To help lower wildfire risks, the BC Government is enlisting the help of BC Timber Sales.
Timber Sales is an organization that manages forest harvesting for over 20 percent of the province’s public land, and as of this week, it has been assigned to work on lowering the risk of wildfires while making forests and communities more resilient.
Premier David Eby says this change comes following recent tariff threats on softwood lumber from the United States.
“Tariffs and duties drive up the cost of housing in the states and will cost jobs on both sides of the border,” said Eby.
“We stand with forestry workers, and this is just one of many actions we are taking to support the forestry industry as we get through this.”
The change also comes after the Ministry of Forests started a review of Timber Sales in January this year, with Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar saying they’ve found that the organization has the tools and expertise to play a bigger role in forest management and dealing with climate change.
The province says the organization will be working with the Ministry, Wildfire Service, communities, and First Nations to lower fuel loads in high-risk areas, remove health-damaged trees, expand the use of commercial thinning, rehabilitate rangelands, and to expand the use of prescribed fire.
They add they’ll see how this change fits into their plans to protect communities from wildfires as the work continues.
–Files by Hussam Elghussein, My Cowichan Valley Now
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