Ronee AND ENVIRONMENT Why hand over our forests to the birds? Union calls for B.C. government to review policies on protecting spotted owls A RECENT SUMMIT on the future of the U.S. owl revealed that commer- cial timber harvesting is not the major threat to the northern spotted owl as many have been lead to believe over the past decade or more. In fact, American scientists have found that competition from larger barred owls (who push spot- ted owls out of their nests), nat- ural wildfires and parasites Wilf Mcintyre that attack old growth oak trees (a hardwood species) make up the more serious problems for the spotted owls. In early August, then IWA Canada national first vice-president Wilf McIntyre and now USWA-IWA Council officer, said “in light of these findings the Americans are reviewing the severe measures they have taken to restrict timber harvesting in the Pacific Northwest. We believe it is time the government did the same in British Columbia.” The union officer wrote B.C. chief forest Larry Pederson to call on the Liberal goverment to launch a policy review. Brother McIntyre noted that the province has designated about a quarter of a million hectares of potentially har- vestable forest lands for owl habitat. Those set asides are primarily in the Lower Mainland’s Fraser Timber Supply areas and the Soo Timber Supply area. He also point out that, dur- ing the 1990s, the stated need to protect spotted owls resulted, in great part, in the creation of several provincial parks. “Now it seems that measures that strictly limit timber harvesting do not solve the problems of the owl's dwindling population,” he adds. “Especially here in British Columbia, which is the farthest northern reach of the owls’ habitat range, we should take a look at whether what we have been doing is worth the damage it is doing to jobs, communities and the econo- my,” he added. “Biologists have often suggested that the province’s owl pop- ulation is naturally declining, in spite of the limitation put on harvesting timber in certain areas.” “It is possible that since we are at the northern end of their range, the falling population is due either to the same factors the Americans have identified or simply due to the fact that the owls have moved south,” said McIntyre. “We should be revisiting our policies to see whether we are putting out a huge welcome mat for birds that will, in fact, not come back any time in the foreseeable future.” The prime habitat areas for the spotted owl are Washington state, Oregon and northern California, where there are more than an estimat- ed 2,250 pairs. In 1990 the owl was declared an endangerd species and, in 1994, the Bill Clinton administration approved the “Northwest Forest Plan” which locked up millions of hectares of old growth forests and devastated dozens of forest-dependent communi- ties in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. PHOTO BY NORM GARCIA & Jobs at Weldwood operations should be secure, although local unions do express some longer-term concerns. West Fraser to buy out Weldwood Impact unlikely to be felt by local unions in B.C. and Alberta ANOTHER PREDICTABLE giant takeover is about to take place and will likely receiye the blessing of govern- ments in B.C. and Alberta. In July, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. made public its $1.26 billion takeover bid of Weldwood Canada operations from Intemational Paper, which has owned Weldwood since it took over parent company Champion International in the 1990s. If approved by regulators, the merged forest will be the third largest softwood lumber producer in North America with an annual capacity of over 4 billion board feet. Four union locals (Prince George ld The Allied Worker that “we are con- ‘but our local doesn’t see a impact on jobs in the forseable future.” In fact, Everitt says West Fraser mills are seeing an increase in annual cut to play catch- up with widespread beetle infestations in the northem Interior. The merger means jointly-owned West Fraser-Weldwood operations in Houston (Houston Forest Products) and Babine (Babine Forest Products) will be under full West Fraser control. The local has members at Burns Lake Speciality sawmill in Burns Lake, the Weldwood plywood operation in Quesnel and the West Fraser MDF operation in Quesnel. In Local 1-425, it should be business as usual for workers at the Weldwood plywood plant in Williams Lake and at the company’s sawmill/planer in 100 Mile House. Local president Bill Derbyshire does express some con- cems that ifa new mega-mill is builtin Quesnel, it might draw timber away from smaller operations under the West Fraser banner. In Alberta, local president Nick Stewart says Weldwood Hinton compa- ny and contractor crews will likely remain employed at the Weldwood woodlands operation in Hinton. The local also represents workers at the Seetha Forest Products sawmill and planer in Red Earth Cree, a partnership between West Fraser and First Nations. “We're not sorry to see the Intemational Paper influence go,” says Brother Stewart. “We hope to organize the Sunpine LVL plant in Rocky Mountain House, where we've had pre- vious attempts.” West Fraser also owns former Zeidler Industries plant in Slave Lake and Edmonton. Local 1-417 president Joe Davies says there’s unlikely to be an impact that local members might face at the West Fraser mill (formerly Ainsworth) in Chasm, where there is a state-of-the-art mill. Local union promotes ties to north boreal forest initiative Since 2001 the Ontario government has been promoting The Northern Boreal Forest Initiative (NBI) in order to open up areas of untouched wilderness to sustainable resource extraction. The % NBI is designed to +} consult and work 2 | with 26 First Nations who live and work in the region of northern Ontario that is north of the 51st Joe Hanton parallel. Built out of the Forest Accord under the previous conservative goverrment, the initiate calls for First Nations to take a leading role in the development of a region that covers some 37 million hectares - one of Canada’s most abundantly forested. “In the far north there are tremendous opportunities for First Nations communities to play a Partnership role in seeking sustainable resource extraction and created value-added industries,” says Local 1-2693 president Joe Hanlon. “As those opportunities develop in the years ahead the IWA will be available to work with First Nations and investors to promote good labour and health and safety standards and well as environmentally-sound forest practices.” Brother Hanlon adds that resource extraction planning must have First Nations’ input to protect traditional ways of life, while striving to better the economic and social lives of northern communities. By working with the Ministry of Natural Resources under the NBI, First Nations groups woud be able to hold a new category of license called Sustainable Forest Licenses (SF's), allowing commercial forest activities in the far reaches of Ontario. +e SEPTEMBER 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER T 19