 I'm Shane Berg, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Forester for the Province of British Columbia. The Office of BC's Chief Forester is home to global thought leaders in forest carbon modelling, climatic projections about our future forest ecosystems, and in research that spans forest carbon dynamics from seed to forest product. British Columbia's forests and ecosystems have become known throughout the world. For the quality of timber they produce, and their vast expanse and natural beauty. As we face continued challenges in our fight against climate change, BC's forests play a pivotal role in helping ecosystems adapt and become more resilient. For National Forest Week 2022, I would like to celebrate the unique role that our forests play in helping to find solutions to one of our most challenging natural resource problems today, our changing climate. The extreme wildfires, heat waves and flooding of the past several years were disorienting for British Columbians. We have a lot of work to do on bolstering our communities and ecosystems for the impacts of climate change. Reorienting ourselves with a strong foundation of climate data is an important part of this adaptation response. There is a large and diverse portfolio of activities that can help cut greenhouse gas emissions. Forest conservation and sustainable forest management can play an important role in this. At the same time, we also need to reduce the degradation of more sensitive ecosystems and restore forest health while continuing to enhance our use of wood and bioproducts to displace carbon-intensive and non-renewable resources such as gas, concrete and plastics. The Office of the Chief Forester is leaving the Climate X project to develop new data on climate extremes, drought and fire weather. The focus is on increasing the spatial detail of these indices by a factor of 10. This will vastly improve our understanding of how climate extremes are changing in BC's rugged landscapes. Ultimately, it will help us reduce climate risks to BC's people and ecosystems. Forest-rich northern regions like BC face a challenge in finding ways to increase the sustainable harvest of wood fiber and simultaneously reduce the environmental footprint. The mixing of traditional knowledge and rapidly adapting forest industry, all looking at the landscape with a climate change lens, is a pivotal moment for BC. Research and debate are important, and we must rely on a community of bold forest managers and practitioners who are willing to trial new ideas. Through active and innovative ecosystem management, BC's forests and the people who care for them are contributing to solutions to a changing climate. The Ministry of Forest is working to ensure that forest managers understand the trade-offs and benefits of managing forests for multiple values, including carbon storage and climate adaptation. Through our expanding research and knowledge, we have come a long way in discovering the relationship between carbon and forests. Forests that are managed sustainably and those that are conserved from harvesting activity both contribute to offsetting the effects of climate change. I'd like to recognize and thank the forest professionals, practitioners and land stewards working today to help manage BC's forests, to help mitigate the effects of a changing climate and to keep them healthy and resilient for now and for the future.