The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is calling for an independent commission to review the B.C. forest service, which it says has been gutted by budget cuts and layoffs.
“The deep job cuts – combined with October’s cabinet reorganization that cleaved what was left of the old forest service in two – are completely contrary to the public interest,” said Ben Parfitt, a researcher with the centre and author of a report on the service.
“The work load that we have saddled the service’s remaining men and women with is past the point of absurdity.”
According to the report, an analysis of government employment data revealed that in less than 10 years, one quarter of all forest service positions, or 1,006 full-time jobs, have been slashed.
Parfitt said the U.S.’s national forest service employs some 30,000 people, each responsible for an average 2,700 hectares of land.
Comparatively, B.C.’s forest service staff is one tenth that of its neighbour to the south, but each employee oversees an average area of 20,000 hectares.
Cuts to B.C.’s forest service, Parfitt argued, make it difficult to catch companies that steal logs, defraud stumpage fees and harm the environment.
“We cannot continue on this way,” added George Heyman, executive director of the Sierra Club of BC. “The B.C. government should immediately reverse its dubious cabinet reorganization and halt any further forest service layoffs."
Last month, the Green Party of B.C. also called on the provincial government to reverse its creation of the B.C.’s new natural resource operations ministry. (See “B.C.’s legislative upheaval rocks resource industry landscape” – issue 110; November 23 to 29.)