6. Forestry in British Columbia
Introduction
British Columbia’s forests are legendary. BC forests have been the economic, cultural and political lifeblood of the province – from the intimate relationships of First Nations with the life-sustaining cedar and sacred trees like the Golden Spruce, to the harrowing tales of lumberjacks among the towering evergreens of the coast, to the role of BC forests in feeding the military during war, and to the now-familiar boom-and-bust cycles of lumber towns like Chemainus.
Despite the heavy use of this resource, only 60% of the province is forested, which represents approximately 55 million of the province’s 95 million hectares. Three percent of areas that were formerly forests have been permanently converted to other land uses, such as towns, urban areas or agriculture. The forest is a public resource as about 95% percent of the forested area is provincially owned.
Forestry is a vital part of the province’s economy. Currently, one in five jobs in BC is related to forestry. Employment in the industry is growing with direct and indirect employment sitting just below 170,000 in 2012. Although the forest sector has experienced some declines, with an average annual growth rate of 1.7% it is forecast to be one of three sectors to experience the fastest growth from 2007 to 2017.
In 2004, lumber production peaked at 85 million cubic metres of lumber produced at sawmills, but by 2009 there was a decline to about 45 million cubic metre. The socioeconomic implication of this downfall was harmful to large parts of the economy and to several communities that were devastated by the closing of sawmills. Since then, the industry has slightly recovered and future prediction estimates a continued slow recovery. Despite the 2009 slowdown of the lumber industry, BC’s global exports in wood products totalled $7,745,000, and pulp and paper exports were at $3,909,000, constituting 33% constituting 33 percent of BC’s overall commodity exports (BC Stats, 2014).
The province has adopted the western red cedar as its official tree, reflecting its importance to the indigenous communities and to the economic growth of the province. However, to best understand the background of forestry in BC it is important to overview some of the many important native tree species. The BC Tree Book [1] outlines 40 different native tree species that can be divided into two broad categories: deciduous trees and coniferous trees.
Deciduous Trees (Hardwood)
Deciduous means “falling off at maturity” and entails the natural process of dropping a plant part that is no longer needed. It is used to describe trees and shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally (commonly during autumn) and to plants that lose their petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. Deciduous trees in British Columbia usually are rapid growers that come immediately after the destruction of the forest by natural causes such as fire, infestation or natural decay. The most common species of deci