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A committee looking for ways to boost B.C.’s dwindling store of timber is looking at logging protected areas such as old-growth forests as one way out of a supply crunch.

Other options include cutting greater volumes of “marginally economic” timber and pumping up forest growth by using fertilizer and other intensive management techniques.

The options, included in a June 11 discussion paper of the government-appointed Special Committee on Timber Supply, come in advance of community open houses scheduled for June and July and provide more detail on plans that came to light in April, when leaked documents revealed the government was looking for ways to bolster timber supply.

The open houses are scheduled in communities, such as Quesnel and Burns Lake, which stand to be most affected by a shortage of timber.

From The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/timber-panel-eyes-logging-protected-areas/article4254177/