Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson is questioning the commitment that Canfor has to rehabilitate the land it gave to West Fraser in a license transfer a few years ago.
Simpson was told at this week`s Joint Planning Committee meeting that while West Fraser got the timber, Canfor maintained the accrued obligation.
He fears that Quesnel is no longer a priority for Canfor because they are no longer here and their obligation will likely be in areas where they are still operating.
Simpson was told that however that Canfor would still have a legal obligation and that the Ministry could go after them with legislation but the Mayor still had his doubts.
He asked “are the resources going to be there for compliance and enforcement actions if we get a situation where we get large tracts of land with big chunks of change on companies that are cash strapped, so i think from a political perspective that’s where need to be paying some attention.“
Simpson says they also need to make sure that the resources are there to rehabilitate the forest in general.
Right now 28 percent of the Quesnel Timber Supply Area`s timber harvesting land base apparently can`t be harvested and needs rehabilitation, a number that is going to go up.
