"The results are sobering and disappointing," said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Canopy, a non-profit environmental group that works with large forest products customers,.. "We can't afford to continue working at this pace."

As well, First Nation leaders question the CBFA citing a lack of public consultation and inclusion in planning the CBFA. "The invitation to participate is always after the fact," said Norman Young, Grand Chief of the Algonquin Nation Secretariat, which represents two first nations in Quebec and Ontario. "They draw up the documents and then say, 'The door's open, come on in.' That is not consulting."

"We have never understood how anyone would believe a map showing millions of hectares in Tolko's Manitoba licence area as 'suspended harvest in boreal caribou range'. Logging continues, and woodland caribou are particularly at risk there due to road building, logging, and intended new transmission corridors," commented Gaile Whelan Enns.