Eby promises $50M to help get fire-damaged wood to B.C. mills

British Columbia Premier David Eby is promising $50 million from the upcoming budget to help transfer fire-damaged wood from remote areas to pulp mills.

Eby told the Truck Loggers Association Convention in Vancouver that will mean more work for forestry contractors hauling fibre that would otherwise be too costly or remote to access.

The premier says the money would be funnelled through the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C., with the goal of keeping those in the industry working.

The premier says the forestry industry is "clearly in crisis" and that means industry and government need to "find new ways of doing business."

At the association's first in-person convention in three years, Eby highlighted the $90-million B.C. manufacturing jobs fund targeting rural communities affected by the downturn, and a new agreement around land management signed this week with the Blueberry River First Nations.

That agreement provides a two-year plan for timber supply in northeastern B.C., while the nation and government negotiate longer-term agreements.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.