Reforestation is the key to British Columbia forests. Each year an average of 200 million trees are planted around the province to replace trees that have been harvested, destroyed by fire or damaged by pests. Trees can be replaced on a site by planting a new tree, or by natural regeneration, where seeds from surrounding trees fall to the ground, take root and begin a new forest. In today's forests, tree planting helps speed the reforestation process. Continuing advances in research have resulted in higher-quality seedlings, improved planting practices and a greater survival rate-up to 85 per cent of replanted trees. Natural regeneration is still used in about 50 per cent of the areas being reforested, but it often takes about three years longer for a natural seedling to become free growing than it does for a planted seedling. B.C. Forest Service nurseries are an important part of the reforestation process. Until the early 1980's, virtually all of the stock grown for reforestation in B.C. was produced in one of the 10 Ministry nurseries. New policy provided for expansion of the industrry through contracting to industrial and private nurseries and in the mid-80's, industry was given responsibiltiy for re-stocking its own land and 7 of the Ministry owned nurseries were "privatized".  Green Timbers nursery was closed in January 1999.  The ministry currently maintains 2 operational seedling nurseries which produce approximately 18 million seedlings annually. The two Forest Service nurseries and more than 40 privately operated facilities providing ready-to-plant seedlings. The first Forest Service nursery was established at Green Timbers in Surrey in 1930. Today, the other two Forest Service nurseries are Skimikin Nursery, located at Tappen, just west of Salmon Arm, and the Surrey Nursery. Forest Service nurseries produce more than 20 different species of trees including:

• interior spruce;
• Sitka spruce;
• white pine;
• Douglas-fir;
• lodgepole pine;
• western red cedar;
• yellow cedar;
• larch; and,
• other, less widely used species.