Nine-axle lumber truck-and-trailer combinations are now approved to travel on some BC logging routes, Premier David Eby announced at the 2025 Council of Forest Industries convention in Prince George on Friday, April 4.
Four months after his last visit to Prince George for the 2025 BC Natural Resources Forum, Eby presented more forestry-specific commentary and announcements this time around to hundreds of delegates in the Civic Centre’s main hall.
The premier said as part of the conversation on making it easier and less costly for fibre products to get to mills, the province was approving the use of nine-axle truck and trailer combinations.
A media release sent out by the provincial government the same afternoon said approval was granted for “some logging routes” without providing further specifics.
The province has mulled over granting permission to nine-axle combinations for years, at one point appointing a committee to investigate the safety and road impacts they would have on BC highways.
Eby told the audience that his colleague, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, is dealing with threats to his province’s automotive sector while BC’s timber sector is being targeted in the ongoing U.S.-Canada trade war.
While the Ministry of Forests currently has a target of rendering decisions on permits within 40 days, Eby said his government would soon look to halve that to just 20 days.
Regarding forest landscape planning tables, COFI CEO Kim Haakstad noted during a question-and-answer session with Eby that several pilot projects have started but have been “incredibly slow.”
Forest landscape plans “establish clear outcomes for the management of forest resource values within defined areas,” according to the province’s website. These plans are developed with local governments and First Nations.
“There’s some opportunistic work that’s happening,” Eby said.
“We’re working with many (First Nations) across the province. Some of them we’re working with are very interested in being active partners, some forest sector interest is a big topic of conversation here.
“For example, we’ve been working with Carrier Sekani First Nations on pathways agreement for some time. I was pretty sure we were really going to struggle to get agreement and just recently had a number of breakthroughs. I’m very hopeful. It’ll be quite transformative for this area and for the Prince George forest region.”
Haakstad said some of the assessments for annual cuts in forests are really old and haven’t been updated to reflect the effects of wildfires and trees killed by pine beetles.
Eby said the gap in information about the state of land in the province was “pretty startling” and that the province is working on scanning areas with LIDAR to establish a new baseline. That data and others will be available for free to COFI and similar groups.
During his visit to Prince George, Eby said he had meetings with both Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan and Prince George city council.
Logan will soon know her future as chief as Lheidli T’enneh members go to the polls to elect a new chief and council on Wednesday, April 9. There are 26 people running for eight councillor positions while Regina Toth is challenging Logan for the position of chief.
