The Discussion Paper identifies intensive silviculture as one opportunity for offsetting the effects of projected timber supply reductions. The East Kootenay Environmental Society maintains it is not yet proven that silvicultural inputs produce commercially viable and biologically sustainable forests, and cautions against predicting future timber supply on that basis.
The society also expresses concern about the quality of wood that will be produced from intensive management, which it predicts will be inferior to that from existing natural forests. Since the Forest Service analysis focuses on maximum yield in minimum time, the society is concerned that a transition from a sawlog economy to a pulpwood economy is possible. It describes this as a travesty in view of the potential of the area to grow high-value, high-quality wood.
An individual submission suggests intensive forestry should be restricted to the dedicated areas identified in the East Kootenay Land-Use Plan.
