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District of Vanderhoof councillor part of BC Timber Sales review committee

'We will come up with some recommendations of what's working well and what can be done better,' said Brian Frenkel
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District of Vanderhoof Coun. Brian Frenkel (right) has been appointed to an expert task force by B.C. Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar that will help with a review of BC Timber Sales.

District of Vanderhoof councillor Brian Frenkel is excited to be part of an expert task force that will review BC Timber Sales (BCTS). 

B.C.'s Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar announced the review Wednesday, Jan. 15, and said Lennard Joe, chief executive officer of the B.C. First Nations Forestry Council, and former cabinet minister George Abbott will also be on the task force. 

"Forestry in B.C. is in transition, and the people and communities who rely on our forests - who are bearing the brunt of ongoing challenges - want change now," said Parmar in news release.  "That's why I have asked Lennard Joe, George Abbott and Brian Frenkel to look at the opportunities to leverage BCTS to set B.C.'s forest industry up for the next 100 years."

Frenkel told Black Press Media over the phone from the Natural Resource Forum in Prince George Wednesday, Jan. 15, the last few years have been difficult for the forest industry. 

"We have to look at how we can make some changes so the volume that is required from BC Timber Sales is sold in a fair market value to industry in these rural communities," he said. 

BC Timber Sales BC Timber Sales was formed to provide a market-pricing mechanism to respond to the U.S. trade dispute in 2003. 

The review of it will be led by the Ministry of Forests with support from the task force and will use the Provincial Forestry Forum, a group that brings together  contractors, value-added manufacturers, industry and labour.

It is expected action will be taken within six months of launching the review and Frenkel said they have already had a preliminary meeting.

"From what I understand, we are meeting with minister every two weeks and then there will be work between those those sessions with the committee and the staff. We will come up with some recommendations of what's working well and what can be done better." 

With a background in the forest industry dating back to 1984, Frenkel said he worked in the woodlands department of L&M sawmill, now Nechako Lumber Co., and had a forestry consultant business for 34 years. 

A district councillor for 25 years, and a former Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) president, Frenkel said local government voices have been there for a long time and UBCM submits responses to any forestry initiatives the government puts forward. 

The review of BC Timber Sales, he said, will include looking at some of the information different groups have put forward in the last five or six years. 

"Some reviews take a long time, but this will also be almost like a literary review of what is already out there." 

When asked about the future of the forest sector in B.C. Frenkel responded it's not going to be the same as it was prior to the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic. 

"There may be areas of the province that are untouched, but climate change is playing a big role in how forestry is going to be looked at," he said. "But, I feel positive about a different looking forestry. Is it going to be massive sawmills? Not really. Is it going to be value-added? I think value-added has a large component to fill." 

Parmar said a top priority of the government is to get more value out of forests and said they will be doubling the amount of BCTS volume that is dedicated to value-added manufacturers, from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, which is about 1.1 million cubic meters in 2025 alone. 

Frenkel said that will give the independents and people that can make different products a more sustained volume instead of going into competition with big companies. 

Referencing his own community, he said he would like to see Nechako Lumber Co. survive and get back up to two shifts. 

"It's a focus on how we can make BCTS get permits out in a timely fashion. I don't know what it looks like but that would be a goal — to help rural B.C. out and the remaining sawmills that are there and that they have access to timber." 

Another discussion will about accessing more volume from community forests and maybe BCTS can help sell community forest logging, he said. 

"Those are just pretty preliminary thoughts that I know I've heard over the last eight years being involved with UBCM and local governments across B.C." 

While at the forum he said he has had had many people reach out about his appointment to the task force and the review. 

"I've got lots of emails and people stopping to talk to me." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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