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  Following our successful first AGM and the well attended PWC forest industry conference, we are now focusing on our first Board meeting to be held in Kelowna on May 26th along with a community dinner. Featured speaker at the dinner is the Honourable George Abbott, Minister of Sustainable Resource Management. We look forward to seeing you there. Staff continue to work actively with the Ministry of Forests on the many implementation issues and details flowing from the Forestry Revitalization Plan and I want to acknowledge the very productive working relationship we have with the Ministry at all levels. While we do not always agree on all matters, the lines of communication are always available and open. Looking out 12 months from now I am pleased to let you know that COFI will be holding a convention in Prince George. Many will recall the hugely successful NFPA Conventions and we hope to re-establish the tradition next year. Stay tuned for further details.  John Allan |
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 COFI's first AGM was held on March 30th at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Newly elected COFI Directors are:
At the subsequent Board meeting, Dennis Rounsville was elected COFI Chairman and Len Pettman as COFI Vice Chair. Dennis will also Chair the Executive Committee. Ron Neil will continue as Chair of the Finance Committee. Len Pettman continues as Chair of the Forestry Committee and Morris Douglas of Riverside will continue as Chair of the Markets and Trade Committee. In addition, Ken Lloyd, Craig Neeser, Ron Neil and Dennis Rounsville will act as an Advisory Committee to John Allan in his role in the Implementation Team of the Forest Safety Task Force. Thank you to Board and Committee members, past, continuing and new, for your efforts and support of COFI and our industry. |
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A new system for the cleanup of contaminated lands has also been introduced as part of the new Act. The previous system was widely criticized for being slow, cumbersome and complicated. Although it was designed to deal with the most contaminated and highest-risk sites in the province, it also captured lands that posed little or no risk to human health or the environment. The Environmental Management Act amended the contaminated sites provisions of the Waste Management Act to streamline the process of regulating contaminated sites and to provide a better focus on activities that pose the most significant risk to the environment. WLAP intends to develop further legislative and regulatory amendments and protocol development over the next several years as part of its ongoing commitment to changes and improvements to the contaminated sites regime in British Columbia. Another change in the Environmental Management Act is the elimination of the requirement for permits for the storage of hazardous waste. According to WLAP, these types of permits in most cases merely repeated the requirements that are found in the Special (Hazardous) Waste Regulation. Finally, according to WLAP, the Special Waste Regulation is scheduled to be amended this spring to incorporate appropriate references to the "clear language" federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations provisions, the Inter-provincial Movement of Hazardous Waste Regulations provisions under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), and other changes required to make the Special Waste Regulation compatible with the new Environmental Management Act. A more comprehensive review and amendment of the Special Waste Regulation is expected to begin in 2004. Over time these changes could mean significant improvements for forest companies. To ensure amendments will provide positive benefits, COFI will continue to provide input on proposed changes both through the Business Council of BC Environment Committee and its own Environment Committee. A COFI workshop on Code development is planned for late May 2004. For more information see WLAP's Waste Management Act Review web site: http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/epd/waste_mgt_review/index.html Or contact Anne Mauch, Director, Regulary Issues by e-mail: mauch@cofi.org or by phone: 604-891-1213. |
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VANDERHOOF – On April 2nd, 2004, the provincial
government added a new component to the Mountain Pine Beetle strategy.
Minister of State for Forestry Operations, Roger Harris, announced an
update to the province's Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan during open
Cabinet and a news conference in Vanderhoof. Looking ahead 10-15 years,
it is anticipated that there will be 200 million cubic meters of affected
timber surplus to existing manufacturing capacity. An "expressions
of interest" to seek new uses of beetle wood will be issued shortly.
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 The federal government brought all but the prohibitions sections of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) into force on June 5, 2003. The prohibitions sections of the Act will come into force on June 1, 2004. In BC there is a significant level of concern about the potential impacts of these prohibitions and the lack of provision for an orderly transition to the new law for any provincially granted authority such as a cutting permit or a road permit. The two prohibitions of most concern are: "damaging or destroying" a residence and "destroying any part of a critical habitat". The terms "residence" and "critical habitat" are defined in the Act, but their real-world application is uncertain and unclear. Initially, these prohibitions apply to federal species (fish and migratory birds) that are legally listed and to any legally listed species found on any federal lands. There are 27 federal species legally listed as species at risk in BC. The Act requires that Recovery Strategies for the current 233 legally listed species must be completed before June 2007. The Act also requires that a further 142 species, likely to become legally listed this year, have Recovery Strategies completed by 2008. The history of developing recovery strategies suggests that these federal obligations are very unlikely to be met. The Act does not provide for an extension of these dates. The Ministry of Forests has done an analysis of the possible timber supply impacts of critical habitat definition for 4 species in BC – spotted owl, caribou, goshawk and marbled murrelet. The Ministry determined that there would be a further 6% reduction in provincial timber supply on top of the 6% reduction expected to result from provincial laws. In other words, these 4 species alone are expected to have a combined 12% reduction in provincial timber supply, according to the study. In 1999 BC introduced the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (IWMS). The IWMS is the Province’s approach to species at risk under the Forest Practices Code and is applicable to forest and range lands. It has not been accepted by Environment Canada as a replacement for SARA. Additionally, the federal list of species at risk and the provincial list of species at risk are not consistent. The listing processes are also different. The Province is about to release an updated IWMS process. COFI has been working with the provincial government in the development of the revised IWMS and we are satisfied with the content and processes. COFI has approached both the federal and provincial governments to work collectively to address a number of issues related to SARA. There is agreement on the need to work together to establish a better state-of-readiness for the full enactment of SARA and joint work was recently initiated. For more information contact Peter Affleck, Vice President Forestry by e-mail: affleck@cofi.org or by phone: 604-891-1212. |
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Negotiations essentially ceased a number of weeks ago pending delivery of this report. However, Trade Minister Peterson has indicated that he will advance a counter-proposal to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) shortly after April 30. In the meantime, the B.C. government has decided to use the leverage of its market based policy reforms to commence bilateral discussions with DOC commencing April 16. For more information please see the following websites: BC Lumber Trade Council: www.bclumbertrade.com Government of Canada: www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/menu-en.asp Government of BC: www.for.gov.bc.ca/HET/softwood/index.htm |
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 In early April, Grant Aldonas, US undersecretary responsible for international trade toured Vancouver Island to get a first-hand look at the new coast timber pricing system in action. Aldonas was reported to be impressed by the changes and ready to begin negotiations with BC, separately from the rest of Canada. The Vancouver Sun reported that Forests Minister Mike de Jong also has said that BC is ready to negotiate separately. A change to the interior timber pricing system is also proposed but decisions on the details and timing are still some way away. For more information about the BC Coast Market Pricing Systems go to the MOF site: http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hva/timberp/infopapers/MPSCoast.pdf |
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 What kind of voting system do YOU want in BC? The CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY ON ELECTORAL REFORM is holding 49 public hearings in communities around the province to hear British Columbians’ views on BC’s electoral system – that is how your vote determines who is elected to British Columbia’s Legislature. The Assembly has prepared a Preliminary Statement to the People of BC to start this discussion. A public hearings schedule can be found on the Citizens' Assembly website. This is your chance to help shape our political and electoral system. We need you to get involved, to make your voice heard. The CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY is an independent, non-partisan group of 160 British Columbians randomly selected from communities around the province to review the way we elect our provincial political representatives. It will recommend the best electoral system for BC in December. If there is a recommendation for change, it will go to all British Columbians for final decision in a referendum in May 2005. Visit our comprehensive website for more details about the hearings and learning resources about electoral systems: www.citizensassembly.bc.ca |
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