Legislation that would have allowed forestry companies to apply for coveted tree farm licences (TFLs) has been put on ice, but the delay will not affect plans to rebuild a destroyed sawmill in Burns Lake, says the head of the company that owned the mill.
Hampton Affiliates was expected to be first in line to convert its volume-based licence to a TFL. The change would have helped it secure a stable wood supply from the Burns Lake area to feed the rebuilt sawmill.
The Babine Forest Products sawmill exploded in January 2012, killing two workers and creating economic uncertainty for the small northern B.C. town. Last September, Hampton announced it would rebuild the mill after forestry minister Steve Thomson assured the Portland-based company that the government would help it find the timber needed to justify the mill's reconstruction.
One of the promises Thomson made to the company was to bring forward legislation allowing for conversion to TFLs, a form of tenure that allows one licence holder to manage a specific area of public forest over several years. (Since the Liberals made sweeping changes to the Forest Act in 2003, volume-based licences, in which multiple companies have rights to cut timber in an area, have become the norm.)
Thomson tabled the bill in February, but on March 12 announced the legislation would be deferred until public consultation sessions could be held.
In an emailed statement, Hampton Affiliates CEO Steve Zika said the company was disappointed at the delay but remains committed to rebuilding the mill. In a September interview with Business in Vancouver ("Burns Lake sawmill to be rebuilt" – biv.com, September 17, 2012), Zika said the new mill would likely employ half to two-thirds of the former employees.
Opposition to the bill came from independent MLA Bob Simpson and NDP forestry critic Norm Macdonald. The two said the bill was poorly written, applied solely to large companies and was drafted without adequate public consultation. First Nations and environmental groups also had concerns about how the bill would affect access to public lands and future environmental battles.
"There's a wide range of misconceptions about the intent of the legislation," said Thomson. "I thought it was important to have a better public understanding of exactly what the bill entails, what area-based management is and what it isn't, and what the public benefits are."
He said his ministry will continue to work with Hampton to find timber in the region, which has been hard hit by the pine beetle infestation.
"As they've stated, they still intend to build the mill," said Thomson, "and we'll continue to work with them."
