The committee will examine growing log exports to the US, which have caused supply shortages to mills in the region, including Port Alberni where a truck blockade was recently held to stop logs being transported out of the region.
British Columbia has introduced new policies which removed private lands from provincial export restrictions and permit up to one-third of the timber from the north and central coast to be exported.
The government’s decision to review log exports has been welcomed by forest products groups, who say the move will help ascertain the level of exports and the effects on manufacturing capacity in the region.
Provincial forests minister Rich Coleman said the province would help Port Alberni develop a strategy to ensure sawmilling has a future in the valley.
