BC’s forestry industry is struggling to overcome misinformation, Truck Loggers Association president Bob Brash told Campbell River council this week.
Brash says the industry is facing uncertainty caused by government policies, and it doesn’t help that many people don’t understand how modern logging works. He described a conversation he had recently with protestors in Qualicum he noticed while shopping.
“I wandered up the street and started talking to them… nice folks, but the amount of misinformation that they have in their heads about how the forest sector operates… it was actually a bit startling,” he says. “That’s the challenge, we’ve got all these different camps out there right now, and nobody, even government, is looking to come up with try to come up with this vision that we can all work on moving forward.”
Brash says all groups with an interest in forestry need to communicate with each other, even if they disagree. He says a collaborative approach is needed to deal with multiple levels of government, and to provide the industry with direction and certainty.
Councilors agreed, pointing out how important forestry is to the economy of Campbell River and the surrounding region, and how there’s a “cottage industry” pumping out misinformation about forestry and other resource sectors on the Island.
