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The City of Quesnel is the first local government in the province to pass a "Wood First" bylaw designed to link to the Province of British Columbia's Wood First Act.

Quesnel City Council gave final reading to Bylaw No. 1675, 2010 at its regular Council meeting on Monday May 10. The purpose is to encourage the use of wood first as a primary building material in the design and construction of City funded buildings wherever practical and appropriate.

"We are proud proponents of the wood industry and are confident that this bylaw will set some direction for our staff and future Councils," said Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom. "We want to lead by example; by building with wood, the City will show people that you can be innovative and creative, that you can practice sustainable building practices, both environmentally and fiscally, and that you can do this to ensure a strong wood industry presence in our communities."""Local government support is integral to the success of our Wood First program," said Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell. "I congratulate the City of Quesnel for leading the way and demonstrating to other communities how they can support our forest industry, while helping meet our climate change goals."

"We congratulate Quesnel for sealing a long-term strategy for building with wood and being recognized as a community with a wood culture," added Mary Tracey, executive director of Wood WORKS! BC.  "By passing this bylaw, the City of Quesnel is taking a leadership role in supporting and strengthening its local forestry sector which is both visionary and fiscally responsible. It also makes good sense from an environmental point of view, since wood is the most sustainable, natural, renewable and "climate friendly" building material on earth."  Wood WORKS! is a national, industry-led initiative of the Canadian Wood Council, with a goal to support innovation and provide leadership on the use of wood and wood products. The City intends to use Wood WORKS! as a technical consultant on potential wood construction projects.

The Wood First Bylaw passed by Council contains a number of requirements, including:

• All design proposals for City funded buildings shall include a detailed description of how wood will be used as a primary building material.
• Favourable consideration may be given to design proposals for City funded buildings that demonstrate a more substantial and/or innovative use of wood content as a primary building material.
• Favourable consideration may be given to design proposals for City funded buildings from proponents who demonstrate a greater degree of expertise in the use of wood as a primary building material.
• Favourable consideration may be given to design proposals for City funded buildings that maximize the use of available local wood products.

British Columbia's Wood First Act requires provincially-funded building projects to use wood as the primary construction material. Currently, wood represents only 19 per cent of commercial or institutional buildings when it could be used in the majority of cases.