While the District of Houston is concerned about the state of the forest industry in B.C., Houston Mayor Shane Brienen said he believes the municipality will pull through.
The forest industry in Houston, already challenged in the past year with curtailments of Canfor’s sawmill, will remain front and centre with next year’s planned reduction of the annual allowable cut (AAC) for the Morice Timber Supply Area (TSA).
Currently at 1.9 million cubic metres a year, set in 2015, the AAC is set to drop to 1.6 million cubic metres as of mid-March 2020, a 16 per cent reduction.
“Although the AAC reduction will reduce the volume of timber that can be harvested in the Morice TSA, we remain confident that the local forest industry will continue to provide good jobs for our residents and continue contributing to the economic vitality of our community,” said Brienen.
In addition to monitoring the status of the local forest industry, Brienen said the district will continue to work on several key initiatives, including the implementation of the downtown revitalization plan and an expansion to the Dungate Community Forest to “help improve the local economic climate”.
Meanwhile the provincial government is also taking action.
Provincial representatives held a meeting in Houston Monday as part of a series of engagement sessions in the Interior to gather feedback on a new approach to the forest sector.
The first meeting was held in Williams Lake on July 18, followed by meetings in Burns Lake and Terrace last week.
Jeremy Uppenborn, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Forests, said the invite-only meetings give communities an opportunity to have a “frank discussion” about the state of the in dustry.
Representatives from local governments, Aboriginal nations, forest industry and other groups affected by the forest sector have been invited to these meetings.
John Rustad, MLA for Nechako Lakes, said last week that although he had not received an invitation to the meeting in Houston, he was still planning to attend it.
Michelle Ward, a spokesperson for Canfor, said the company planned to have representation at the meeting.
Other members of the public also have a chance to help shape B.C’s forest sector by participating in the province’s online engagement process, which is open until Oct. 11. More information can be found at https://engage.gov.bc.ca/interiorforestrenewal.
-With files from Rod Link