Business
Western Forest Products Comments on Central and North Coast Land Use Decisions
Western Forest Products Comments on Central and North Coast Land Use Decisions.
About this update from Western Forest Products Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nTSX: WEF\n\nVANCOUVER, Feb. 7 /CNW/ - The British Columbia Government today announced\nland use decisions for the Central and North Coast that detail a vision for\nthe use and management of public lands and resources in the region. The\ndecisions pave the way for finalizing government to government land use\nagreements with First Nations. This decision is the outcome of negotiations\nover a number of years and involved interested stakeholders including the\nGovernment of BC, First Nations, environmental groups, local communities and\nforest industry representatives. Western Forest Products (TSX:WEF) interests\nhave been represented through its membership of the Coast Forest Conservation\nInitiative, an industry group involved in the Plan negotiations. The decision\naffects approximately 6.4 million hectares of land along the Central and North\nCoast areas of BC and will result in more than one third of the land area\nbeing unavailable to logging. The areas available to logging will be managed\nunder an ecosystem-based management framework.\nCommenting on the Plan, Reynold Hert, President and Chief Executive\nOfficer noted \"The certainty of knowing where we can operate, the certainty of\nknowing what areas are permanently protected, and the certainty for our\ncustomers that we will continue to produce forest products from the BC Coast\nfree from market campaigns is a hallmark of success.\"\nWestern's current Allowable Annual Cut of timber (\"AAC\") in the Central\nand North Coast region is approximately 615,000 cubic metres. It is\nanticipated that this will be reduced once Protected Areas are established and\necosystem based management is fully implemented. Western has not been\nharvesting its full AAC in this region for a number of years due to temporary\nreductions put in place during the negotiation period and uncertainty around\noperating areas. Western does not anticipate a significant change in the\ncurrent harvest rate in comparison to the harvest in recent years as a result\nof this decision. The land use decision, which will include ongoing\nnegotiations with stakeholders, is expected to be fully implemented by 2009.\n\nWestern Forest Products\nWestern is an integrated Canadian forest products company and currently\nthe second largest coastal woodland operator in British Columbia. Principal\nactivities conduc...