New report says BC can cut wildfire risk and carbon emissions while increasing fibre supply

Vancouver, BC. While the beleaguered BC forest industry struggles to access the fibre it needs to run its saw mills, pellet mills, pulp and paper mills, and other manufacturing facilities a new analysis more than six months in the making shows that there is more than enough waste fibre and fire-damaged fibre available to keep the industry running.

“BC Forest Leadership — Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Wildfire Risks while Increasing Fibre Utilization and Jobs” also shows that using these fibre sources will reduce available wildfire fuel and result in less slash burning, one of BC’s largest sources of carbon emissions.

“With BC’s pulp and paper sector in serious trouble due to fibre supply and competitiveness challenges, new thinking and new approaches are badly needed,” says Joe Nemeth, General Manager of the Pulp and Paper Coalition. “This work shows that there are pathways to address BC’s forest challenges, while helping prevent wildfires and reducing our provincial carbon emissions.”

Highlights of the Report include:

• Proactive fibre recovery, salvage, and thinning will remove high-risk fuels, helping lessen BC’s annual wildfire fighting spending of about $1.1 billion.

• Reducing roadside slash burning by sending such waste fibre to processing facilities could cut BC’s carbon emissions by up to 1.1 MtCO2e annually, or the equivalent of removing 200,000 cars from BC roads.

• Throughout BC are about 2 million cubic meters of unused fibre left over after logging and more than 215 million cubic meters of wildfire and insect-damaged stands. Much of this fibre can be used in various processing facilities, helping address the industry’s fibre availability challenges.

• Expanding fibre recovery could create about 3000 jobs, mainly in rural and indigenous communities.

• Economic opportunities in such an approach could include expanded value-added and bio-economy uses such as pellets and biofuels, worth about a $275 million injection into provincial GDP.

The Report recommends several steps the provincial government could take to help implement the Report’s vision.

“Three immediate steps are available to get us quickly headed down this new road,” says Nemeth.

“First would be to build upon the clear success of the BC Forest Enhancement Society by increasing its annual budget to $50 million so it can identify and encourage specific projects on specific sites.

“Second, would be to streamline the issuance of cutting permits for salvageable fibre by establishing a 90 day consultation timeline,” adds Nemeth.

Finally, he says, the province should establish a task force with industry and Report analysts to guide implementation of specific recommendations and trial areas.

“The industry needs help, and every British Columbians wants to see us take concrete steps to reduce wildfire next summer,” says Nemeth. “Let’s get started.”

“This Report outlines immediate, medium-term, and long-term actions to strengthen climate-smart forest stewardship, optimize fibre utilization, advance reconciliation, and support stable, sustainable jobs,” says Lennard Joe, CEO of the BC First Nations Forestry Council. It is essential that First Nations fully participate in governance, stewardship, and business, ensuring resilient communities and reconciliation remain at the center of these solutions."

The Report (available at foresightcac.com) was written by Silvacom Consultants and supported by a working group comprising the Pulp & Paper Coalition, Foresight Canada through its BC Net Zero Innovation Network, the BC First Nations Forestry Council, and MJ Rensing Consulting. Data and input were provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Energy and Climate Change as well as Natural Resources Canada.

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Media Contact: Gary Ley — 604-787-5467, gary@glpa.ca