Reforesting BC’s Public Land – An Evaluation of Free-Growing Success

British Columbia prides itself on its program of reforestation. The public expects that sustainable new forests will replace the approximately 5,000 cutblocks harvested each year. Timely establishment of new trees is necessary to meet public expectations for future timber supply, biodiversity and watershed recovery.

After logging an area, forest companies must create a “free-growing” new forest of appropriate tree species and the desired number of trees within a defined time period. Many cutblocks logged in the late 1980s and early 1990s should now be re-established with free-growing stands of new trees.