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Forestry contractors welcome ‘review’ launched by province

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s harder and harder to make a go of it if you’re a contractor in BC’s forest industry.

That’s according to David Elstone with the Truck Loggers Association, who is welcoming the premier’s announcement last week.

The province has launched a sustainability review into how to help logging contractors make a living.

Contractors employ fallers, log haulers, and yarding crews – those who have a hand in getting the timber to the sawmill.

Elstone says things never recovered since the US housing crisis in 2008. He says it’s been a difficult decade for contractors – who incur huge expenses to keep their businesses afloat.

“We have to be able to pay for these machines that cost anywhere from a quarter of a million to two and a half million dollars. It’s a huge amount of risk. The technology is rapidly changing,” he says.

“We just haven’t been able to match the risk of investment in these businesses to the returns that we’ve been trying to eke out.”

He points out 20,000 people are employed by logging contractors in BC.

“I’m particularly excited about Premier Clark’s commitment to appoint an independent facilitator and have him or her conduct individual interviews with members of the Truck Loggers Association” says Elstone.

The review will end March 31.

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