New Forestry Act proposed

A proposed new forest act brought out more than 80 interested people to Port Alberni’s Italian Hall on Tuesday night.

Advocates for the new act say it’s the industry that currently controls forestry in BC, and they want to shift from maximizing timber extraction to managing forests based on how forests function.

Project lead Jennifer Houghton says the citizen driven proposal would bring greater stability to forestry communities.

“Communities like Port Alberni and others on Vancouver Island are dealing with declining timber supply, mill closures, and boom and bust cycles and job losses,” she said. “So the New Forest Act shifts towards a different forestry methodology so that we’re still logging but we’re using less wood and getting more value from the wood that is cut.”