The City of Terrace has joined many in asking BC’s government to reevaluate a recent Old Growth Logging Deferral plan.
During their regular meeting last night, Council agreed to write a letter of support in favour of a request made by the Northwest Loggers Association.
That request will ask the province for a reset on Old Growth strategy discussions which would bring all stakeholders back to the table.
A poorly defined plan was released by the province last month, listing some 2.6 million cubic metres of forests as deferral areas.
But the Association says that, not only was the science that led to that plan spotty at best, but it doesn’t account for many factors, such as size, or the state and age of the trees themselves.
They also say that a government job loss prediction of 4,500 is on the low end, and could actually be as high as 18,000.
More than 140 million dollars in economic activity could be lost in the area around Terrace alone under the current proposal.
While the Association is not against the deferrals, they do want to be meaningfully consulted on a plan based on scientific evidence.
They are asking for the government to reset discussions on the plan, bringing experts, communities, industry, and First Nations all to the table.
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