FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GRASSROOTS GROUPS AND SCIENTISTS CALL FOR NEW FOREST ACT
Grand Forks, BC – August 29, 2024: With BC facing more fires, floods, and drought, a project called The Power of Forests: Protecting Communities and Nature with a New Forest Act is uniting grassroots groups, scientists, and concerned citizens to call for a new Forest Act in British Columbia. Under this new legislation, the primary objective of forest management will be to maintain the ecological integrity of forest ecosystems. Details of the New Forest Act proposal will be shared at six events:
Nanaimo, Sept 14, 2024, 12-4:30, Beban Park Social Centre, 2300 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo, BC
Mill Bay, Sept 17, 7-8:30pm, Mill Bay Community Hall, 1035 Shawnigan-Mill Bay Rd, Mill Bay, BC
Vancouver, Sept 21, 2024, 12-4:30, The Nest, UBC Vancouver, Rm 2306/2309, 6133 University Blvd, Vancouver
Prince George, Sept 28, 2024, 12-4:30, Canfor Theatre, 3333 University Way, Prince George BC
Nelson, October 5, 12-3pm, The Adventure Hotel, 616 Vernon St, Nelson, BC
Kelowna, October 12, 12-3:30, UBC Okanagan ASC 140, Kelowna, BC
Local speakers, Indigenous People, and scientists will also present regional information about the human and environmental costs of the current system of forest management and the urgent need for change. Scientists include Dr. Younes Alila, UBC Forest Hydrology; Herb Hammond, Forest Ecologist; and Dr. Rachel Holt, Ph.D Landscape Biology. Indigenous speakers include Geraldine Mason, Snuneymuxw Traditional Knowledge Keeper and hiwus Calvin Craigan, Hereditary Chief, Sechelt First Nation.
“The social license to log primary forest is gone, even in forestry-dependent communities, because there is so little left. We need to start imagining a different future where we can have healthy wildlife populations, natural fire control, and clean water”, says Michelle Connolly, of Conservation North, a volunteer-led group in Prince George. “This is what most people want regardless of their political leanings, and it’s achievable now.”
“Primary forests are our most effective system for protecting against extreme events like fire and drought, as well as for mitigating climate change. With an ecological model of forest management set up by new legislation, BC can conserve forests and create more jobs in rural communities”, says Taryn Skalbania of the Interior Watershed Task Force, a coalition of grassroots groups. “Over 55,000 forestry jobs have been lost over the past 20 years. Forest management should focus on the interests of communities and nature rather than on extraction interests.”
The New Forest Act has 3 key priorities:
- protect and restore natural ecosystem integrity and resilience
- give Indigenous Peoples and BC residents a say in what happens in the forest ecosystems that affect them
- build stable community-based jobs and local economies that strengthen the larger BC economy
Registration for the events is available online at: www.boundaryforest.org/pof.
About: Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society (BFWSS) is a grassroots non-profit society advocating for culturally, economically, and ecologically sustainable forestry practices in the forest and watershed of the Boundary Region and throughout BC. For information about The Power of Forests project, visit www.boundaryforest.org
Contact:
Jennifer Houghton, Project Manager,
The Power of Forests Project, Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society
250-584-4091, [email protected]