The new chair of the Interior Lumber Manufacturers Association (ILMA) says it’s crucial they and the community work together.
Ken Kalesnikoff is thanking the RDCK for their formal call to the Province for a better way of managing the timber supply.
The smaller mills are struggling to get enough supply to produce their value-added products. Often those logs go to the very big operators or the pulp mill.
Kalesnikoff says forestry is not just about dimensional lumber.
The RDCK will also bring the matter up with the Province at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in September.
Here is the full wording of the resolution-
Whereas value-added wood product from producers within the Kootenay region represent an important part of the local economy and whose continued viability is dependent on the supply of fibre which is impacted by provincial policy decisions as well as consequences of the Mountain Pine Beetle;
Therefore be it resolved that the Regional District of Central Kootenay fully supports action being taken by the Provincial government to incent the distribution of the existing provincial timber supply, including a comprehensive review of current raw log export policy, to optimize the use of fibre through programs such as the “Right Log to the Right Mill” (being the most appropriate and highest end use of fibre), or other local initiatives to support value added production to ensure maximum opportunity for economic growth and to create and/or sustain jobs;
And further, that the Province work with local government to maximize opportunities for environmentally sustainable economic growth and job creation in this sector.
*Picture- courtesy ILMA
