Environmental Law-Breakers Need To Be Held Responsible
British Columbia's forests are a treasure, unique in the world - and when logging companies or others violate BC's laws intended to protect these forests, they need to be caught, and to face real consequences.
In the last decade the number of inspections carried out by BC government staff has plummeted, dropping from over 30,000 to less than 10,000, and the fines levied against the companies and individuals that violate our forest laws have plummeted from almost $1 million to less than $75,000.
The BC government has far fewer staff on the ground checking to see that the law is being followed.
Over the same time, the government has refocused its inspection efforts away from companies holding large-scale logging rights, and towards individuals and smaller companies. While the total number of tickets issued has not dropped - a much larger portion of those tickets are issued to individuals using forest lands, not logging companies or other industrial operators.
Logging, when poorly done, can pollute our drinking water, destroy wildlife habitat and undermine the health of our forests.
Logging companies that violate the law need to know that they will be caught and that the consequences of their violations are real.
Dear Premier Clark,
I am concerned that violations of BC's forest laws are going undetected. Over the past decade, the number of inspections undertaken by the compliance and enforcement staff of the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has dropped to less than a third of their original levels.
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While there is increased enforcement activity directed against "other and non-licensed" individual and companies, the large companies responsible for managing a huge portion of BC's land base face fewer inspections each year. While these companies often have a better enforcement rate, the potential impacts of non-compliance by large-scale users is far larger.
Over the past decade the amount of fines levied against the companies and individuals that violate our forest laws has plummeted from almost $1 million to less than $75,000.
I urge you to commit to double the number of inspections carried out against large-scale tenure holders in 2 years, and to double the over-all number of inspections carried out in respect of logging operations over a 5 year period. In addition, BC's forest laws should be evaluated to ensure that they are enforceable and that they are achieving the sustainability goals that British Columbians expect. BC's forests deserve better.
Sincerely,
[Name]
