Conservation North is wanting the province to step up in ending old growth forest logging across B.C.
Old growth forests are habitat for animals including mountain caribou, northern goshawk, and more, but between 2021 and 2025, 27,000 hectares of rare sub-boreal old growth was logged, with Prince George and surrounding communities in the middle of that area.
On Friday, Premier David Eby opposed a Vancouver Island pulp mill from using old growth forests to prevent a closure, a decision Director Michelle Connolly wants in Central B.C.
“We wanted to point out that old growth from our region does go into the pulp mills in Quesnel and here in Prince George.”
“Why does it not make sense to have old growth go into pulp mills on the island, but it does make sense for them to go here?”
Connolly said that it’s inconsistent and a bit of a double standard, but are giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s unaware that old growth forests go to pulp mills here.
The province’s forestry sector is currently under strain, with some of the more recent hits being close to home including Brink Forest Products, the Drax Pellet Plant in Williams Lake, and a West Fraser mill closure in 100 Mile House.
She said they’d like to see mills transition away from natural logging, and instead use forests that have already been logged or better managing plantations, also deemed as commercial thinning.
When asked if that transition would be easy enough for struggling mills to make, Connolly said it would be a process involving serious changes to the tenure system, which involves a lot of decision making from local leaders.
She noted it’s important for them to continue showing the province and decision makers in Victoria how they feel about better managing local landscapes.
More information about Conservation North can be found here.
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