Preserving Species without an Endangered Species Act: British Columbia’s Forest Practices Code

Abstract

Canada lacks endangered species legislation that might be used by environmental groups in the courts to protect wildlife habitat and other forest amenities.¹ In response to growing pressure from environmentalists, the Government of British Columbia embarked on a number of forest policy initiatives to protect forest environmental amenities, but, to make such protection palatable to others in society, also to increase government revenues from timber operations and forest-sector employment. The initiatives include: (1) the 1991 Protected Areas Strategy (PAS), which aims to double the preserved wilderness area; (2) the 1992 Commission on Resources and Environment (CORE), which is charged with finding consensus, recommending on land use and implementing PAS; (3) the 1992 Timber Supply Review process, which will re-examine the forest inventory and determine sustainable regional harvest rates to prevent a potential downfall in future timber supply; (4) a Forest Practices Code (1994); (5) the 1994 Forest Renewal Plan that will increase forest sector rent collection to pay for silvicultural investments using displaced union workers; (6) the 1994 Forest Land Reserve Act that prohibits conversion of private forestlands to alternative uses (including agriculture); and (7) a jobs initiative that seeks to increase direct forest-sector employment from 75,000 to 95,000 over 10 years. Each of these policies will affect timber availability, with some reducing timber supply (PAS by about 5%, the supply reviews by 20% and the Forest Practices Code by 10–20%) and others increasing supply — Forest Renewal and the Forest Land Reserve are meant to increase silvicultural investment through subsidies and tax breaks. Policies are conflicting, with the needed compromises possibly leading to the abandonment of one or more objectives, possibly environmental ones, at some future time.