By James Neeley
A four-province discussion at the 2009 Ontario Professional Forestry Association conference and annual general meeting in April outlined where Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia are heading.
Ontario:
A wave of change is coming to the Ontario forest industry, announced Bill Thornton ADM forest division of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
Changes will come in three areas: timber licensing, disposition and pricing.
"Ontario is not contemplating privatization," Thornton said emphatically at the 2009 Ontario Professional Forestry Association conference and annual general meeting in April.
The Ontario system does impede new business entrance, he said. And the government would like to manage the industry for a profit to develop a cushion for tough times and for forest management.
"But a fair system, not about making more revenue," is what Thornton said he wants to see.
Discussions are ongoing, and Thornton expects advice and recommendations on changes should reach the government by the fall.
"My gut tells me we will see different processes in various regions of the province."
Quebec:
Quebec is in the process of ushering "new forestry regime," said Andre D'Arcy from the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife.
There are three forestry areas in Quebec, he said, protected areas, ecosystemic zones, and intensive production zones.
Quebec has reviewed their pricing policy.
"The plan is to have all the plans and orientation decided by the regional authorities, D'Arcy said, explaining the government will dish out the contracts and all companies will be certified with the department.
The goal is to have a renewable resource that can provide revenue and jobs for the long term, he said.
The new forestry regime bill is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly of Quebec in 2009, studied in the fall, hopefully implemented through a transition period to begin in 2011 and on April 1, 2013 full implementation.
New Brunswick:
New Brunswick was the only one of the four regions represented not calling for change.
Paul Orser, ADM for the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources said it's due in part to the community nature of their forest industry.
"A lot of good things are happening in New Brunswick forestry," he said. "Our wood strategy for 2012 actually sacrifices wood volume for better quality."
Of the provinces approximately three million hectares of forest land half is owned by the government, the other half by various sized private entities, Orser said.
New Brunswick uses a fair market value study to determine their royalty rates, licenses are reviewed every five years and forest management efforts are require every five years.
Facing a "once in a lifetime" economic challenge, New Brunswick is focusing on added value and bioenergy, Orser said.
Industry, government, private wood lots know they have to work together to get yields up, he said. The challenge is striking the right balance.
British Columbia:
In 2003, British Columbia undertook a very tough review of it's forestry sector, said Bob Friesen, ADM for the British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range.
"If we had not done it, the downturn in the economy would have overtaken us earlier than it did.
Of the province's vast forest lands, 95 per cent is public owned, he said. "And that won't change. At least not in my lifetime."
The British Columbia tenure system is unusually complicated, Friesen said, with more than 1,000 timber licenses, most of which are wood lots.
The government did a lot to introduce market signals into the economy and to diversify, he said.
"Six years is not enough to evaluate the reforms and this market is not the time to try and tweak things."
In 2004 the government introduced a market pricing system.
"You don't have to sell your house to know what it's worth, just look around the neighbourhood," Friesen said.
They also sell 20 per cent of their standing timber at auction. Then set the price on the other 80 per cent based on the auction.
"We have made all these changes to get government out of the way and let business make business decisions," Friesen said. "It's not perfect but it's a long step forward. If it wasn't for the market collapse we would be seeing positive benefits."
British Columbia is currently examining where the forestry industry is headed, specifically the bio-market, 29 recommendations have been made to improve the system not thrown it out, Friesen said.
