Scandinavian practices impress forests minister
Doug Donaldson says B.C. can learn from Sweden and Finland, which make better use of waste wood
B.C. Forests Minister Doug Donaldson likes what he sees in Finland and Sweden. “The forestry industries and practices in those countries is so mature,” said Donaldson during a stop in Kelowna on Thursday.
“I wish British Columbia’s industry could reach that maturity. In this province, we are blessed with an abundance of good first-growth forest. But that will run out and we have to look at more value-added and use of waste wood as they do in Scandinavia.”
Such an approach also means getting more B.C. jobs out of every B.C. log.
Besides lumber manufacturing, Finland and Sweden are also big into value-added wood furniture-making and using waste wood for biofuel, biochemicals and even three-dimensional printing.
There are so many ways to get more value from every log and B.C. is looking at them all, Donaldson said.
Not to say the province doesn’t already have a healthy value-added industry, but more can always be done, he said.
An example of value-added locally is West Kelowna’s Gorman Brothers Lumber, which the forests minister toured on Thursday.
Gorman makes smaller boards used in trims and finishings and furniture manufacturing.
As such, its market is diversified well beyond the traditional export market of the United States.
The U.S. is also the biggest export customer for B.C.’s main forestry products, dimensional lumber for home construction.
And that is currently under threat as the U.S. continues to slap duties on Canadian softwood lumber entering that country.
“Our goal is a true free-market system for lumber with the U.S.,” said Donaldson, MLA for the forestry-andmining dependent riding of Stikine in the far northwest of the province.
“But the U.S. isn’t interested in negotiation, so they continue the cash grab of unwarranted levies. It will be up to the court system to figure it out, and hopefully the B.C. industry will get the duties being held in reserve back when a decision is made in our favour.”
Donaldson hopes the U.S. consumer is aware of what’s happening.
“When U.S. homebuyers start to have sticker shock with house prices and they discover why, hopefully they will pressure their representatives to try free trade,” he said.
Donaldson is working on mediumand long-term plans for the province’s forests that include thinning to prevent forest fires, forest revitalization and planting more trees to make the resource and the industry sustainable.
“We have to take a balanced approach,” he said.
“The forest has many values for logging, wildlife, recreation and First Nations. That’s why land-use planning has to be modernized. More details will come in the upcoming throne speech and budget.”
Donaldson also outlined this new direction to delegates at the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association conference at the Coast Capri Hotel on Thursday evening.
“And I’m also thanking them for their part in fighting wildfires last summer in conjunction with the B.C. Wildfire Service,” he said.
“In the future, instead of of spending $600 million fighting fires, as we did last year, we can spend a fraction of that every year for prevention.”