Reforming forestry management in BC requires the support of senior government staff. If government decision-makers have ties to industry their actions will support industry first. The Deputy Minister of Forests, John Allan, must be replaced by a science-educated, environment-first leader. Allan’s ties to industry: President & CEO Council of Forest Industries, President of the BC Lumber Trade Council, Secretary of the Canadian Lumber Trade Alliance, and Chair of the Board of the BC Bio Energy Network.
Below is the letter we sent to M.L.A. Horgan on November 18th, 2020
The Honourable John Horgan, M.L.A., Premier of British Columbia
Dear Premier Horgan,
British Columbians presented you with four years and the clear direction to better protect our remaining forest ecosystems. Climate change is already inflicting real damage to our land, our forests, and our homes. Climate change can be decelerated by altering the behavior of British Columbians toward our forests. We must act quickly.
There must be a change in upper agency resource management staff so that the land use reforms required for our survival are implemented. Staff with ties to industry who continue to entrench the status quo must make way for this change so that forests can be used to address climate change. The key forestry behaviour challenge before you is addressing our contribution to climate warming that is caused by the removal of intact forests that provide carbon storage capacity.
We need you to enable an independent “Environment + Climate First” Ministry with highly educated staff working for the public interest, ie., ecosystem health, which in turn supports our jobs and our survival.
We call for the changing of the guard. We urge you to replace senior government staff who have ties to the forestry industry with independent science-educated employees. The mandate for all staff should be to manage forests for ecosystem health, to reduce climate warming, and to produce stable community economies. The place to start is with the Deputy Minister of Forests because this position has an influence on the entire Ministry as well as on decisions made by Cabinet.
This is your opportunity to defend the public interest over private interests. Make the tough decisions sooner rather than later when all expenses will be greater and ecological recovery an impossible task. Your staffing choices will determine the way forward.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors,
Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society