March 14, 2013

We’ve got an exciting update for you on the campaign to protect BC’s public forests.

As you may have read in the news recently, the BC government was considering making changes to the Forest Act that would have essentially led to large-scale privatization of the province’s public forest lands. However, after intense opposition from British Columbians like you, that plan has now been axed!

Sections of the provincial government’s Bill 8 proposed amendments that would have allowed private logging companies to “roll over” their forest tenures into area-based Tree Farm Licences (TFLs), shifting more control over these public forests into private hands. As a result, companies would have been granted exclusive logging rights to a given area, and it would be much more difficult to protect forests that are needed to preserve endangered species or water quality.

This plan was fiercely opposed by environmentalists, First Nations, unions and many elected officials. Thousands of individuals across BC spoke up about the proposed legislation changes, including many supporters who wrote letters to the government through the Wilderness Committee website.

I want to say a huge “Thank you” to everyone who took action!

This is an important example of how people power really can protect our forests. But there is still a lot of work to do in order to ensure that the province’s forests are better protected now and into the future.

Instead of thinking about policy changes to increase corporate control, BC should be looking at policies that boost conservation, reduce carbon emissions and create more forestry jobs here at home instead of shipping raw logs overseas. Click here to read an op-ed in the Times Colonist about this issue, co-written by the Wilderness Committee’s Vancouver Island Campaigner, Torrance Coste.

These new developments have shown just how much the people of BC really value our public forests and the natural heritage they represent. We’ve also shown what’s possible when many people come together, speak up about an issue and have their voices heard.

Please stay tuned for more updates on this campaign as we move forward, and join us in continuing to push for better conservation laws, better forest policy and increased protection for rare old-growth ecosystems in BC.

For the wild,

Joe Foy | National Campaign Director