The province is proposing a ‘working forest’ model — but what does that mean?

B.C.’s Ministry of Forests announced last Tuesday it would begin piloting its new Working Forest Landscape Model.

The model aims to support the province’s goal of an annual timber harvest of 45 million cubic metres, while reducing industry red tape, such as cutting permits.

It will be tested out in an area near Campbell River, by splitting forests into three zones: a working forest zone, a multiple-use zone and a conservation and protection zone. The system is designed to work in tandem with forest landscape plans (FLP), according to the province.

The pilot marks the beginning of the province’s exploration phase, the ministry said, noting it will be a multi-year process before the model is fully implemented.

Instead of relying on individual cutblock permits for Crown land, this model would divide areas in the province into three zones.

A working forest zone would prioritize commercial timber harvest. Forestry companies operating within it would be able to plan for the broader area from the start rather than incrementally adding more cutblocks.

This would help alleviate inefficiencies in the permitting process, so forestry workers “finally have a stable land base,” said Forest Minister Ravi Parmar.

A multiple-use zone would have various functions aimed at “the restoration and enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem functions,” such as wildfire mitigation, according to the province.

And a conservation and protection zone would ensure “long-term ecosystem function and biodiversity through protected habitat and conservation networks.”

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Parmar said the model addresses a problem he described as “cutblock by cutblock permitting” by providing certainty over where forests can be logged through an area-based management approach.

Under the new system, the province would explore a “no-net-loss” principle, which would see new land added to a zone if land is removed from it.

“If you take from the working forest, you [give] back to the working forest. If you take from your conservation zone, you add back into the conservation zone,” explained Parmar.

It’s that aspect of the model that has some advocates and experts concerned about sustainable forestry.

It’s not yet clear how the province would decide what land is added to the working forest zone if an area within it is later marked for protection.

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Ken Wu, executive director of the Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, said he’s concerned that could put ecologically valuable forests at risk.

It’s a worry shared by Annie Booth, University of Northern B.C. professor in environmental and sustainability studies. She described the zoning issue as allocating the most “diverse, rich ecosystems” the same way as it allocates “big timber.” 

“The new plan will simply allow forestry companies to liquidate the last remaining stands of harvestable wood,” she said in an email. 

Harry Nelson, a University of B.C. professor in forestry and environmental stewardship, said those concerns are grounded, but the outcome depends on how the province rolls the model out.

It could provide more certainty around harvesting, he said, but how that’s achieved is the remaining challenge. He added that he questions whether the province has the “tools or capacity” to address that challenge, particularly as environmental, economic and social pressures differ between communities.

“I think the road to peace in the woods lies through communities, not through Victoria,” he said.

Parmar said he’s focused on balancing those concerns with the need to deliver a “sustainable working zone” for the industry.

According to the province, the model is a response to the “ongoing pressures” faced by B.C.’s forestry sector.

Those pressures include limited access to wood fibre, climate-driven wildfires, timber market volatility, rising operating costs and U.S. lumber tariffs.

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Parmar said the model would give the industry more consistent access to timber, while bringing First Nations to the table earlier in decisions about how forests are managed.

Huu-ay-aht First Nations Chief Councillor John Jack said area-based planning gives First Nations a greater role in coordinating forestry efforts and weighing areas for protection, habitat, wildfire mitigation and harvest.

The forestry sector, he said, also has a direct effect on the economic resources available to First Nations that depend on the industry, like his own nation located just south of Ucluelet.

“Getting involved in business means that we help create value and share in the value that’s created to help pay for things like community infrastructure, housing, early childhood educators, daycares, trauma-informed counsellors and beyond,” said Jack.

The model has been floated in varying forms since the 1990s, according to several experts.

Advocates have pointed out that the B.C. NDP opposed a similar model when the B.C. Liberal party brought forward its own working forest initiative more than 20 years ago.

“The B.C. NDP supported our efforts to stop the working forest initiative under the B.C. Liberal government and we succeeded by 2004 with the NDP’s help,” recalled Wu.

But Parmar pushed back against that characterization.

“[The B.C. Liberals’] approach to forestry was to gut the principle that matters most to people and forest communities, and that is local logs for local jobs,” he said.

Parmar said his party’s opposition at the time was to the B.C. Liberals’ broader approach to forestry, including allowing more raw logs to be processed outside of B.C., rather than the principle of a working forest itself.