New grassroots initiative expected to raise awareness about lowered harvest levels

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Harvest levels have dropped by 42 per cent since 2018.

With forest harvest levels dropping across B.C. a move to stem the downward spiral has begun.

Called Forestry Works for B.C., the new grassroots initiative is expected to raise awareness about the critical role forestry plays in the well-being of rural and urban communities.

Harvest levels have dropped by 42 per cent since 2018 and half of B.C.’s mills have been lost in the last two decades.

The Forestry Works for B.C. campaign includes representation of 1,000 forest-based organizations and companies, including many small and medium sized and intergenerational family-owned businesses across British Columbia.

“We believe that a better and brighter future in this province needs a strong forest sector,” Ken Kalesnikoff, president and chief executive officer of Kalesnikoff mass timber products and lumber company, said in a letter to the Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors.

“Forestry has been the foundation of all that we hold dear in this province,” said Kalesnikoff. “Today, harvest levels have fallen to less than 60 per cent of the sustainable allowable annual cut (AAC) set by the province’s chief forester.”

He explained that when access to the AAC is unreliable, harvest levels drop and government revenues for critical services decline.

Through the Forestry Works for B.C. campaign, “people are rallying their voices to let our provincial leaders know these impacts are too much, and that without reliable and timely access to the AAC, we have a lot more to lose than mills.”