By Cheryl Jahn

Not Surprisingly, Access To Fibre An Issue For COFI

Apr 6, 2018 | 2:40 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — Premier John Horgan told the crowd at the Council of Forest Industries that this government is committed to the forest sector and will do what it can to ensure its continued success. Earlier in its State of the Union address, the CEO’s of three major timber producers spoke of changes coming to the industry. New developments in home construction. It also spoke to the need to continue with new market development, something Premier Horgan agreed with.

“The hitch is we absolutely need the logs. That’s a message that we wanted to deliver today,” says Don Kayne, CEO of Canfor. “In BC, we’ve built a fantastic brand. And, it’s for reliability, it’s for consistent quality and innovation and so on.  So, for what I am describing in the transformation of the housing industry, to be successful for the future, we can’t lose sight of the fact that we need that fibre to make sure our customers around the world are able to get that consistent supply on an ongoing basis.”

Premier Horgan had a message for the CEOs. Everyone, not just the big players, but smaller independents need access to fibre as well. 

“I’ve been working closely with the CEO’s of the major companies and also talking to the smaller operators that are actually desperately in need of more fibre for their operations to continue. So one of the messages today was ‘Let’s not leave the waste behind because of the rapid cut to address the beetle kill.’,” says Horgan.

“Not only can we build in BC with engineered wood products, we can be exporting those products.” 
He says he hears the message about fibre supply time and again and says every part of the industry needs access to fibre, not just the big players.”

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However, he also admitted the Annual Allowable Cut may need to be adjusted in light of last year’s wildfires.

“When the Chief Forester set the levels, that was prior to, in fact, during the fire season. Seven hundred thousand hectares in the Cariboo, gone. So we’re putting $99 million into reforestation. Critically important to the recovery in the Cariboo. But, we adjusted the AAC to address the beetle kill. But I think it’s probably appropriate to look at the consequences of the fire season and what may happen in the season ahead of us, and then adjust as we need to.”

But, he adds that decision is one for the Chief Forester of BC.