The B.C. NDP has set its sights on raw log exports, criticizing the province for exporting the resource at the expense of home grown manufacturing jobs.
Powell River - Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons met with members of the opposition's forest committee as they made their way through his riding during a Coastal tour of stakeholders in the logging industry.
On Feb. 16, the provincial government released data that showed the value of softwood lumber exports had risen 60 per cent in 2011, for the first time passing the $1 billion mark.
"We don't think that simply exporting our valuable natural resource to create jobs elsewhere makes a lot of sense," said Cowichan Valley MLA and NDP forestry critic Bill Routley, describing a loss of 70 mills in British Columbia as "totally unacceptable."
According to government numbers, China now accounts for some 32 per cent of B.C.'s total volume of softwood exports. Since 2003, the province said, the value of those exports had risen from $69 million to $1.1 billion.
Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell has said that the struggle in global markets made it "imperative" for B.C. to focus on timber markets like Asia, where there is notable growth.
The United States remained B.C.'s biggest customer, importing $3.8 billion worth of softwood lumber.
Despite the figures, the NDP thinks changes are needed, Routley said.
"We're not calling for a ban of raw log exports, and at the end of the day, there are always going to be some exceptions," he said. "The fee in lieu of manufacturing is supposed to be designed to help keep logs here in British Columbia."
According to Routley and the NDP, Coastal stakeholders agree that something needs to be done to stem the tide of raw log exports and to encourage a return of manufacturing in the province.
But not all of those invested in the forest industry are convinced.
Mike Bowering, a registered professional forester on the Sunshine Coast, said the NDP has at times ignored the changing nature of the manufacturing business.
"The reality is there are probably more jobs being created in the forest sector where you've got loggers going to work and guys working the side hills, because mills now are becoming more automated all the time," he said.
To people like Bowering, the sale of logs at a market price puts "the value back into the forest," rather than creating what can sometimes be expensive agreements with mill owners to provide logs for a declining return on employment positions.
The economic incentive also encourages investment into the future of the renewable resource, he said, in things like silviculture treatments and ensuring that long-term access to the resource is guaranteed.
"They always forget to mention that sort of stuff," he said.
