Forest minister to hear Castlegar concerns

by Castlegar Source on 21 Apr 2010
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Forest and Range minister Pat Bell

Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff will be leading a delegation to the coast this week to speak to Forest and Range minister Pat Bell regarding the job losses in the Arrow-Boundary Forest District Office.


The Castlegar office is losing 15 of its 60 jobs in what the provincial government is billing as a “workforce adjustment”.


“We're going to Victoria specifically to speak to this,” he said. “We're disappointed and we really think we need to talk to the minister directly to try to find a resolution.


“Those forestry jobs are vital,” he said, adding they have a direct impact to the local economy.


“Those 15 families probably own homes here, buy their groceries here, gas up their cars here ... and they have friends and family here, too. This definitely impacts the community and the city economy.”


He said city officials should not have had to hear about the cuts through the media, and he hopes to resolve some of these issues while in Victoria between April 26 and 28.


The 15 jobs were but a portion of the 204 jobs cut province-wide, drawing criticism form local NDP MLA Katrine Conroy.


“With 30,000 jobs lost in forestry since the BC Liberals took over and the closure of 71 mills, it is clear that the BC Liberals have failed completely in their approach to forestry,” said Conroy. “Now with the downgrading of the Forest Service, it appears they have given up completely.”

Comments

Cuts to Forest Service

by Charleston on 22 Apr 2010 at about 18:17.

Forest minister Pat Bell's reason for cuts doesn't hold water. Two of the big reasons that forest revenues are down are of Bell's own making:
1. BC Timber Sales. Bell forces BCTS to operate below cost thereby running up massive losses to the Crown and taxpayers.
2. Cedar High-grading. Bell continues to permit the high-grading of prime north coast cedar at 25 cents a cubic metre for stumpage when the logs are fetching 100’s of dollars on the market resulting in more lost forest revenues. Instead of dealing with it, he scraps the North Coast district office.

Mayor Lawrence Chernoff and his delegation need to discuss a lot more than just cuts. The main reason forest management activity is down throughout the province is because Bell isn't investing in the landbase around communities.

For example:
1. Bell hasn't invested one cent for intensive silviculture in any of the TSAs worst hit by the mountain pine beetle.
2. Bell's performance on reforestation of NSR is so bad that he scrapped the performance measure in this year's ministry service plan.
3. Bell has done nothing to get back the remaining $800 million of federal aid for the areas worst affected by the mountain pine beetle seemingly satisfied with the $200 million or so of that money spent on upgrading the Prince George airport.