For at least 20 years, governments have known that British Columbia’s timber supply would decline in the future—we could not keep cutting at the rate we’ve been going. Now there is an urgent need for up-to-date information to review the timber supply and allowable annual cuts throughout the province.
A 1991 study completed by the Forest Service, A Review of the Timber Supply Analysis Process for British Columbia, examined the procedures which led to the determination of allowable annual cuts, and confirmed the need for change.
The study found that:
• existing allowable annual cuts were based on outdated information and management practices
• procedures failed to take into account integrated resource management practices and protection of non-timber values
• the procedures were far too time-consuming
• analytical techniques had to be strengthened
As a result of these procedural weaknesses, very few timber supply analyses had been completed since the early 1980s with few allowable annual cut adjustments.
The Forest Service acted quickly on the study’s recommendations. The Timber Supply Review was initiated to assess short- and long-term timber supplies in light of current forest practices and integrated resource management goals.
