I believe it is important to…

I believe it is important to have strategy in all sectors and initiatives in the forestry sector to promote mass timber manufacture is an opportunity which has export potential and all the benefits of a renewable resource. Also the production of many products beyond lumber that can displace steel and plastic and concrete, all of which have larger carbon footprints.

But I think this draft plan hasn't enough emphasis on conserving our unique and sensitive forest based ecosystems. Building roads into virgin forests has an overall detrimental effect on wildlife and ultimately the health of the natural foreset and all the benefits it provides to the land and the planet. We should be recognizing in this type of document the benefits of leaving a large percentage of our forests to natural process without disturbance.

The education of everyone associated with forests whether governments, occupational or recreational should be an important component of this strategy. The communities involved, native, exploitive or conserving all have knowledge that can be shared. Private ownership plays a large role in sustaining the environmental aspects as well as producing materials.