• News Release: Chamber Letter to Minister Donaldson: 12/23/2019

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    December 23, 2019
    Chamber of Commerce Letter to Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

     
    December 23, 2019
     
    The Honourable Doug Donaldson
    Minister of Forests, Lands Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development
    Parliament Buildings
    Victoria, BC
    V8V 1X4
     
    By Email:  FLNR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
     
    Re:  Forestry in Northern Rural BC & Stumpage
     
    Dear Mr. Donaldson,
                     
    On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Fort Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce I am writing in follow up to our previous correspondence. 
     
    The Fort Nelson & District Chamber of Commerce represents members in the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality which covers approximately 10% of the province’s land base.  We are one of the few areas in 2019 to see an increase in annual allowable cut, have a community forest being developed and have from both a municipal and chamber perspective been calling on the Province to develop sustainable forestry practices including reviewing stumpage, waste, forest stewardship and local investment incentives.  
     
    We know you and your staff are aware of the economic hardship the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality has faced and we have now seen a significant curtailment in forestry province wide.  We note that you recently announced a plan to assist the coastal forest industry through reforms and revising the stumpage system on the coast.  We have been having discussions regarding stumpage and the tabular rate system with the MFLNRO&RD since the beginning of your tenure and also prior to that with the former government. The history of our conversations with your ministry is well established.  While we do not want to take anything away from the need to find solutions on the coast we need to find solutions throughout British Columbia.  At a meeting in 2017 the ministry agreed that there is pricing inequity and that policies must be reviewed.  We participated in the Interior Forest Sector Engagement and one of the predominant topics again was stumpage and access to equitable fibre.  We are asking you and your government to review stumpage and pricing policies across the board while focusing on rural BC where communities have been hit the hardest.  For all industry we need our government to focus on providing equitable access to resources and a stable regulatory framework in which industry can operate with certainty.  
     
    I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you and your staff the Merriest of Christmas and look forward to seeing solutions in place in 2020 to ensure a prosperous New Year for British Columbians. 
     
    Sincerely,
     
     
    Bev Vandersteen,
    Executive Director
     
    Cc:  Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, Mayor and Council
    Fort Nelson First Nation Chief and Council
    John Rustad, MLA Nechako Lakes & Official Opposition’s critic on Forest, Lands, & Natural
    Resource Operation
    Dan Davies, MLA Peace River North
     

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