UBC Forestry leads the revival and rethinking of BC’s biggest industry

by Gordon Hamilton

Forestry is going through a revival at the University of B.C., drawing a new wave of urban students like Robert Smidstra, who see not just a profession in earning a forestry degree, but also a way to bring about social change. The 23-year-old Langley student is one of 778 undergraduates registered in the faculty of forestry this year, many of them like himself, young people from the Lower Mainland who are motivated by concerns about global warming, carbon emissions and sustainability. Only when he graduates, Smidstra expects to be in a position where he can actually do something about it. Forestry has become cool.