There’s a new group looking out for BC’s forests.
Provincial Minister of Forests Steve Thomson announced the creation of the Forest Enhancement Society on Friday. He said the new society will be backed by a hefty investment from the provincial government.
“$85 million has been provided by the provincial government to focus efforts on wildfire risk reduction, which will compliment our existing forest stewardship programs and our world class wildfire suppression capabilities,” Thomson said.
The society will focus on key areas of forest management in an effort to improve stewardship.
“The new society is going to concentrate its activities in 4 areas: wildfire risk reduction, forest rehabilitation, which is clearing stands damaged by wildfire or at high risk from wildfire and reforesting them, wildlife habitat restoration and education work.”
Thomson says that educational work will include raising awareness with local governments, forest stakeholders and rural property owners about the role they can play in supporting the ministry’s wildfire prevention efforts.
“We’re very excited to get things underway. We’re looking forward to the work of the society. I’ve asked them to get to work right away, engage with stakeholders and organizations across the province – communities and forests interests,” Thomson says. “I know they’ve got a lot of work ahead of them. I’m very pleased with the five individuals that we’ve appointed.”
Those five individuals are:
- Jim Snetsinger, a former chief forester with the province;
- Derek Orr, chief of the McLeod Lake Indian Band;
- Wayne Clogg, former vice president of West Fraser’s Woodlands;
- Dave Peterson, assistant deputy minister for the Tenures, Competitiveness and Innovation division of the BC Forest Ministry; and
- Robert Turner, another assistant deputy minister with the Integrated Resource Operations division.
Thomson also announced the selection of new chief forester Diane Nicholls.
The hope is that the society’s efforts will result in a decrease in wildfires in BC. The province’s last wildfire season was one of the most expensive in recent memory with $287 spent fighting fires and more than 300,000 hectares of forest burned.