Aims of finding a fair balance between the tourism industry and forest industry is important to all. During the week, we make our living by marketing quality wood products produced from the forest. We facilitate shipment of those products around the world. On the weekends, we also enjoy being tourists in our own province with getaways into B.C.’s coastal and Interior woods. The unmatched natural beauty of our forest attracts visitors from around the globe. They’re expected to visit in record numbers this season. Of course, value of the loonie helps. Billions of dollars are at stake in both tourism and forest-related industries in B.C.

I was reminded of the challenges involved in balancing the interests of both industries by this article in The Vancouver Sun describing concerns over a clearcut visible from the Hope Slide Viewpoint. A Council of Tourism Association (COTA) report in 2007 entitled A Tourism industry strategy for forests provided recommendations for improving the identification, management, and safeguarding of scenic areas significant to tourism – particularly in the face of salvage logging beetle-killed wood. This 2011 report by the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals included recommendations that Visual Quality Objectives (VQO) should be a focus for nature-based tourism. Professional Foresters agree that “difficult trade-offs exist when considering the right balance following Mountain Pine Beetle damage. Increasing or reducing one value at the expense of other values requires informed discussion and debate… Public consultation in areas of high sensitivity is required to prevent undesirable outcomes.”