Introduction

Forestry is British Columbia's number one industry in terms of direct and indirect jobs as well as revenues. Since the early 1990s though, there has been considerable pressure put on the industry to move away from clearcut logging towards selective logging.

Due to international advertising campaigns against BC clearcutting, boycotts of BC forestry products, and well publicized protests in old growth forests such as Clayoquot Sound, changes have occurred to logging practices in the province. For some, these changes are sufficient.

For example, according to Dr. Benjamin Cashore of Auburn University, BC substantially surpasses many other North American forest-producing jurisdictions in protecting the forest environment.

- BC's maximum coastal clearcut size (98.8 acres) is half of that in Washington State

- BC has legally mandated rules for streamside protection, while most states have voluntary guidelines except for Washington and Oregon but BC's buffer zones are wider in comparison to those two states

- California is the only state that surpasses BC in establishing protected land areas

BC is targeted by environmental groups because it depends heavily on exports so it is vulnerable to boycott pressures whereas American forest companies have a strong domestic market.

Source: www.growingtogether.ca/cashore.htm

For others though, not nearly enough has been done.
According to Markets Initiative, a coalition group of three environmental organizations (Friends of Clayoquot Sound, GreenPeace Canada and Sierra Club of BC), 90% of logging in BC is of ancient forests and 97% of logging in the temperate forest continues to be by clearcutting which is contrary to public perception.

The BC government and logging industry claim to have “World Class” logging standards but BC has no Endangered Species Legislation and the government has eroded forest practices legislation with over 1000 changes to the Forest Practices Code since its introduction in 1995.

“Since 1997, 21,500 people have lost their jobs in the BC logging industry...BC generates only one third of the jobs that the United States does and one half of the jobs that Sweden does for the same amount of wood cut. BC's poor employment ratio can be attributed to:
- high levels of mechanization
- minimal manufacturing and processing within BC, and
- the increase of raw log exports.”

“Scientists attribute 30% of the decline in salmon stocks over the past two decades to the destruction of salmon habitat.”

Source: www.marketsinitiative.org