Why the future of B.C.'s forests has become a huge election issue

Some British Columbians casting ballots in the upcoming election see the vote as a crossroads for the province's famed, massive old trees, its forests' flora and fauna, and its climate future.

In 2020, the province vowed to change the way trees were logged and biodiversity protected. Those close to the issue say delivering on that is more important than ever.

"This is a critical time, an important election," said Jens Wieting with the B.C. Sierra Club.

"We hope that voters in B.C. will reflect about the web of life, the forests in B.C.; the rights of Indigenous peoples. All of these things are connected."

In the lead up to the Oct. 19 election the Sierra Club has been touring cities and towns on Vancouver Island — an important centre of logging in B.C. that was also the location of the War in the Woods and the more recent Fairy Creek protests — with screenings of a unique documentary that follows forestry workers, conservationists and First Nations through their work in forests.

With no narrator, Silvicola aims to provide a non-judgmental account of how forests factor into many lives in different ways in B.C. and how things could change in the future to preserve biodiversity and jobs, and achieve reconciliation with First Nations.

Producer and director Jean-Philippe Marquis, a former tree planter, said he wants Silvicola to bring people together and help them fashion solutions for forestry through collaboration rather than conflict.

Speaking at a recent screening in Cumberland, a community about 180 kilometres northwest of Victoria that was built around logging, Marquis said he wants the film to provide a space "around which both people from the industry and people from the community … gather and they talk."

Forestry in B.C. is a major economic driver. The industry employs 56,000 people and provides nearly $2 billion a year in government revenue, according to the province. 

Nearly 60 per cent of the province's 950,000 square kilometres is publicly managed forest. The province says around 2,000 square kilometres are harvested each year.

Old-growth forests, defined as having trees at least 250 years old on the coast and 140 years old in the Interior, make up around 22 per cent of the annual harvest. 

Conservationists argue forests, especially old, valuable ones, which are sinks for carbon and biodiversity, are being cut too fast.

Rampant wildfires, driven by climate change, are also reducing forests, while communities reliant on logging are seeing lumber prices in flux and higher tariffs levied by the U.S., resulting in sawmill closures and job losses.

With so much uncertainty around forestry and its connection to several important issues, Michelle Roy, a mid-Island resident and advocate for protecting old-growth forests, said it's central to the upcoming election for her.