The Business of Sustainable Forestry Case Study - Vernon Forestry

In 1990, with the forests of British Columbia the focus of economic, environmental, and social conflict over resource management, British Columbia's Ministry of Forests established the British Columbia Forest Resources Commission. At the time the public was vocal in its concern over the visual impacts of clearcuts. Forest communities were dissatisfied over the loss of jobs because small operators were unable to gain access to timber and with the processing of harvested trees outside the region; and in those communities demand was rising to develop smaller value-added wood product manufacturing. The commission was mandated to examine the state of the province's land base, recommend ways to improve its management, and address the economic and social issues.

In 1993, the commission recommended that the provincial government conduct a pilot project to evaluate new forest management techniques that would embrace an ethic of enhanced stewardship. The project was carried out in the Vernon District of the Kamloops Forest Region with a goal of balancing the old values of forest economics with new values that support the preservation of wilderness, environmental protection, water quality, recreation, and community stability. This case study examines that project.