Category Archives: BC Forest Policy

The Softwood Lumber Dispute – a Hoberg Course Brief

George Hoberg and Gabrielle Schittecatte October 10, 2015 Since before Confederation, trade in lumber between Canada and the United States has been politically contentious.  The modern conflict began in 1982, when the US softwood industry asked the US government to … Continue reading

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Recipe for Forest-Devastating Insect Outbreak: Take Fire Suppression, Add Global Warming – Book Review: Andrew Nikiforuk’s The Empire of the Beetle

Lisa Danielson, Environment and Natural Resource Policy Intern December 9, 2011 “It’s not something you’ve ever seen before. It’s like a tsunami that takes twenty-five years instead of two seconds” Keith Dufresne, manager of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition In … Continue reading

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The Disappearing Issue: Forestry Content in British Columbia Speeches from the Throne, 2000-11

George Hoberg with help from Lisa Jung, and Alvin Shum October 4, 2011 Issues come and go, but the collapse of forestry on the agenda of the government of British Columbia is extraordinary. Yesterday’s Throne Speech did not contain the … Continue reading

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Insights from new book: Why are so many potentially beneficial policy changes not adopted? The case of forest policy in Canada

George Hoberg September 20, 2011 Policy analysts and advocates frequently are left scratching their heads when policy changes that seem self-evidently superior to the status quo are not adopted. Forest policies in Canada are a fascinating example. Implemented mostly in … Continue reading

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New article examines how much authority has been decentralized to communities in British Columbia’s community forests program

George Hoberg June 22, 2011 Community-based management natural resource management has been increasingly advocated as an opportunity to improve natural resource governance. A new journal article that I’ve co-authored with Lisa Ambus examines a much publicized effort in this area, … Continue reading

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The Gordon Campbell Legacy for Natural Resource Policy in British Columbia

George Hoberg March 4, 2011 Next week, after ten years as Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell will hand power over to Christy Clark. Natural resource policy has been one of the most dynamic areas of policy development during the … Continue reading

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One Land Manager, or Seven? The 2010 Reorganization of Natural Resource Management in BC

George Hoberg and Stephanie Taylor October 27, 2010 On October 25, 2010, BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced a fundamental restructuring of the organization of the BC government with respect to natural resource management. The government created a new ministry, Natural … Continue reading

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Lament for the Great Bear Rainforest

George Hoberg April 2, 2009 On Tuesday, March 31, 2009, the Government of British Columbia announced that it had “met its commitment to establish an Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) system for coastal B.C. by March 31, 2009.” Agriculture Minister Ron Cantelon … Continue reading

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My First Take on the B.C. Government’s Forestry Roundtable Report

Today the Government of British Columbia released the long-awaited report of its 21 member Forestry Roundtable. I had one meeting with the Roundtable, but have not followed its deliberations closely. I have been teaching forest policy at UBC for 12 years, and the following themes strike me upon first reading. Continue reading

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