The Ministry of Environment released the State of the Environment report for 2019 on Wednesday with a focus on the province’s forests.
The report assesses 24 indicators of forest health, most of which are new or revised from the last report in 2009.
Assistant Deputy Minister for Resource Management and Compliance Division for the Ministry of Environment, Kevin Murphy, explained the report at the AGM for the Association of Saskatchewan Forestry Professionals (ASFP).
Murphy gave an overall positive response, saying it’s important for the government and the public to continue supporting the forestry industry.
“Our forests are doing well, they are being managed sustainably, and the forestry industry is an integral part of that.” Murphy told CTV News.
The president of ASFP, Bill Thibeault, agreed that the report was positive, both for the growing forestry industry and the environment, but noted there are always opportunities for improvement.
“People don’t realize half of our province is forested and the forestry sector could be an important aspect of our economy and of our environmental practices in the future,” Thibeault told CTV News. “We need to create more awareness of the fact that we have professionals out here managing the forests for us and how important the forest sector could be for us provincially.”
The report is now available at saskatchewan.ca. Murphy said the Ministry of Environment has a goal to maintain and update the information on the website as it becomes available rather than waiting 10 years for the next full report to come out.
