B. Simpson: One hundred years ago the B.C. Forest Service was established. In its first service plan B.C.’s forests are described as one of the few “remaining great bodies of commercial timber left in the world which are not yet materially reduced by destructive lumbering.” And a warning is given that jurisdictions which overexploit their forest resources end up putting more money into maintaining what’s left of the resource than they gain from continued exploitation.
The Royal Commission on Forestry, which gave rise to the Forest Service, believed that a stand-alone service would protect B.C.’s forests from the politics of the day. The commission noted: “Forest policy that vacillates, not because fresh knowledge of forests has been obtained but simply because changes have taken place in politics, can have no value.”
One hundred years ago B.C.’s forests were viewed as an inexhaustible public resource that would remain so under the wise management of a professional forest service designed to protect B.C.’s forests from both wasteful fires and whimsical politicians in order to feed a growing lumber industry.
One hundred years later we’re struggling to provide mills with logs, large portions of the province no longer have any lumbering operations, revenue from forestry has dropped below the costs of publicly administering the resource, and the entire Forest Service, at the whim of politicians, has been absorbed into an omnibus ministry.
Professional foresters are now being trained as FrontCounter specialists, whose main objective is to facilitate easier access to B.C.’s natural resources.
As we celebrate its 100th anniversary, it’s fair to say that the B.C. Forest Service faces an uncertain future, as uncertain as the future of the forests it was established to steward for generations yet to come.