Silviculture: The Dilemma

British Columbia (BC) has been developed,
in large part, by exploitation of natural
resources, including large tracts of mature
forests. While forest management has
evolved to provide reasonably sustainable
harvest levels, including protecting (or
minimizing damage to) many key nontimber
values and assuring reforestation
of logged areas, the system is based on
deriving short-term economic values from
forests. The primary beneficiaries have
been corporations, who hold the harvesting
rights, and the BC public, through jobs
and stumpage/tax revenue used to fund
infrastructure and government initiatives.
While this system has shortcomings, overall
it has served BC well.