We are keeping more wood here in British Columbia and moving away from raw lumber exports - and that means increased value and more jobs for B.C. workers.

- David Zirnhelt, Minister of Forests. September 1997

By the end of August 1998, log exports have been double the number of exports for the whole of 1997 according to information obtained from the Ministry of Forests Economic and Trade Branch

1998 has seen a four-fold increase in the amount of raw logs being shipped out of B.C., from 269,695 cu. m. in 1997 to 1,132,785 cu.m in 1998:

It is clear that it has been a lack of investment on the part of B.C. industry as well as government towards developing markets in other regions locally and globally.

- John Brink, President of the B.C. Council of Wood Processors

• Every log that leaves B.C. represents the potential for more employment, as logs could be processed into quality end products providing more jobs for communities around the province. In fact if the 653,819 cu. m. of logs shipped so far this year were actually turned into value-added end products, then over 1500 jobs could be created.
• The main destinations for log exports are Japan, followed by Korea and the U.S.
• B.C. currently exports 8.5% of its timber as value-added products while the average for Canada is 30.6%.
• B.C. currently gets 12.3% of its forestry jobs from the value added sector, while Oregon derives 40%.
• Forest Renewal B.C. is investing less than 5% of its annual budget in the value-added sector despite the factor that there is broad agreement that this sector has the potential for the greatest growth in the coming years.