Missing report on the state of N.B. forests 'appalling,' says Green Party leader
Natural Resources misses deadline for state of the forests report — again
Green Party Leader David Coon said he's been waiting for an update on the report since it was first promised seven years ago. He said since then, the department has continuously missed its own deadlines.
"The government has a responsibility to be transparent around its stewardship of half of our land mass. And they're not at all," said Coon. "That's appalling and unacceptable."
The report details forestry activity updates, ground sampling, aerial photography and photo interpretations of New Brunswick's forests.
Green
Party Leader David Coon said the Department of Natural Resources
continues to miss its deadline for the state of the province's forests
report. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"The state of the forests in New Brunswick has deteriorated considerably since 2015 when the last state of the forests report was released," said Coon.
"We know that there's been a massive reduction in habitat, a massive reduction in wildlife populations, birds in particular, as a result of the loss of that habitat."
The department did not respond to requests for an interview, but they responded via email: "We are committed to providing an update on the state of New Brunswick's forest[s]. We look forward to sharing more information with New Brunswickers in the near future."
"I don't expect to see it anytime soon," said Coon.
Calls for other forest-related reports
Amanda Page, ecological forestry researcher for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said this isn't the first time the government has missed a deadline on forest-related updates and reports.
In May, conservation groups — including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Nature Trust of New Brunswick, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, and Nature NB — called on the provincial government to provide a "transparent and integrated forest management strategy rooted in biodiversity, conservation, Indigenous co-stewardship, and ecological forestry practices," according to Nature NB's website.
Page said the forest management strategy was supposed to be released in July, but it never came. She added that the Department of Natural Resources said it was working on a forest carbon inventory, but it too has not been released.
The Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development did not provide a response for information pertaining to these missing reports.
"Year after year, we're missing these deadlines," said Page. "The forests report is just the cherry on top of the cake of deadlines missed by our administration."
'Missing a lot of information'
The Carleton Victoria Wood Producers Association is a non-profit organization in Florenceville dedicated to helping private woodlot owners. General manager Linda Bell said that without an updated report, "we are missing a lot of information. We know it's inaccurate."
Bell added, "We know that many woodlots have been harvested, and we have no records of the wood being harvested. So the wood's gone, but there's been no record remitted to government in our production."
CBC New Brunswick requested interviews from larger logging companies, including J.D. Irving and Acadian Timber, but no one was made available for an interview.
Linda
Bell, general manager of the Carleton Victoria Wood Producers
Association in Florenceville, said the government's information is
outdated. (Submitted by Linda Bell)
In 2015, an auditor general's report reviewing the Department of Natural Resources stated that during the 2009 to 2014 audit period, "the Department fell short in fulfilling some of its related management and oversight responsibilities. This includes not updating the forest management plans and agreements; failing to enforce compliance with treatment standards and not completing licensee performance evaluations, in addition to not keeping the public informed on the state of the Province's forests and the impact of the Department's silviculture activities."
Both Page and Coon said transparency about New Brunswick's forests hasn't been a priority for the government.
New Brunswickers care about forests, poll shows
But public opinion polling shows New Brunswick residents care deeply about the state of the province's forests.
In 2022, Oraclepoll Research, an analytics and public polling company, surveyed 300 New Brunswickers on behalf of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society–NB Chapter, and the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
The report found that 70 per cent of respondents said it was of "total importance" to protect multi-species forest landscapes, and 82 per cent said the province should consider limiting the size of clearcuts.
According to the report, the majority of New Brunswickers also disapprove of industrial forest management in the province, with 47 per cent of respondents saying they hold an unfavourable opinion. In comparison, 34 per cent responded favourably, and 19 per cent said they were unsure.
People in New Brunswick "very much value their forests," said Page. "We need to be able to trust the government."
She added, "I feel that it's very uncertain what the next 10 years or 20 years is going to look like in terms of how much income and value we can get out of forests."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The constant laments of the Green Party Leader have become a joke to me
Reply to David Amos
The Greens are the only one that are speaking up while the other opposition parties are awfully quiet.
EVELYN NOLAN
Reply to Rosco holt
our current party is slack and not looking after our forest or our interest at least the Greens our speaking up
Micheal Wilson
Reply to David Amos
The Greens is the only ones telling the government to do their job.
Marguerite Deschamps
Content Deactivated
Reply to Micheal Wilson
David is the only one who can right the ship. Just ask him.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Marguerite Deschamps
I quit trying I'm a privateer these days
Now it makes sense. That explains your commentary on all things SARS-CoV-2.
Or as you say: catching the covid.
This is not the problem of the "big companies" with mill facilities and crown wood allocations.
Either the woodlot owner has sold the wood to a forestry contractor/wood buyer, or the lot has been cut by trespassers (theft).
There was a time when woodlot owners were well aware of their boundary lines, and checked them often to know if theft had actually occurred.
Why should they (as Bell seems to think) have to wait for updated provincial aerial photography to see if there has been unauthorized (illegal) cutting on their own land??
The only thing I can agree with him on is that the ongoing delays in the release of this report are totally unacceptable. I'd like to hear what the Natural Resources Minister has for excuses.
Ronald Miller
The Green party is tiring, lots of criticizing with few to no solutions ever offered. Probably because the few ideas they do propose are unrealistic. This is an anti-resource party working in a country that relies on resources to be viable.
David Amos
Reply to Ronald Miller
Controlled opposition
Mark Atkinson
Reply to Ronald Miller
well to be fair, in this case all they want in the report that was promised 7 years ago. Other than making their own uncertified report which would be a waste of time and money, what would you prefer they do?
Don Corey
Reply to Ronald Miller
David Coon has been anti-resource long before most people had even heard of the greenies.
Jim thebeau
I presume any forestry reports made public in NB would have to be proof read by an Irving Rep., for clarity. This is as good an explanation as any for the 7 year delay, and I will give 50/50 odds, its accurate.
David Amos
Reply to Jim thebeau
I doubt anyone will bet against you
Robert Losier
Reply to David Amos
Why would you think that no one would bet against someone offering 50/50? As a betting person I kinda like those odds.
Don Corey
Reply to Jim thebeau
Speculation, but I suspect you may well be correct.
Don Corey
Reply to David Amos
I wouldn't.
Ben Haroldson
I can't see the forest for, I mean or, the trees.
David Amos
Reply to Ben Haroldson
What trees?
Don Corey
Reply to Ben Haroldson
They are out there. You just need to look much harder than you did 30-40 years ago.
And the plantations of the 70's/early80's are now ready for a first stage harvest. There are tens of thousands of hectares in plantations and pre-commercial thinnings.
The best government this province ever had... for the affluent, that is!
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Are you affluent?
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Jos Allaire
Oh My Wasn't that a telling thing?
G. Timothy Walton
So, just how bad is the devastation from letting the foxes hide the henhouse from public view while they work?
From family experience, if you own woodlots you should go make sure the wood is still there. Don't wait for a Google Earth update to find out everything's gone missing.
Unless the law's changed in the last decade or so, if you catch a company in the act of harvesting your timber without permission, their only penalty will be paying the value of the wood; guess who sets that value?
David Amos
Reply to G. Timothy Walton
Well put
Why such a narrow time line?
Too funny.
I've seen this happen too. A whole stand of retirement Red Pine gone while the owner was on vacation in Florida. Ooops was the answer from government. Got paid for the stumpage in the end but the stand was still 10 years out of maturity.
two is a couple
a decade is ten
Obviously with your math skills you should be in charge of all things Forestry !
You have cracked the code, DaVinci.
Jim Lake
One could be led to think the Premier is intentionally blocking the report due to the sad state of our forests and New Brunswick’s environment under Higgs’ stewardship (or lack thereof). If the Premier doesn’t hold his Ministers and Departments accountable for their responsibilities, who will?
Ron parker
Reply to Jim Lake
Hopefully the voters of NB.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Ron parker
Dream on
Reply to Jim Lake
Reply to Bobby Richards
Love it. Keep at it.
The Minister for the Dept. of Natural Resources and Energy is Mike Holland. Yes, of course the report is missing -- what else would you expect?
Michael Cain
Reply to Greg Miller
Higgs hasn't read it yet; he is still stuck on the pandemic report that has yet to come out, and that darn policy 213.
David Amos
Content Deactivated
Reply to Greg Miller
I expect nothing from Mikey and have never been disappointed
John Pokiok
Let me give you report on forest state. It's all shawen as far as you can see in any direction. Than it's sprayed by helicopters and planes there you have it. Deer is only thriving in urban centers where planes don't spray because they have nothing to eat in planted deserts of one type of tree. There you have it's free report and easily verified by just taking a ride to a country side.
Ron parker
Reply to John Pokiok
You nailed it!
G. Timothy Walton
Reply to John Pokiok
Who needs forests? Other than the logging trucks that have been illegally using our road the past couple of years, that is.
David Amos
Reply to Ron parker
Everybody knows
Rosco holt
Most NBers know why reports on state of the province's forest is missing.
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
Of course
Elizabeth Thimlar
Drive along the country roads and you can see the state of our forests. The Big companies want to get it all cut before someone with nerve will tell the truth!
G. Timothy Walton
Reply to Elizabeth Thimlar
There are those pesky land claims to all the big chunks of Crown land and forestry corporation tracts...
David Amos
Reply to Elizabeth Thimlar
I have been telling it for nearly 20 years
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