The B.C. Liberal government delivered on Friday $3 million to the Omineca Beetle Action Coalition to be used during the next three years to implement a blueprint meant to diversify the north-central B.C. economy.
The coalition -- one of three created in the province -- was first funded in 2005 to come up with regional plans to mitigate the economic fallout from a reduced timber supply from the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
"The pine beetle epidemic has hurt industries and our communities -- it has touched countless families that have seen their livelihoods at risk," said Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett during an announcement at UNBC in front of about 60 community and business leaders.
Barnett, the parliamentary secretary for regional economic development, was joined by jobs minister Pat Bell and Solicitor General Shirley Bond.
Omineca Beetle Action Coalition chairman Don Bassermann welcomed the funding, saying it was critical to being able to continue to implement the regional diversification strategy completed in 2009.
"We've made some solid progress, and this funding will help up make greater strides in improving the resiliency and sustainability of our communities in northern B.C.," said Bassermann, Prince George city councillor.
The coalition represents communities across northern B.C., in a region stretching from Valemount in the east, west to Smithers, and north to Mackenzie, including hard-hit towns like Vanderhoof and Burns Lake in the heart of the infestation.
The beetle epidemic is forecast to decrease the timber supply for several decades -- as much as 40 per cent in some areas -- and result in a decrease in forestry jobs.
The coalition has developed a series of strategic plans in sectors like mining, tourism, transportation and agriculture, each meant to help diversify the region's economy.
Each plan has a series of recommended actions.
For example, the mining plan called for an upgraded connector road be built between Mackenzie and Fort St. James to improve access to the proposed $917-million Mount Milligan gold and copper mine.
B.C. Liberal government put up $10.75 million to upgrade the connector road.
More work is underway, including a project to encourage locally grown food be used in public institutions like UNBC and Northern Health, noted Bassermann.
Recently the coalition helped provide $25,000 in seed funding for a bioenergy project in Burns Lake meant to provide heating for downtown civic buildings.
The co-operative effort involves the community, the province, First Nations and others like Northern Health, said Burns Lake mayor Bernice Magee. While the $2-million to $3-million project is still in the planning stages, the community hopes to start work next year.
As a result of the beetle epidemic, the mid-term timber supply is expected to drop 33 to 45 per cent in the vast northern and Interior regions, with communities like Burns Lake estimated to take an even harder hit, in a 2007 analysis from the B.C. Ministry of Forests.
The decline in mid-term timber supply -- up to 60 years -- is expected to begin within five years in some areas.
