The provincial plan to defer logging in areas containing old growth trees could be devastating for the forest industry according to the union representing forestry workers.
Local USW president Brian Butler says the plan will hit coastal communities like Port Alberni hard.
“For Port Alberni, and other areas of the province where old growth harvest takes place, I fear it’s going to be devastating the amount of job losses and corresponding sawmill closures,” he said.
Butler said they knew the plan would be bad for workers as the review panel members have ties to Sierra Club and West Coast Environmental Law.
“Unfortunately labour and the industry were shut out of discussions even though we were promised a seat at the table and input,” he said. “As soon as they struck that biased panel, it was precook at that point that forest workers were going to lose jobs.”
Under the plan, 2.6 million hectares of forest will be protected from logging, potentially affecting more than 18,000 forestry jobs.
The Council of Forest Industries says if this plan is put in place, it will lead to the closure of between 14 and 20 sawmills in BC, along with two pulp mills and an undetermined number of value-added manufacturing facilities.
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