The Canadian National Newspaper: Selling out the public interest on Vancouver Island forestlands

Since the heady days of the Clayoquot Sound logging blockades, few issues on Vancouver Island have triggered such public outrage as the proposed sale of thousands of hectares of forestland on Victoria’s doorstep. That outrage has only intensified in recent days after B.C. Auditor General John Doyle issued a blistering report criticizing the provincial government for failing to consider the public interest when granting Western Forest Products (WFP) the right to sell these lands.

When news of a potential buyer surfaced last year, hundreds of woodworkers, environmentalists, First Nations and outdoor enthusiasts protested at community meetings and before elected municipal and regional councils from the provincial capitol, through Sooke, Jordan River and Otter Point.

Surfers and loggers alike correctly saw that the sale would mean a proliferation of houses and roads where forests once stood and an end to carefully developed regional growth plans that embraced sustainable development by limiting urban sprawl.

The controversy goes back to January 2007, when the provincial government gave debt-ridden WFP permission to break a longstanding social contract. That social contract saw forest companies get generous tax breaks and access to public timber in exchange for bundling their private holdings into Tree Farm Licenses and managing both their private and public forestlands under the same set of rules. By allowing WFP to decouple its private forestlands from BC’s publicly-managed forest resources, the province set the stage for the company to sell the lands for so-called “higher and better uses,” a move that could potentially see WFP’s shareholders reap a $70 million windfall.

It now falls to newly appointed Forests Minster Pat Bell to deal with the mess left by his predecessor Rich Coleman. With an election less than a year away, Bell has little time to make it right. But make it right he can and here’s how.

First, Bell ought to consider the longstanding practice of protecting BC farmlands through the Agricultural Land Reserve. If the ALR limits non-farm developments on privately owned farmlands, why not a Forest Land Reserve that does the same for private forestlands?

Second, demonstrate that the province is serious about letting regional and municipal governments call the shots on lands properly in their jurisdiction. The Capital Regional District passed a zoning bylaw limiting housing development on the lands that WFP proposes to sell. But Community Services Minister Ida Chong took so long to approve the CRD’s down-zoning that WFP was able to apply to subdivide the lands under the old rules. Bell needs to do what Coleman failed to: defend the interests of regional governments at the cabinet table. Otherwise, company shareholders will win and the public will end up saddled with the costs.

Finally, Bell can win the support of woodworkers and environmentalists alike by declaring that public and private forestlands will be managed under similar rules. Yes, this means higher costs for private forestland owners (some of who have publicly boasted of the lack of regulations governing their activities). But private forestland owners also pay low property taxes and no stumpage or timber-cutting fees. They have, and always will have, a leg up on companies operating exclusively on public forestlands.

If Bell tackles one coastal issue during his brief tenure as Forests Minister, the private forestlands question is one that has broad public interest. Let’s hope he hears what the public is saying.

Ben Parfitt is a resource policy analyst with the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of Restoring the Public Good on Private Forestlands.

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