Jaakko-Poyry and the Select Committee Hearings

Crown Lands are a Public Trust 
not a Private Wood Supply

Half of New Brunswick's forests are Crown lands. These lands are held in trust by the Province - for the benefit of all the people and for future generations. The timber we sell from Crown lands to the pulp and paper industry is 40 percent of the wood used by the mills in New Brunswick.

What Do the Big Forestry Companies Want?

Six multinational companies are licensed to log and manage our Crown lands. They are asking for the majority of the public forest to be managed exclusively as a private wood supply for the mills in the province. In fact, the companies want to be allowed to double the amount of spruce and fir available for cutting over the next 50 years. In the event that they fall short of this target because of changes to Crown lands management, the companies want to be compensated.

What Have We Got to Lose?

New Brunswickers would lose control of the Crown lands. We, the taxpayers, would have to pay compensation to the multinationals for any changes that would reduce the future wood supply. For example, new programs to protect our rivers or decisions to allocate some Crown land to community forests to support local economic development would come with a bill from the forestry companies.

What is the Jaakko Poyry Report?

The big forestry companies hired a Finnish consulting company called Jaakko Poyry to recommend how they could achieve their goals. It is the recommendations in the Jaakko Poyry Report that are being considered by the Select Committee on Wood Supply.

What's the Problem with the Jaakko Poyry Recommendations?

More Logging Along Streams and Rivers and in Wildlife Conservation Zones

Jaakko Poyry calls for more logging to be permitted along streams and in wildlife conservation areas such as deer yards.

Less Oversight by Forest Rangers and the Department of Natural Resources

Jaakko Poyry says the New Brunswick government has too much control over logging on Crown Lands. It recommends that government should become less of a watchdog and cut the size of the natural resources department.

A Ban on New Measures to Protect the Environment

Jaakko Poyry says that in order for the companies to successfully double the amount of spruce and fir logged in the future, the government cannot implement any new environmental requirements for forestry operation on Crown lands.

Lost Economic Opportunities

To double the amount of logging over 50 years, Jaakko Poyry says that 40 percent of our Crown land would have to be converted to tree farms. This eliminates any economic activity from that land for decades, except for spraying herbicides to kill the trees and shrubs that naturally grow back.