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'Years of budget cuts and reorganization has severely eroded the government's ability to manage B.C.'s public forests.' - Darryl Walker.
Vancouver (13 Dec. 2010) - A new report tracking the effects of budget cuts in B.C.'s forests ministry supports a call by the B.C. Government and General Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) for a commission of inquiry to investigate forest management in the province.
The union says criticism of the report by Forests Minister Pat Bell is unjustified and partisan because the report uses the government's own data in its analysis.
"We are disappointed that (the minister) decided to play politics with this issue, instead of addressing the serious concerns facing the forest sector," says BCGEU president Darryl Walker.
"Sadly, his response clearly confirms that this is a government in denial over the crisis in B.C. forests."
"Years of budget cuts and reorganization has severely eroded the government's ability to manage B.C.'s public forests," says Walker. "This report raises troubling questions about the management of our public forests that can only be answered by a public commission which would review the current structure and make recommendations to revitalize the sector and restore public accountability."
The report, Axed: A Decade of Cuts to BC's Forest Service, has been issued jointly by the Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Sierra Club B.C. (SCBC). It chronicles the legacy of budget cuts and policy shifts that have created huge gaps in research, management and enforcement of forest policy.
Between 2001 and 2010, 1,006 positions were eliminated in the forests ministry, a 25% decline. Field inspections by compliance and enforcement staff fell 46% over the same period, opening the door to illegal logging, environmental damage and revenue loss.
Many timber supply areas in B.C. have not had tree inventories taken in more than 30 years.
The ministry's research department, which provides invaluable information to establish sustainable cut quotas and tree growth data, has been gutted. The report notes that up to nine million hectares of land - an area three times the size of Vancouver Island - may not be sufficiently stocked.
"Budget cuts, staff layoffs and self-regulation in the forest sector has resulted in the government losing its eyes and ears on the ground," Walker says.
"When a cabinet minister publicly states that resource ministries are underfunded and can no longer fulfill their mandate, you know the time has come to change direction."
The BCGEU is also calling on the B.C. Liberal government to suspend its reorganization of resource ministries, pending the results of a commission of inquiry and as a first step to restore the funding cuts included in its 2008-09 and 2010-11 budgets.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
• Download CCPA Report - Axed: A Decade of Cuts to BC's Forest Service