The British Columbia government is holding talks with the forestry industry over ways to supply more timber to beetle-hit Interior sawmills, including the option of opening forest reserves that have until now been out of bounds to loggers.
A report to be released later this month by the International Wood Markets Group is expected to show that sawmills are running out of economically accessible timber and that another round of mill closures, this time as a result of the beetle rather than the economic downturn, is expected to hit the Interior.
John Allan, president of the BC Council of Forest Industries, which represents the Interior industry, said the industry had been discussing the issue with government but wanted a public dialogue on how additional timber supplies could be found. He is concerned that what are perceived as unilateral talks could galvanise opposition to logging in reserves.
