BC resource towns threatened

Brace for more change in rural B.C., even to the point of eliminating entire resource towns, and privatizing Crown forest lands, a symposium of forests and land management was told Wednesday.

Changing global markets for forest products, new low-cost producers in the southern hemisphere and shifting demographics in B.C. mean, like it or not, the face of British Columbia's hinterland is going to change, said speakers at the University of B.C.'s Forum on Forest Economics and Policy symposium.

The government is already committed to reviewing alternatives to the current system of forest tenures, including privatizing lands, said deputy forests minister Doug Konkin.

And economic forces are going to continue to push manufacturers in the direction of larger mills in fewer locations, said Ilan Vertinsky, a resource management specialist at UBC's Sauder School of Business.

"It happened in Newfoundland. It will happen here," Vertinsky said, referring to the depopulation of Newfoundland outports.

Vertinsky said the market has already decided which towns are on the edge, citing declining real estate values in places such as Midway, Slocan, Valemount and Port Alice, all towns with mills that have either been closed, sold or had production curtailed.

As the forest industry adjusts to global pressures, some towns will be "marked for exit," he suggested.

Vertinsky's comments raised concerns from symposium participants of a "blacklist" of towns written off by government or industry.

"It leaves rural communities needing to know more," said Cindy Pearce, a forester living in Revelstoke.

She said rural communities are being consulted within the policy forum but need to know more about pending change.

"We need to get this information to community leaders as fast as we can so we can include it in our community plans," she said in an interview.

UBC forest economist David Haley offered four tenure options:

n "Corporatize" portions of the forest by creating Crown corporations to manage them.

n Privatize portions but ensure public access and social values are maintained.

n Decentralize management of forests into semi-autonomous regions.

n "Tweak" the existing system -- something he believes is no longer practical.

Konkin said the onus of land management will inevitably be transferred more to the shoulders of corporations as government -- soon to be hit by 12,000 baby-boomers reaching retirement age -- is forced to scale back its role.

He called such demographic change "the silent dragon" in rural B.C.

"There aren't going to be as many people out there to do the regulation," he said. "In my opinion we have no choice in government but to minimize regulation and look at different ways of doing things."

Konkin said in an interview that he intends to take the ideas raised by the forum back to cabinet. Consultation with communities is already taking place.

"We are in a dialogue with them. There certainly is no blacklist [of communities].

"But there is an interest in understanding how the market is going to work and over the longer term which are the stronger areas in terms of lumber production and then looking at other opportunities."

(prepared by Gordon Hamilton/Vancouver Sun)