The provincial government will conduct a review of forest policy as it relates to the Interior, Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson said Tuesday.
Slated to begin by the end of April and be completed by the end of this year, Donaldson said it will follow on one for the Coastal forest sector that was completed in January following six months of consultation with various stakeholders.
That review generated a series of policy initiatives to encourage more domestic processing of logs and fibre and reduce the amount of waste left behind in harvest areas.
Donaldson called the outcome “very successful” and said some of the initiatives regarding the increased use of fibre will impact the Interior.
However, while he said the fact that wood was being exported rather than being manufactured domestically was a prime issue in the Coastal sector “it’s really about curtailment and a lack of wood in the Interior.”
The review is among a handful of steps Donaldson noted in response to criticism B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson leveled in an interview on Monday that the NDP has done little to ease the pain area sawmills and their workers are feeling.
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