Environmentalists approve Liberal move on forest tenure

Environmentalists are breathing a sigh of relief now that the BC government has backed off making changes to forestry licences.

Ken Wu with the ancient forest alliance says part of Bill 8 would have seen the logging rights to vast sections of public land granted to private companies.

“So it would have made it harder to establish new protected areas, to protect scenery and tourism opportunities. It would have made it more lengthy and difficult and complex to settle First Nations treaties, and it would have also taken away a lot of lands that communities would have wanted for community forestry.”

Wu says this proves the environmental movement is in fact a big player in BC politics — seeing as the Liberal government backed down with only days to go in the current session.