According to this Vancouver Sun article, an increasing share of Canada’s commercial forests is controlled by private companies.
In theory, there’s nothing that prevents private companies from being good forest stewards. Some companies, especially those who have sought out Forest Stewardship Council certification, do a pretty good job. And likewise, federal agencies that have to answer to all sorts of political pressures sometimes do a terrible job of managing forests.
But if experience in the US Northwest is any guide, commercially controlled timberlands are likely to be logged far more aggressively than are lands owned by state and federal agencies. Take a look at our deforestation maps of the Olympic Peninsula, Central Cascades, and Southern Oregon (beware, large downloads) and explore the “map layers” tab at the top to see some of the differences.
