Rick Brouwer North West PERSPECTIVE

Ready for Opportunities in 2021

t’s a new year with a newly re-elected Tenure reform both members and non-members, the Igovernment. Congratulations to our We continue to inform people that truck wash helps with equipment main- elected representatives in northwest BC: northwest BC is an organic example of tenance, improved safety and reducing (North Coast), tenure reform; most of the tenures here the spread of invasive plants. (Skeena) and (Stikine), and have transitioned to community or First to everyone who ran for office. Congratula- Nations ownership. We have good exam- Log exports tions also to , the new Min- ples of tenure holders working together We have continued to explain to deci- ister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and with government agencies. sion makers that exports are not bad, as Operations, and Rural Development. We they allow for the continuation of domes- look forward to a good working relation- Contractor Sustainability Review tic operations and sawmills. ship with all our elected representatives, Together with the Truck Loggers Association regardless of their political affiliations, and and Interior Logging Association, we have Advocacy and messaging with the new provincial cabinet ministers. continued to engage, monitor and advocate We met with candidates in the provincial Since we’re looking to the future, it’s al- for the implementation of the recommenda- election, and in every instance we felt that ways good to know what’s been done in tions of the Contractor Sustainability Review. our message was received—that forestry the past, so let’s review what the North and logging are good for the region and West Loggers’ Association has been work- Old Growth Strategic Review provide for community stability. We also ing on for its members and the communi- We provided feedback to 's meet with, and act as a resource for, local, ties of the northwest over the past year. old-growth panel and strongly reminded elected representatives. The NWLA has a them that old growth is not in short sup- good relationship with local tenure holders Cost drivers ply in northwest BC, and that we encour- as well, and encourage a broad, holistic ap- Around this time last year, government age proper land use and forestry planning proach to our forest economy; a sustainable reached a new awareness that contractor sus- so that we will always have old growth harvest of the forest profile will result in a tainability issues and operating costs for con- and functioning ecosystems. sustainable contractor force, as well as pros- tractors and forest tenure holders were reach- perous, resilient and stable communities. ing a breaking point. Therefore, government First Nations Going forward in 2021, the NWLA started a cost driver process, engaging with We have seen increased First Nations plans to continue to push forward on the contractors and tenure holders to identify membership and continue to encourage issues that have not yet been fully resolved. significant savings (on the order of $30/m3). First Nations involvement with contrac- In addition, we will cooperate with govern- We provided many ideas for cost reductions tors and economic development. For ex- ments, tenure holders and communities on through improved permitting and consulta- ample, we were excited to see a fibre sup- how to deal with the new normal that is tion processes and timeframes, changes to ply agreement signed between two local resulting from the pandemic, and provide policies, and encouragement and incentives First Nation tenure holders and Skeena input on how to stimulate, incent, and en- for better utilization. The pandemic slowed Sawmills in Terrace, which improved sta- courage community and economic stabili- this initiative down, but the issues have not bility for several of our members. ty and resiliency, regardless of how long the gone away and we are continuing to encour- pandemic is with us. In particular, we will age the reinvigoration of this process. Economic stability through wood- be working on having the cost driver pro- based renewable energy cess reinvigorated and expanded to include Stumpage We have met with multiple parties to ex- considerations related to stumpage; the Stumpage could be considered part of plain the benefits that will come from utiliz- Contractor Sustainability Review recom- the cost driver process, but deserves its ing our fibre-quality wood such as reduced mendations being fully implemented; and own heading. We have not been advocat- carbon release from open burning of woody incenting and encouraging improved and ing for a change to how stumpage is cal- waste, creation of 500 jobs, reduced stress increased use of northwest forest resources culated; instead, we have been encourag- on the social safety net, improved land use through wood-based renewable energy. ing a modification to the way stumpage planning and a stable contractor base. Our message for you in 2021: North West rates are tracked and collected, allowing Loggers, like our forests, are strong and low (negative) stumpage rates to offset Terrace truck wash growing, and we’re ready for opportunities! higher (positive) rates. This will encour- We worked with multiple community- age improved planning, incent better use minded companies to upgrade the truck Rick Brouwer, RPF, NWLA of the resource, and reduce pressure on wash in Terrace. Thanks to everyone that Tel: 250-638-0337 the forests that are closer to sawmills. donated time and materials! Available to Email: [email protected] Winter 2021 Truck LoggerBC 13