Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Time: 6:00pm Pacific time
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-9zEWAP5TdC3zPcEv5DVrA
The New Forest Act has reached a new stage.
Over the past year, we have taken the proposal across British Columbia and presented it to communities, local governments, forestry professionals, academics, MLAs, senior government officials, and others concerned about the future of BC’s forests.
On September 9, we presented the New Forest Act directly to BC’s Minister of Forests and Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, along with senior government staff.
Government knows about the New Forest Act. Now we need more people helping to advance it.
On Tuesday, October 13, we’re holding a free online training workshop for people who want to understand the proposal, talk about it in their own communities, and take it to MLAs, local governments, organizations, and other decision-makers.
The New Forest Act is asking for a change in law
This is the central message.
The New Forest Act is not asking government for another forestry program, another planning process, or new terminology for the existing system.
It calls for replacement of BC’s existing forestry laws with a new legal framework that puts ecological functioning first.
That means changing the rules that determine how decisions about public forests are made.
Under the New Forest Act, ecological requirements come first. They determine what must be protected, what must be restored, and what land remains available for harvesting. Only then is allowable harvest determined.
In other words:
Ecological limits → land-use decisions → allowable harvest.
You don’t pick a harvest number first and then arrange the landscape to produce it.
The government’s latest ‘three zones’ are not Protect–Restore–Harvest
This is particularly important now that the BC government is promoting its Working Forest Landscape Model.
Because the New Forest Act also uses three zones — Protect, Restore, and Harvest — the two approaches can sound similar.
They are not.
The government’s model puts new zones and terminology over the existing forestry system. It retains a Working Forest Zone where timber production remains the priority, while government continues to plan around a provincial harvest target of approximately 45 million cubic metres a year.
The New Forest Act starts somewhere entirely different.
It replaces the laws and rules that determine how decisions are made.
Under Protect–Restore–Harvest, ecological requirements determine what must be protected and what damaged areas must be restored before the land available for harvesting is determined.
The Restore Zone is not simply another timber-management category. It consists of previously disturbed areas where ecological function needs to be restored. Restoration is the objective.
The Harvest Zone is not simply the government’s Working Forest Zone with another name. Harvesting occurs on previously disturbed lands within ecological limits and under Nature-Directed Stewardship.
And Protect–Restore–Harvest is only one part of the New Forest Act. The proposal also changes governance, decision-making authority, tenure, forest practices, accountability, timber allocation, and the relationship between public forests and regional economies.
The government’s approach changes the map. The New Forest Act changes the rules.
Three zones do not reform forestry if timber supply and tenure holders still determine what happens inside them.
We need more people who can make that case
You do not need to be a forester, policy expert, or experienced advocate to participate in this workshop.
The purpose is practical: to give people enough understanding, information, and resources to explain the New Forest Act accurately, recognize how it differs from what government is currently proposing, and put the proposal before people who can help advance it.
We’ll cover:
- what the New Forest Act proposes – and why the changes need to be in law;
- how Protect–Restore–Harvest differs from the BC government’s current three-zone approach;
- the key questions government has asked about the proposal, including restoration, ecological limits, communities, First Nations, workers, and fire;
- how to respond when government points to existing programs or planning initiatives and says it is already addressing these issues;
- how to explain the New Forest Act clearly without becoming a forestry expert;
- how to talk about the proposal with MLAs, local governments, organizations, and others;
- how to make a clear, concrete ask; and
- practical resources you can use after the workshop.
Special guest: Dave Weaver
Retired forestry professional and New Forest Act co-author Dave Weaver will join us for a presentation on what Protect–Restore–Harvest means on the ground.
Dave will also be available during the question-and-answer period to help answer technical forestry questions.
The proposal exists. Now it needs public support.
Government has heard directly from us.
The next step is making sure it also hears from people across BC who understand that adjustments to the existing forestry system are not what the New Forest Act is proposing.
We are asking for a new legal foundation for the management of BC’s public forests — one that puts ecological functioning, community decision-making, and stable local economies into law.
If you want to help advance that proposal, please join Jennifer Houghton and Dave Weaver on October 13.
HELP ADVANCE THE NEW FOREST ACT
A Training Workshop
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Time: 6:00pm Pacific time
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: Free
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/-9zEWAP5TdC3zPcEv5DVrA
