Conflicting Objectives in Forest Policy: The Case of British Columbia

This paper takes a critical look at some of the basic principles on which forest management policies in British Columbia are based. Much of our present management procedures are designed to serve technical objectives which can be traced to traditional forestry principles imported from Europe. These, it is suggested, are inappropriate criteria for maximizing the value we obtain from our forest endowment in modern conditions of rapid change and growing competitive demands on the resource base. It is argued that our well established concepts of sustained yield, full utilization and maximum wood growth, among other things, should be re-appraised in the light of modern economic criteria for maximizing the values generated by forest resources.