Boundary Forest

06/04/2026

Two communities down, many more to go. Thank you to everyone who came out to the New Forest Act Roadshow events in Golden and Nelson this week. We had thoughtful audiences and important questions about the future of forestry in BC.

People understand that the challenges facing our forests, communities, and local economies are connected. Many also recognize that simply talking about the problems is no longer enough. We need to start talking about the structure that created them - and what a replacement system could look like.

The purpose of this tour is not just to explain what’s wrong. It’s to present a practical legislative alternative and explore how BC can move toward a forestry system that works for communities, workers, and nature.

Thank you to our hosts, volunteers, and everyone who took the time to attend.

Onward to the next stops.

06/03/2026

A question we rarely hear is: "Okay… if the current forestry system isn’t working, what’s the alternative?" But that's a good question to ask. Criticism is easy.
Replacement systems are harder. The New Forest Act presentation is about a proposed replacement - one built around:

Protect. Restore. Harvest.

Protect what still works.
Restore what’s been damaged.
Harvest carefully where ecological limits allow.

The tour is happening now. Hope to see some of you along the road.

boundaryforest.org

06/02/2026

One of the ideas at the centre of the New Forest Act is: Forests are infrastructure. We protect bridges. We maintain highways. We spend billions on flood works and emergency response. But the forests that store water, stabilize slopes, moderate climate, and help protect communities are still largely managed as timber inventories.
Maybe it’s time to think differently.

Today the New Forest Act Roadshow begins.

Come hear the proposal.

A legislative solution to stabilize forests, protect watersheds, and support long-term economic stability in BC.

06/02/2026

Hi everyone - Today, the New Forest Act Tour begins. Tonight, we begin in Golden. Over the next three weeks, we’ll be travelling across British Columbia presenting the New Forest Act to residents, local governments, organizations, and decision-makers.

This is not a protest tour or a public grievance exercise.

It is a presentation tour focused on one thing: a proposed replacement legislative framework for forestry in British Columbia.

For decades, forestry discussions in BC have largely revolved around reacting to the latest crisis - another old growth conflict, another mill closure, another wildfire season, another round of reports.

More recently, government has promoted initiatives like Landscape Level Planning (LLP) as evidence of forestry reform. But LLP does not replace the industrial forestry system. It does not replace the Forest Act or FRPA. It does not remove volume-based forestry as the operating model. And it does not change the underlying objective of managing forests around timber supply and fibre flow.

Who participates in planning may shift. How some values are considered may shift. But the core system - volume-based forestry on a shrinking and increasingly stressed land base - remains intact.

That matters because BC’s forestry challenges are increasingly structural.

Timber quality and accessibility are declining. Harvesting costs are rising. Wildfire, drought, hydrological disruption, and ecological degradation continue to place pressure on forests and communities alike.

These are not short-term disruptions.

They raise a larger question: If the current framework is struggling to deliver ecological stability, economic stability, and long-term certainty - what comes next?

That is the purpose of this tour.

The New Forest Act is a publicly presented proposal for new forestry legislation in British Columbia - built around ecological limits, community-based decision-making, and stronger regional economies.

It is designed to move forestry away from volume-based management and toward Protect–Restore–Harvest stewardship and Nature-Directed Stewardship.

Not symbolic change.
Structural change.

Upcoming stops include:

• Golden – June 2
• Nelson – June 3 - Herb Hammond co-presents the New Forest Act framework
• Trail – June 4
• Penticton – June 6
• 100 Mile House – June 8

If there is a presentation near you, we hope you’ll attend.

Tour schedule: https://boundaryforest.org/new-forest-act-roadshow-2026-info/

Jennifer Houghton, Campaign Director, The New Forest Act Project
Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society

A province-wide tour presenting a legislative solution to BC’s forestry system. June 2–22, 2026.

06/01/2026

Tomorrow the New Forest Act Roadshow begins. This tour isn’t just about trees. It’s about drinking water. Floods. Wildfire. Mill closures. Rural economies. And the question of who public forests are actually managed for. People have been told forestry problems can be solved with another policy adjustment or another consultation.

This presentation asks a harder question: What if the system itself is the problem?

And if it is - what replaces it?

That’s what this tour is about.

Details:

A province-wide tour presenting a legislative solution to BC’s forestry system. June 2–22, 2026.

05/30/2026

TRAIL – JUNE 4
BC’s forestry crisis is increasingly structural. Markets and tariffs matter — but they are not the whole story. Timber quality is declining. Access is becoming harder and more expensive. Wildfire, drought, and hydrological disruption are growing pressures. The operable land base is shrinking.

These are not temporary disruptions. They are signs of a system running into ecological and economic limits.

The New Forest Act presentation examines these realities directly and asks:
What kind of forestry system can actually work in the decades ahead?

The proposal treats forests as critical public infrastructure — essential for water security, slope stability, biodiversity, and long-term community wellbeing.

If you care about the future of forestry, watersheds, and rural communities, join the discussion.

TRAIL
📍 June 4
📍 Details at boundaryforest.org

05/29/2026

NELSON – JUNE 3 What would forestry actually look like under a new system?
That question will be front and centre in Nelson.

The New Forest Act proposes a different approach to forestry in BC — one that protects primary forests, restores damaged landscapes, and continues harvesting on previously disturbed lands using selection-based forestry within ecological limits.

The framework is called Protect–Restore–Harvest (P.R.H.):

• Protect primary forests
• Restore degraded landscapes
• Harvest carefully in previously logged forests where ecological thresholds allow

This presentation explains:

• why the current system is producing instability
• how forestry can continue differently
• what governance changes are proposed
• and how a legislative transition could work.

Forestry does not have to mean liquidation.

There is another path.

Herb Hammond joins Jennifer Houghton to present this new path.

NELSON
📍 June 3

REGISTER: boundaryforest.org

05/29/2026

PENTICTON - JUNE 6 Forestry affects more than forests. It affects water, flood risk, wildfire behaviour, community economies, tourism, wildlife, and the long-term stability of entire regions.
Yet BC still manages forests primarily through an industrial system built around timber volume and short-term extraction. The results are becoming harder to ignore.

The New Forest Act Roadshow is coming to Penticton to present a different path.

The proposal replaces BC’s current forestry framework with a model based on ecological limits, watershed protection, and community-centred decision-making. Forests are treated as critical public infrastructure — essential for clean water, climate resilience, biodiversity, and economic stability.

The framework is built around:
• Protect remaining primary forests
• Restore degraded landscapes
• Harvest carefully in previously disturbed forests where ecological thresholds allow

This is not a protest or an open-ended debate.
It is a focused presentation on a proposed legislative replacement for forestry in British Columbia.

PENTICTON
📍 June 6
📍 Details at boundaryforest.org

05/28/2026

100 MILE HOUSE – JUNE 8 Forestry communities have been promised stability for decades. Yet mill closures, uncertainty, and shrinking local opportunity continue. The New Forest Act Roadshow asks a hard but necessary question:

Is the problem temporary — or is the system itself no longer working?

The New Forest Act proposes a transition toward:

• stable regional timber supply
• restoration and stewardship jobs
• community-based decision making
• regional log markets
• and more value from every cubic metre harvested.

The framework does not end forestry.

It changes where and how it happens — with the goal of maintaining a working forest while protecting watersheds and supporting stronger local economies.

If you’ve been waiting for something more than criticism of the current system — this presentation is about the replacement.

100 MILE HOUSE
📍 June 8
📍 Details at boundaryforest.org

05/28/2026

GOLDEN – JUNE 2 The New Forest Act Roadshow begins.
For decades, people across BC have been told that forestry problems can be solved with better regulations, more consultations, or another round of recommendations.

But mill closures continue. Watersheds continue to be degraded. Communities continue to face growing risks from floods, fires, drought, and unstable forestry economies.

The question is no longer whether the system has problems.

The question is: what replaces it?

The New Forest Act is a citizen-developed legislative proposal designed to replace BC’s current forestry framework with a system based on ecological limits, community decision-making, and long-term economic stability. It introduces the Protect–Restore–Harvest (P.R.H.) framework and Nature-Directed Stewardship as a new model for managing forests and watersheds.

This is not a protest.
Not a panel.
Not another general discussion about “forestry issues.”

It is a focused presentation on a legislative alternative.

GOLDEN
📍 June 2 – 5:30 pm
📍 Kicking Horse Country Chamber of Commerce

Details: boundaryforest.org