Hello, in the southern…

Hello, in the southern forest management and timber harvesting line of work.

Comments on the Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy Draft:
“Removing Policy Barriers to Accessing Wood Policy barriers to accessing wood will be removed while maintaining the rigour of our sustainable forest management framework. This can be accomplished by eliminating redundancy and overlap in legislation, providing a consistent interpretation of forest policy and implementation practices through training and knowledge transfer.”
-How and what. More details are needed to assess weather your removal would still make operators accountable.

Future Action Areas:
-Need science backed harvest levels for long term suability long term. Often mismanagement of forests are not seen for multi generations. Harvest level such be conservative to mid-range.
-The market needs to be developed first.
- Harvest in the south and north are different and are not taken into account well throughout the document.
-Unfortunately, this strategy doesn’t address limits on habitat loss in general and to protect and recover species at risk. This should be addressed as well.

“Maximizing the Use of Mill By-products to Fight Climate Change Ontario developed its own provincial policy as an alternative to the federal output-based pricing system to reduce carbon emissions, which recognizes the use of mill by-products (e.g. bark, small tops) to provide sources of biomass heat, steam and energy for manufacturing in place of fossil fuels. Maximizing use of mill by-products reduces the need for more carbon intensive energy-based fuels and avoids unnecessary pressures on landfills. In turn, this supports the highly integrated supply chains between pulp and paper, lumber and panel mills, where one mill’s by-product (which also provides a revenue stream), supports another mill’s wood supply and internal energy requirements. These mill by-products also offer an opportunity to develop new and innovative value-added products. Since 1990, the pulp and paper industry in Ontario has reduced total emissions by 66% and the entire forest industry has reduced emissions by 48% (Source: Statistics Canada Table 153-“

“Reducing Regulatory Burden/Streamlining Ontario is working to deliver further red tape and regulatory burden relief for the forest sector, including streamlining the process for permits and approvals, removing duplication, modernizing the forest management planning process and the approach to independent forest audits. All of this will reduce costs to industry and government while continuing to ensure our forests are sustainably managed”

-This is all you have on Climate change? The justification that increasing the forestry industry will not be a burden on the rest of society has not been made. How??? Examples? The pros and cons

“Making Strategic Investments in Forest Access Roads Ontario invests in forest access roads because of the broad benefits to many Indigenous communities, tourism operators, cottagers, hunters, gatherers of food and medicines, the forest sector and other industries like rail, energy utilities, mining as well as emergency first responders. Ontario is reviewing the overall effectiveness of the program and will ensure that critical forest access road infrastructure continues to meet the diverse needs of many forest users.”

-Not highlighting the effect roads have on forest and ecosystem health. Painting a rather rosy pictures of the damage roads can cause. To the soils, water tables, rare habitats like northern bogs, forest edge effect to forest health and timber yields, invasive species introduction, forest pest introduction, sustainable community development plans etc. need to provide a more balance view or more innovative solutions than just building more roads. Major roads may help community access, logging road quality is different.

Future Action Areas Responding to a Changing Climate:

-I feel this section is misleading in that older forests are not helping the environment by releasing carbon, it more complex than this. Soil health? Valuable older growth habitats?

“Approved forest management plans for Ontario’s Crown forests identify about 30 million cubic metres of wood supply that can be harvested annually while ensuring our forests are managed sustainably. Recent provincial harvest levels, however, have only reached 15 million cubic metres per year. Our managed forests currently produce more than 38 million cubic metres of growth annually. The target harvest level of 30 million cubic metres is significantly less than annual forest growth. There is a significant opportunity to increase harvest levels up to the 30 million cubic metres while meeting the objectives (e.g. biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, etc.) laid out in forest management plans. Ensuring the sustainability of our forests is a key principle of Ontario’s forest management system”

-Why is there a difference between the actual and projected harvest numbers? You have not addressed this out right. And how were the targets created? And is the market there?

Thanks,
it needs to be more well rounded, a plan for everyone, not just industry for you want people to take it seriously.