A local mill owner appeared before Nelson City Council at its Feb. 18 meeting on behalf of a new society that hopes to increase the profile of the forest industry in B.C.
Ken Kalesnikoff, the president and CEO of Kalesnikoff Lumber, which runs a sawmill and mass timber manufacturing plant in South Slocan, spoke on behalf of the group Forestry Works for BC.
The organization is a "grass-roots campaign that represents about 10,000 workers and their families who are concerned about the future forest in British Columbia," Kalesnikoff said, adding that forestry contributes billions of dollars to government revenue and services.
His talk prompted many questions from Nelson's environmentally oriented council.
"The industry has done a really poor job telling our story of all the good and positive things that we do," Kalesnikoff said, adding that Forestry Works for BC hopes to change that.
Members of the society include the Truck Loggers Association, Interior Lumber Manufacturing Association, Independent Wood Processors Association and Forest Nursery Association of B.C.
Kalrsnikoff described forestry practices he has seen in Germany.
"They look at their forest as a garden, and they say, 'We need to tend our garden to maintain benefits from it.' They selectively log, they thin, and they clearcut where necessary. Because of this, they also have way fewer fires and a much healthier forest."
He contrasted this with a forest in Manning Park in southwestern B.C. that is overcome by a beetle infestation to the point where he said the only choice will be to clearcut it or allow it to burn if a wildfire occurs.
Kalesnikoff said there needs to be more public awareness of the economic benefits of the forest industry.
The Forestry Works for BC's website states that its goals also include support for "the bioeconomy and ... transition to a low-carbon society," although Kalesnikoff did not mention such things in his talk until several council members raised issues that questioned industry practices.
Multi-nationals and carbon emissions
Councillor Keith Page asked how the new organization would help small, local, family owned businesses such as Kalesnikoff's, who "stay in their community, invest in the province, and are here to stay," as opposed to multinationals who "have had their time, they've done their thing, they took their money, and they invested across the [U.S. border]."
In response, Kalesnikoff said his group wants the province to change its policies related to BC Timber Sales, "to take the fibre that is being sold by BCTS and have it directed to the smaller independent companies ... people that are going to take it further up the value chain." But Forestry Works for BC's goal is education, not policy change, he said.
Councillor Rik Logtenberg said forestry as it is practiced produces about 42 megatons a year in emissions, compared to 50 megatons for all other emissions put together including burning fossil fuels. He said forestry is not just for economic growth but must provide leadership on emissions and ecosystem health.
"We're too busy talking about what is the right way to put biodiversity, ecosystems and all of that stuff together," Kalesnikoff said. "Let's just sit down and figure this stuff out and do the right thing. And that's what I saw when I talked to people in Germany. They made it so simple. It's a garden."
Logtenberg questioned the garden metaphor as being too simple, stating that forests are complex ecosystems tens of thousand years old that have already been damaged and now it is our job to recover them.
"I do not disagree," Kalesnikoff said.
Clearcutting and value-added
Councillor Jesse Woodward complimented Kalesnikoff on his company's collaboration with governments in a combination of logging and wildfire mitigation in the Selous Creek near Nelson in 2019, stating that he hopes more logging would look like that in the future. He said clearcutting may be efficient but it is also "devastating on a psychological, emotional level."
Kalesnikoff said he does not like clearcutting but the current economic system of timber harvesting depends on it. Changing this would require the public being more supportive of the industry, he said.
Councillor Leslie Payne said that for her a forest is not a crop. Referring to Kalesnikoff's statement that clearcutting is sometimes needed, she asked, "Who is to determine when that is? ... Because over the last 20 years, we've seen the large multinationals determine that it's a lot of places."
"I don't disagree with what you are saying," Kalesnikoff said, adding that he thinks this situation has improved over the last 20 years.
"Are they still clearcutting? Yes," he said. "Are they clearcutting big swaths? Yes. I don't understand it, other than it's pure economics, and I don't like that. That's not what I believe in."
After congratulating Kalesnikoff on his company's work in producing value-added wood products, Payne asked why this is not more prevalent in Canada.
"We don't need an increased annual cut," Kalesnikoff said. "We have a similar problem on the lumber side, where a lot of those companies will not sell lumber to the members of the BC Value Added Wood Coalition. They would rather ship it someplace else. We don't understand why. Could be that it's just economics and they make more money."
He said his organization is pushing governments to keep wood fibre in Canada.
"We need to take it on up the value chain, and we need to create more products from it. We need you to help support us with that."
He added that the Canadian market is not big enough, and the industry needs to find alternatives to the U.S. market because of that country's duties.
Councillor Kate Tait asked about his approach to impending tariffs.
"Like everybody else, we are just waiting for that," said Kalesnikoff. "We have no idea. It's absolute lunacy. And when the president makes a comment like they don't need our lumber, the numbers just do not show that."
