New Brunswick’s Crown land deal regretted

It seems the current NB government has its hands tied by a previous government making overly generous Crown land wood allocations. “The plan gave forestry companies increased wood allocations that were supposed to spur the creation of hundreds of new jobs, in part because of mill expansions. But environmentalists and private woodlot owners complained in 2014 that the plan, and resulting contracts signed with the largest companies, gave away too much.” View Gallant government ‘still making decisions’ about forest plan changes (CBC, Feb 17, 2017)

The article also cites Auditor General Kim MacPherson’s criticism of the government in 2015 for the province’s “failure to comply with its own legislation and provide leadership on private wood supply issues through a well-defined role and clear objectives.”

All of which sounds like a preview of regrets that could follow from the current Nova Scotia government’s impending (?) deal with Westfor, re: the Western Crown Lands, which has also displeased some private woodlot owners.

Previous NS governments were equally generous with public forests: total area harvested on Crown lands in Nova Scotia has increased continuously since 2000, while it has decreased on private and industrial lands – View earlier post.
——————-
‘Tip of the hat to Treefrog for its post about this story, Feb 20, 2017.