ALTERNATIVES 

Time for Change - A Paradigm Shift

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What can be done to keep local jobs and help preserve healthy forests?  We do not claim to have all the answers, but we need a paradigm shift in the way we think about forestry in BC. If we want a future with healthy, biodiverse, ecologically functioning old growth interior temperate rainforests in it, here are some ways to start:

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-stop logging ancient old growth forests

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- stop raw log exportation and keep forestry manufacturing jobs in BC, instead of shipping raw logs to foreign countries.

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-stop the 'waste' of usable logs at logging sites which contributes to emissions. Much of this wood is useable and can create more jobs, or could be used by private landowners to heat their own homes. Burning slash piles releases harmful and unnecessary greenhouse gasses.

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-stop incentivizing the logging of forests to create wood-pulp and instead only pulp salvage wood.

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-invest in publicly funded restoration efforts as governments have done in the past.

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-legislate minimum levels of company investment into new and existing mills.

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-diversify when and where it makes sense - use alternative renewable products.

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-retrain current forestry workers to create new "green" jobs - publicly fund this education.

-consider other working models such as the Harrop-Procter Community Forest

Click here for a great opinion piece that speaks to the mismanagement of our forests in BC, including how this has led to the loss of forestry jobs in BC.  We are in desperate need of a paradigm shift for how forestry operates in BC.