Atlantic Forestry January 2020

Dairy Focus Atlantic

by David Palmer
As the old decade closes and a new one opens, it’s always good to look back and reflect on the most salient forestry issues of the day, and evaluate what progress has been made on them. Clearly, which issues are the most pressing depends squarely on your perspective. The list for the general public probably includes clearcutting and the use of herbicides, while number 1 for industry would be those pesky lumber tariffs, with runners-up being wood supply and timber guarantees. For Indigenous Peoples, foremost on the roster would be treaty rights and the duty to consult, while for woodlot owners the top priority is the restoration of negotiating rights. On the conservation side, increasing protected areas is top of mind. Some issues were solved in the last decade, while others will be carried forward to the next. Drawing from all those who have a stake in New Brunswick’s public forest, here is my list of the seven most pressing issues of the past 10 years: TIMBER GUARANTEES For years, timber guarantees had been identified as industry’s highest priority in almost every meeting with government. In an initiative spearheaded by J.D. Irving, Limited, and blindly agreed to by Premier Alward’s Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Paul Robichaud, increased wood allocations and firm timber guarantees were written into the infamous 2014 Forestry Plan – even though forecasts at the time were already projecting a severe wood supply deficit. The agreement was all about trading more trees for jobs and investment, and paid no heed to sustainability. While the government has upheld its side of the bargain, industry has not reciprocated in full. Under the plan, Irving promised to construct a new $25 million sawmill in Doaktown, but five years later, a shovel has yet to be turned. WOOD SUPPLY The outlook for forest growth and wood supply was pretty gloomy in the four years following the Forestry Plan, but a review of the plan in 2018 revealed astonishing new data that showed the forest was growing much faster than had previously been estimated. Not only did this mean that the increased allocations were sustainable and could be environmentally justified, it opened the door for an increase in the conservation forest. PROTECTED AREAS Scarcely a year into the job, neophyte Minister Mike Holland walked through that door, and in a bold move that is arguably the most significant advance for land conservation in the history of New Brunswick, stood before a small crowd at the Wolfe Lake Visitor Centre in Fundy National Park on Oct. 28, 2019, and announced that Protected Natural Areas on Crown lands would be more than doubled, going from 4.6 percent to 10 percent. “An area equivalent to 19 Fundy National Parks (380,000 ha) will be added to the PNA network,” he said. Surrounded by smiling faces and the CEOs of the province’s major environmental organizations, Holland was ebullient, and so too were the veteran conservation leaders. That day was the culmination of decades of campaigning, lobbying, and hard work, and they had good reason to celebrate. “I am thrilled. This is a great leap forward,” said Roberta Clowater, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, New Brunswick Chapter (CPAWS NB), when interviewed on CBC a couple of days later. Even the industry folk in attendance were sanguine and supportive. That’s in part because the minister has done a terrific job of engaging all stakeholders and winning trust – but also because their businesses will not be negatively affected. The additional wood allocations and timber guarantees that were granted in 2014 are being honoured. “There’s still lots of work to do,” Holland admitted. The easy part is making the announcement; the tough job is finding 380,000 hectares, which is a huge chunk of land. Staff in the department have been working on that task for several months, but until the new PNAs have green boundaries around them, there will still be a lot of skeptics. At the annual meeting of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, back in November, the minister was asked for more detail on the locations of the new PNAs, and he offered to sit down with CCNB members and share maps of the areas under consideration. So that’s the list of resolved issues. Now the ongoing ones. SOFTWOOD LUMBER TARIFFS While New Brunswick’s industry remains shackled to punishing lumber tariffs (9.9 percent for JDI, and 20.8 percent for all other mills), Nova Scotia’s industry is paying nothing. That is because the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports singled out Nova Scotia as having the only competitive market for logs in Canada, and accepted its provincial timber royalties as a benchmark for “fair market value.” A lot of time and energy has been exhausted in New Brunswick paying high-priced lobbyists to go to Washington and blaming the federal government for not doing enough (when the problem is of provincial making, and has nothing to do with the feds). New Brunswick even hired a consultant to produce a report (not yet released) trying to prove that the Auditor General was wrong when she said the province’s wood market is not “fair and open.” Despite a win at the NAFTA bi-lateral trade panel, it will still be hard to turn the tariff ship around. It may be time to take a different tack. Without conceding anything, the province should explore with the U.S Coalition and the Department of Commerce whether adopting the Nova Scotia royalties – which, ironically, are not significantly different from New Brunswick’s – might cause the U.S. to reconsider the tariffs. Finally, New Brunswick should commit to restoring the negotiating rights for marketing boards, which would immediately restore a degree of fairness to the market, while resolving one of the most long-standing and bitter issues of the last three decades. NEGOTIATING RIGHTS When marketing boards were stripped of their negotiating rights in 1991, and companies were given a free pass to contract directly with woodlot owners and contractors, the stage was set for the decline of woodlot owner organizations and the loss of a fair market. Three decades later, forestry companies can control and set the price, terms, and conditions of purchase for all wood that crosses their scales. By restoring the negotiating rights of marketing boards and requiring that all private wood be sold through the boards, the government could not only bring back balance and fairness to the marketing system, but also provide a shot in the arm for the rural economy. Furthermore, it would restore private woodlot institutions to their rightful and formerly proud place in the forestry sector. GLYPHOSATE As for the herbicide glyphosate, despite a green light from Health Canada, there appears to be almost overwhelming public support for a ban in New Brunswick. The provincial government, committed to reducing the use of herbicides, has scaled back usage on NB Power’s rights-of-way, but has not yet addressed the forest sector. The debate may be moot, because David Coon, the Green Party leader, introduced a bill in the legislature on Nov. 20 that would both ban the use of glyphosate and restore the negotiating rights of marketing boards. In Nova Scotia, the Lahey report, which recommended the adoption of ecological forestry and a major reduction of clearcutting, also promoted the so-called “triad” approach to forestry, which, as one leg, would allow intensive forestry, including the use of herbicides on a portion of the forest. TREATY RIGHTS It has been more than 20 years since New Brunswick established First Nations Forest Agreements in response to a court ruling that gave Indigenous People the right to harvest Crown timber for commercial purposes. The allocations granted to the 15 First Nations were equivalent to five percent of the provincial timber allocations. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then, but today there is a positive relationship between the department and Indigenous communities. The minister goes out of his way to engage with First Nations at every opportunity, and never passes up a chance to get into the woods with members of the community to listen, learn, share, and give positive feedback on the traditional knowledge of Indigenous people. Although it will take decades to work out all the issues, progress is being made, and the positive relationship bodes well for the future.