The B.C. government has introduced legislation to make changes that will only allow receiving licenses to be transferred to another non-lumber producer.
The receiving licenses were created to give bioenergy companies access to low-value timber waste that companies that have regular timber rights would not normally bring out of the woods. The idea was that the receiving license volume could be added to the volume on a regular license, which meant the company doing the logging could bring out both high-grade and low-grade timber.
The receiving-license idea, first rolled out as an idea in early 2010, hasn’t been enacted yet, but the legislation change is a first step in making them a reality. Forests Minister Steve Thomson expects the receiving license concept will be ready to be implemented this summer.
“It’s fairly obvious why we wanted to restrict it - it’s to make sure the focus of the receiving license is on development of the bioenergy and non-lumber part of the industry,” said Thomson.
– from Central Interior Logging Association