it soon. At this point I'd say the NDP just don't get it on forest conservation. They still have a chance, but this forestry platform is a flop ecologically.”

Wu said individual MLAs such as Scott Fraser in Alberni-Pacific Rim have championed the protection of old growth forests. “We need the entire NDP party to make it part of their platform to protect endangered old growth and ensure sustainable second growth forestry.”

The NDP platform says the party would take five years to double the number of seedlings planted by the government on Crown land to 50 million annually.

In a February interview, NDP forestry critic Norm Macdonald criticized the BC Liberal government for failing to meet an earlier commitment to be planting 50 million seedlings a year by 2012.

Noting at least one million hectares were already known to be not sufficiently restocked, Macdonald said, “Any competent government, and it comes down to competence, any competent government looks after its most valuable asset.”

Link to article on The Tyee website: https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/2013/04/15/ForestStatus/

NDP’s forestry-policy plank sparks partisan ire, disappoints ecologists

Apr 16 2013/in News Coverage

PRINCE GEORGE – New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix has released a multimillion dollar election plan that he believes will help grow and improve B.C.'s forest industry, but critics say the proposal makes promises that will be hard to keep.

In Prince George Monday, Dix announced the five-point forestry plan that would see $310 million invested in the industry over five years if his party wins the election in May.

The NDP leader announced his government would invest in skills training, to improve forest health, to expand global markets for B.C. lumber and to cut raw log exports, while it reinstates a jobs protection commissioner.

“Skills training is really the principle focus of our economic plan, to ensure young people have the skills they need for the jobs of the future,'' Dix said.

The B.C. Liberal Party immediately criticized the plan, saying it lacks policy details.

“After months of delay, I think British Columbians were expecting more,'' said Forest Minister Steve Thomson in a news release.

George Hoberg, a forest policy expert at the University of British Columbia, said Dix's promise to reduce raw log exports will be hard to keep.

“Raw logs are always something that politicians talk about, but it's actually very hard to deliver in terms of either policy or real change in the industry,'' Hoberg said.

“Our comparative advantage is in raw resource material or in commodities, not in more labour-intensive value-added production,''
he said.

The NDP's commitment to improve forest health includes an emphasis on increasing the province's research capacity, updating forest inventories and doubling the number of seedlings planted annually.

Hoberg said he is impressed with the plan's focus on forest health.

“The biggest challenge that we face in forestry is renewing the forest that has been disseminated by the mountain pine beetle and the Liberals have not been particularly effective at investing resources on that,'' Hoberg said.

“The one big change that we will likely see, if the NDP is elected, is a greater commitment to government funding of inventory and silviculture,'' he said.

Hoberg was surprised at the lack of discussion of environmental issues in the NDP plan – something he said the Liberal forestry plan also lacks.

Ken Wu at the Ancient Forest Alliance called the plan “a big disappointment ecologically.''

“It essentially continues the unsustainable status quo of old growth liquidation and over cutting which has led to the collapse of ecosystems and communities,'' Wu said.

Dix campaigned for party leadership with a promise to address old growth deforestation, but he now appears to be reneging on his commitment, Wu said.

“We are hoping that the party will move forward with additional policy commitments in the lead up to the election so that Dix fulfills his promise to develop a provincial old growth plan which was his 2011 leadership bid promise,'' Wu said.

Dix said the plan was developed in consultation with forest industry businesses, union leaders and with communities.

Some of the suggestions are in line with a 2011 report created by the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union, which suggests tightening raw log exports and increasing staff levels within the B.C. forest service.

A spokesperson from the Council of Forest Industries, which represents over a dozen forest companies in the province, wasn't available for comment.

Globe and Mail online article: www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/ndps-forestry-policy-plank-sparks-partisan-ire-disappoints-ecologists/article11253131/

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