Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, have issued the following joint statement in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final determination in its second administrative review regarding countervailing and anti-dumping duties applied to Canada’s softwood lumber exports to the United States:

As a result of catastrophic damage to multiple forest service roads attributed to the recent storm events, and the potentially unsafe circumstances that may exist in areas not yet assessed, all forest service roads in the Chilliwack Forest District have been closed until further notice.

British Columbia has planted more than one billion trees since 2018, including 301 million this year.

Concerns about water supply security, drought and water scarcity remain an issue for most of the southern half of British Columbia even as cooler temperatures and rain have arrived.

As drought conditions continue for much of the southern Interior, water restriction orders are now in place for two areas in the Thompson-Okanagan region.

The continued unprecedented dry and hot conditions in British Columbia’s southern Interior has prompted government to increase the drought level in the Okanagan to 4.

Drought and water scarcity continues to impact most of the southern half of British Columbia.

The B.C. government has provided more than $1.2 million in grants to 13 local governments and First Nations in the Prince George Fire Centre to support wildfire risk reduction initiatives and help keep communities safe.