Comments on Intentions Paper from John Innes, Dean, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia

On June 1, the province of British Columbia released a policy intentions paper, Modernizing Forest Policy in British Columbia: Setting the Intention and Leading the Forest Sector Transition…..In February 2020, the UBC Faculty of Forestry hosted a Forest Summit that involved about 70 forest stakeholders from across the province. …How does the provincial government’s document match this vision and recommendations? First of all, while the province refers frequently to its vision for the forest sector, it is difficult to identify exactly what the intended vision is. …Despite this shortcoming, some consistency exists between what was recommended by our working groups and what the province indicates it is intending to do. The importance of linking forest policy to Indigenous reconciliation was identified in our report and in the government paper. …The intentions paper is a lot less clear about the need to place forest management on an ecologically sustainable basis.