Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson announced a contractor sustainability review this morning during his address to the annual Truck Loggers Association convention in Vancouver.

Twenty-eight underemployed or underskilled individuals are developing their skills by taking forest heavy-equipment operator or log truck driver training, made possible through the Canada-British Columbia Job Fund Agreement.

Premier Christy Clark announced that the largest shipment of mass timber from British Columbia to India is en route.

Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson has issued the following statement in response to a ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission:

The Great Bear Rainforest (Forest Management) Act is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2017, following the enactment of regulations that bring the act into force and fulfill government’s commitment to ecosystem-based management in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Up to 52 British Columbians from Prince George, Fort St. James and Kelowna are getting the training they need to become cooks and professional log truck operators, thanks to a federal-provincial partnership under the Canada-B.C. Job Fund Agreement.

Residents of the Williams Lake area will see helicopters in the air this week as the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations implements its treatment plan to minimize the spread of Douglas-fir bark beetles on Crown land through selective heli-logging.

Effective Nov. 17, 2016, new scenic area and visual quality objectives have been established, under the Forest and Range Practices Act, in the Shannon Creek watershed portion of the Sea to Sky Natural Resource District.