Premier John Horgan is under increasing pressure to halt old-growth logging on sa国际传媒鈥檚 coast, a step that would come with a billion-dollar price tag to buy back existing timber rights, according to one industry analyst.
In addition to continuing protests at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island, the most recent pressure included an open letter from the environmental group Canopy, which calls on Horgan to 鈥減rotect the irreplaceable鈥� old-growth forests.
The letter, signed by prominent scientists and celebrities including primatologist Jane Goodall and William Shatner of Star Trek fame, was published as an ad in the Globe and Mail.
In a rough estimate, industry analyst Jim Girvan calculated it could cost $1.7 billion to cancel the existing timber rights held by companies and First Nations to halt old-growth logging, with old-growth trees still representing 50 per cent of the coastal timber harvest.
鈥淭here鈥檚 one analyst鈥檚 back-of-the-envelope estimate of what it would cost to buy out an industry that William Shatner wants closed,鈥� said Girvan. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e talking big, big money.鈥�
A spokesperson for the Sierra Club of sa国际传媒 said some of the economic impacts are being overstated before government makes its decisions. Successive governments, however, have allowed 鈥渦nsustainable [harvests] to remain very high,鈥� said campaigner Jens Wieting.
The Sierra Club was a supporter of another of the pressure points on government, an international petition by the German environmental group Rainforest Rescue that collected 260,000 signatures calling on government to 鈥渟top the felling of ancient giants.鈥�
Horgan鈥檚 government has promised new forest management legislation as part of its legislative agenda this fall and the premier has alluded to the 鈥減eople that will be affected by the decisions we鈥檙e going to be making鈥� in media interviews.
In an interview with CFAX radio in Victoria, Horgan said government is doing its best to implement 鈥渢he spirit and intent鈥� of the recommendations of the old-growth strategic review it commissioned in 2020, but noted it has to be fair to those who were granted timber rights by previous governments.
In the radio interview, Horgan said that he would prefer if the signatories to Canopy鈥檚 letter would 鈥減ut down a couple of million bucks each鈥� to help mitigate the impact of old-growth deferrals, though his minister on the file didn鈥檛 offer an own estimate on what the costs might be in response to media questions.
Katrine Conroy, minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource operations, wasn鈥檛 available for an interview but her staff forwarded an unattributed email response that said government agrees 鈥渙n the need to measure the impacts on people, and this work is underway.鈥�
Ministry staff didn鈥檛 refute Girvan鈥檚 rough estimate, but in the statement said: 鈥淎 socio-economic analysis is currently being conducted on the issue.鈥�
The statement said government in June created an old-growth technical advisory panel to help the province identify the most at-risk old-growth forests to be considered for two-year deferrals from logging, which would also involve engagement with First Nations鈥� rights and titleholders.
鈥淲e know some forests are irreplaceable and need protection, and [we] are committed to moving in the right direction to secure a better future for our kids,鈥� the statement said.
Girvan said industry understands that logging deferrals and further protection of old growth is in the cards but 鈥渋s fearful that there鈥檚 going to be a massive disruption of harvesting.鈥�
Over the summer, Girvan, in an estimate compiled for a coalition of sa国际传媒 pulp-and-paper producers, tried to estimate how much timber harvests could be reduced to accommodate a range of pressures facing government, including old-growth preservation.
鈥淲e forecasted that at least four sawmills on the coast would close,鈥� Girvan said, estimating that government might act on logging deferrals in forests identified by environmental groups as endangered ecosystems.
Then a paper mill would also be at risk for closure, Girvan said, because pulp-and paper is dependent on wood waste from sawmills to operate.
Wieting, however, said no one knows the details of what is being considered.
鈥淲e are talking about a certain portion of sa国际传媒鈥檚 forests that would be protected, not all the forests, not all of the old growth,鈥� Wieting said. 鈥淲e still have to wait to see what the sa国际传媒 government is willing to do.鈥�
Wieting didn鈥檛 play down the fact that there will be a 鈥渟ignificant impact on forestry jobs as we know them today,鈥� which will require considerable public support to cushion.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a moment of truth for the sa国际传媒 government to acknowledge that there鈥檚 more value in keeping standing what remains intact and not destroying it for short-term profits,鈥� Wieting said.
