Three large logging corporations have control over the majority of Manitoba’s public forests—Tolko Industries, Louisiana-Pacific, and Tembec. Their forest tenure areas are called Forest management Licenses, or FMLs. These FMLs include four major provincial parks, in which these corporations are legally allowed to clearcut log. There are serious concerns with the Manitoba operations of these corporations, concerns Manitobans must take notice of before we compromise our future any more.

In 1999 a Senate Sub-Committee Report entitled Competing Realities: the Boreal Forest at Risk was released. It stated that “forest companies, with their shareholders desire for maximum profit-taking” should not be in charge of the forests.

Decisions about how are forests are managed are made based upon what is best for the mills, processing plants, and corporations, rather than for the benefit of the natural areas or for the health of our environment in Manitoba.

The appropriate resources must be directed towards managing our forests for the greater good of the environment of Manitoba. The forestry corporations in Manitoba need more oversight and less free reign to influence the use of our public lands.

The Manitoba government must immediately remove all provincial parks from Forest Management Licenses in Manitoba.