What is the role of BCTS with the new timber pricing system?
The market pricing system (MPS) is based on the auction of timber by BC Timber Sales to establish the price for Crown timber. BCTS will auction about 20 per cent of Crown timber annually through hundreds of timber sales of varying sizes, with terms up to four years in length. BC Timber Sales will auction this timber to the highest bidder and the auction results will be used to determine the stumpage rates of the remaining 80 per cent of Crown timber. Prices received for auctioned timber will require adjustments before they are applied to the timber harvested by licensees. Adjustments will be made for the responsibilities of licensees holding long-term tenures, but not by winners of auction sales. This adjustment is referred to as the tenure obligation adjustment, which covers responsibilities such as planning costs, road building, reforestation and investment and risks in forest management. Information on prices bid at auction, timber characteristics and prevailing log-price data will
