Over a 50-year period, logging on B.C.’s Central Coast preferentially targeted the highest value locations on the landscape, according to new research. The systematic depletion of high-value components of the environment raises concerns about future sustainability and intergenerational access to natural resources. Led by SFU PhD graduate Jordan Benner and professor emeritus Ken Lertzman and published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, their research shows that, over time, harvesting operations moved to forest stands of increasingly lower productivity and accessibility, which they refer to as ‘harvesting down the value chain’.
