After experiencing back-to-back devastating wildfire seasons in 2017 and 2018 and seeing no plan from the provincial government to address the destructive impacts of the mountain pine beetle on its surrounding forests and timber supply, the City of Quesnel started a process in May 2018 to rethink its regional forest sector and to help create a plan to revitalize both the region’s forest ecosystems and its forest economy.
The ‘Quesnel Future of Forestry Think Tank’ is a community-led process that explores both the challenges and the opportunities in the Quesnel Forest District across three domains: the forest landscape, the local manufacturing sector, and the local and regional workforce. The Quesnel Think Tank investigates three questions:
- What will it take to restore the regional forest ecosystem to a state of resiliency and adaptability that will stop large-scale pest infestations and wildfires from recurring?
- How can the forest manufacturing facilities in the region be re-invented and/or re-purposed to address the decline in sawlog availability and take advantage of the significant increase in non-sawlog commercial forest fibre?
- What re-training will be required to ensure the local workforce can continue to be employed in good-paying jobs in the City and the surrounding forests?
In partnership with local First Nations, the provincial government, post-secondary institutions, and the local and regional industry, the City has hosted three Think Tank sessions since its inception in 2018. The fourth of these bi-annual events will be held this May 21 and 22 in Quesnel, and the theme of this year’s Think Tank is “Accelerating Change.”
“We’re excited to be able to present real progress on a number of our projects at this year’s Think Tank,” Erin Robinson, the City of Quesnel’s Manager of Forestry Initiatives, said. “Quesnel has one of the most advanced Forest Landscape Planning (FLP) tables in the province and a new community forest license that is held by the four local First Nations and the City of Quesnel. We will also be presenting the engineering and business case analysis for a first-in-kind stand-alone biomass digesting facility that could turn bush waste into the feedstock needed to create petrochemical substitute products. And, we will be outlining a detailed curriculum and training program for innovative harvesting machine operators that will enable BC to more quickly move away from our traditional industrial clearcutting regime.”
The Quesnel Future of Forestry Think Tank is an invitation-only event, but its outcomes are publicly available and have been supported by successive Ministers of Forests as an example of a positive, proactive, and innovative ground-up approach to the significant challenges confronting BC’s forest sector.
For more information, contact:
Erin Robinson, Forest Initiatives Manager, City of Quesnel
erobinson@quesnel.ca
250-255-6002
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT
Jennifer Reed
Communications Clerk
E: jreed@quesnel.ca
T: 250-991-7475