The FHABC was formed on March 29, 1982 in Vancouver at a meeting attended by people from many backgrounds and disciplines.The purpose and objectives of the association are to promote awareness of, appreciation for, and preservation of the forest history of British Columbia.The association assumes a promotional and coordinating role, and does not collect archival material, but rather, encourages the assembly, cataloguing, and deposition of such material in the appropriate local, regional, provincial, or federal archival facilities. The FHABC has an annual general meeting and publishes a newsletter up to three times a year.

The British Columbia Forest History Newsletter, in production for over 30 years, predates the association and traces its origins to a meeting organized by the Forest History Society, then of Santa Cruz, California, and held at the University of British Columbia on April 27, 1981. When the FHABC came into being the next spring, the newsletter then became its official organ.