From the latest BCTS newsletter:
BCTS DELIVERS ITS BILLIONTH TREE SEEDLING
This spring, BC Timber Sales (BCTS) delivered its billionth tree seedling for government-funded planting initiatives that reforest harvested areas in the province as well as areas affected by natural disasters such as fire and pest damage to ensure future productivity. With the delivery of the billionth tree, BCTS has supported the reforestation of over 600,000 hectares.
BCTS manages more than 90 million quality seedlings a year from a mix of over 20 different native tree species seed to help maintain ecosystem processes, resilience and diverse habitats. This includes the management and storage of seedlings grown for Forests for Tomorrow and the Forest Carbon Initiative, two reforestation programs that increase forest resiliency to a changing climate, help keep carbon out of the atmosphere and store more carbon in BC’s forests.
In addition to coordinating the production and distribution of seedlings, BCTS plants over 55 million seedlings a year through cost-effective, competitively awarded provincial contracts. Annually, we spend over $40 million on silviculture activities and replant 100 per cent of harvested sites to ensure prompt reforestation. This year, BCTS awarded over 50 planting contracts to BC independent contractors. A big thank you to all those involved in the 2020 tree planting season for their extraordinary efforts despite the concerns and challenges COVID-19 created. We had our largest planting season ever this spring with no COVID-19 cases and planted 45.8 million seedlings for our reforestation program, plus an additional 49 million seedlings for Forest for Tomorrow and Forest Carbon Initiative