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George, thank you for sharing your insight.

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Maybe it is time that we ask what has changed in the way we fight fires over the last 30 years? Why are we losing control of so many fires? Blaming climate change and Smokey the bear on the problem is not an acceptable excuse. Why do we not have crews starting at 5:00 AM instead of 9:00 AM? We lose 4 hours of the best fire fighting time in the morning. Some crews do start early but the practice is not standard fare. Some crews will accept local knowledge while others will not. There is a certain amount of "Silo Thinking" that goes on that is not healthy for good working relations with everyone involved. We are all in this together and we all need to work together to address the problem before it bankrupts the province. Cheers George Delisle

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Headline could read- BC NDP Government Looking at Ways to Kill Resource Development

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The rest of required lumber will come from places like Russia and Sweden. Duty free of course.

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no way

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The current Provincial forest inventory, as pointed out in this article, lacks credibility in terms of the future of forest management in British Columbia A decision regarding what factors determine inventory characteristics needs to clearly define the areas where natural forests are required BUT the there is also a need to determine those forest landscapes areas where managed forests can be significantly improved so as to continue to ensure an adequate timber supply to allow for an evolving prosperous forest industry

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West Fraser is a low cost producer and successful at this goal but their involvement in communities where they operate is missing compared to other corporations.

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The US actions concerning Canadian Softwood Lumber will be vary challenging for small BC sawmilll operations The future of wood products produced in Canada lies NOT with the US but SE Asia and the Middle East The Federal Govt should work with BC and other Provinces to develope export strategies for our wood products to these countries Rather than export our dollars to an isolationist country struggling to integrate into a globalize world economy; invest these dollars into countries who wish to Make the World Great by working together

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35% of the log is underused or not used at all and some is left in the bush new products including biofuels, chemicals etc need to be developed that have values that justify the costs of using all the timber portion,not just for lumber the industry also needs to develop more markets outside the USA for obvious reasons.... the lumber industry has operated on a cyclic up and down model for decades due to changes in economies and politics by diversifying products and markets these cycles can be levelled out as well as inclining

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thirty five percent of the log is left in the bush that could be value added beyond traditional lumber biofuels,chemicals etc also new markets outside the USA need to pushed forward the same old same old does not cut it anymore... the USA has once again gone into protectionist mode this will not be the last time...

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Fixed. Thanks for letting me know. Cindy

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The link to the Edmonton Journal re the Fort Mac wildfire report doesn't work

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all communities surrounded by forest should have at least a mile wide firebreak and water/pumping systems in place on their perimeters thats a no brainer esp in days of climate change pine beetles and dry and dead forests...

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Apparently they had computer models illustrating what may occur but the government (political) didn't want to pay for some resources at the start of the fire.

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I wouldn't say we're working on behalf of environmentalists, simply that we are reporting what they're up to. I appreciate the feedback, and will consider your opinion. Cindy

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Oh come on! Watersheds in Peril in a research paper done by WWF! It's part of their fund raising campaign so how is this relevant outside of urban or agricultural areas. Remember, urban sprawl and agricultural areas de-forested are no longer watersheds.

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I believe there is stress put on the watersheds. But many think the WWF cries wolf so often that even if a study is legitimate people frequently brush it off. One of the biggest factors is urbanization. Former and present mayors of major urban centers should realize it. If they were serious about this issue then serious action regarding urban development must occur.

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Since when is the Working Forest working on the behalf of uneducated and job threatening environmentalists? If this is the new WF, I have read my last edition.

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Excellent comment.

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while this is all good the fact is most Cdn producers are far more efficient at making 2 by 4s esp with the exchnge rate and this is a protectionist move...plain and simple...and then of course we have " that man" in the Whitehouse Cdns need to develop other markets.. anyways good luck to all