Workshop-Advancing The New Forest Act

The New Forest Act has reached a new stage. Originally created by Jennifer Houton, Dave Weaver and the Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society (BFWSS), this proposal has been presented to numerous communities across the province and most recently in September to relevant government Ministers. Now the society, having done its work, is dissolving though the document and all the associated files will be preserved for the people of BC to continue promoting.  One of the last steps for the BFWSS is to hold this free online training workshop for people who want to understand the proposal, talk about it in their own communities, and take it to MLAs, local governments, organizations, and other decision-makers. Watch video on the New Forest Act here: https://youtu.be/lummcIgVOEc

Under the New Forest Act, ecological requirements come first. They determine what must be protected, what must be restored, and what land remains available for harvesting. Only then is allowable harvest determined. In other words: Ecological limits → land-use decisions → allowable harvest. You don’t pick a harvest number first and then arrange the landscape to produce it.

The BC government is currently promoting it’s Working Forest Landscape Model. Because both it and the proposed New Forest Act have three zones the two approaches can sound similar. They are not. The government’s model puts new zones and terminology over the existing forestry system. It retains a Working Forest Zone where timber production remains the priority, while government continues to plan around a provincial harvest target of approximately 45 million cubic metres a year.

We’ll cover:

• what the New Forest Act proposes – and why the changes need to be in law;
• how Protect–Restore–Harvest differs from the BC government’s current three-zone approach;
• the key questions government has asked about the proposal, including restoration, ecological limits, communities, First Nations, workers, and fire;
• how to respond when government points to existing programs or planning initiatives and says it is already addressing these issues;
• how to explain the New Forest Act clearly without becoming a forestry expert;
• how to talk about the proposal with MLAs, local governments, organizations, and others;
• how to make a clear, concrete ask; and
• practical resources you can use after the workshop