Forestry Land Use Policy in British Columbia: The Dynamics of Change‪.‬

In the Spring of 1994 over 30,000 people gathered on the steps of the legislature to protest against proposed land use changes on Vancouver Island. This demonstration, one of the largest in British Columbia (BC) history, reflects the intensity which has characterized provincial land use policy for decades. Yet despite this conflict between resource extraction and protection, the provincial government recently implemented significant changes in land use which have been largely accepted by most British Columbians, including the forest industry. The purpose of this paper is to explain how these changes were made with such a high degree of support following decades of intense conflict. The paper begins with an outline of the staple theory as a framework for understanding resource policy. Recent changes in provincial resource policy are then summarized and explained in the context of staple theory.