~~ Since’ that By CYRIL SHELFORD IT’S BEEN over three years since my book, Think Wood came out. This book out- lined problem areas in forest management and plans for the future, time, many more problems have been created and for that reason, "we should all pause to see whal has happened and make sure we want to con- tinue on this path of instant policy-making or whether we should change to policy goals that will ensure 4 bright future for our grand- children. We should all be very aware that our forest indus- try is still the main engine that drives our economy and the rise or fall of our Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) will in the long term govern our ability 0 maintain our health and education pro- grams. In 1994, the industry gen- erated $16 billion to the provincial economy and employed 95,900 men and women. We must aware that the excessive costs we place on the industry through the Forest Practices Code mean - less revenue to support so- cial services. orestry has bri if we take the rig rh el THE LUSH COASTAL forests have provided their fair share of massive logs over the years. And the indus- try has supported and sustained generations of people, helping to fuel the provincial economy and provide for modern health care and education. But The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 4, 1996 - AS ght future - ht steps | now there's increasing pressure for a wide variety of sources to reduce lagging in order to preserve what's left. And that's caused former cabinet minister Cyril Shelford to question the impacts not only for today but for the years ahead. CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD _ served We should be very concerned when we look at the so-called scientific panel man- agement in Clayoquot Sound where the ACC has dropped from 900,000 metres to 200,000 metres. The Forest Alliance of BC- commissioned report estimates for each metre of AAC Jost is a $200 loss to the provincial economy. A loss of 700,000 metres would mean a loss of $140,000,000 to the B.C. economy and the loss of 180 workers. Now take a look at what is happening to the provincial AAC, which is expected to drop from 71.3 million metres to 59 million due to reductions in cut on and above the 12 per cent for parks. ; It means a total loss to the provincial - economy of $2.46 billion which should scare the bell out of all-of us who want to Maintain our health care system. This leaves a big question for all of us to answer before moving further down the road of reductions, Is this massive cutback in AAC neces- sary? The answer is a definile NO. Most of this was done to satisfy a very small and extreme group of preservationists — main- ly -cenlered in the United States and Germany who want ta tum B.C, into a huge playground for the rich who could care less. aboul the livelihood of our workers, their familics, and our health care programs and economy. | _ Projected cuts in logging mean a total loss to the provin- clal economy of $2.46 billion, which should scare the helf out of all of us who want to maintain our health care sys- tem. During the last six years pressure groups have been driving the government instead of the other way around. We simply must think this out very carefully, as there really is a happy story to be told, which is largely ignored by the news media, I pointed out in Think Wood that our forests were growing far better than the most optimistic forecasts. The new growth in the hundreds of clearcuts that I’ve ob- is excellent. Stands thal were planted in the early 1970s are already 12 in- ches in diameler and are ready for thinning. Sweden gets 30 per cent of its waod needs from thinning, and it grows more trees than it cuts. This means the average age of Swedish forests is getting older and the trees are more likely to get diseased as time goes by, something about which the Swedes are very concerned. Even the forest'service is surprised by the growth in so many areas, I am confident there will be double the sound wood in the new forests than there is in the first cut of the old growth due to rot in the old trees, Our problem today is that we do not have enough young forests growing rapidly and too many old growth areas where there is little or no annual incrementa! increase. Old trees, like old people, do not grow. The young forests and young people are our future. There are four steps that must be taken in order lo ensure a bright future in tbe years ahead, 1. A firm forest land base should be es- tablished over the most ‘productive forest land, which is about 25 per cent of the total land base of B.C, Every time we take large areas out of the forest Jand base for other uses, it automatically reduces our abilily to grow trees for the future and to maintain a viable economy, 2. Thinning and spacing are important parts of management and should be top priority for forest renewal programs, to- gether with planting ald Non-Satisfactory Restacked (NSR) land in areas burned: by fire and old cut blocks that were not planted if nature did not take care of it, 3. Far more growth yicld analyses must be done in order to properly estimate the rale of growth of young stands, Very little of this work has been done, except by a very few large companies, and none as far as ] can find, by Fores! Renewal B.C. which should have been one -of the first areas of management with which il should get very involved. | Tam absolutely confident we will be more than pleased with the results of our efforts at planting new stands over the years. My vision of Forest Renewal is that 80 per cent of all programs should be directed toward forests for future supply rather than pro- grams for ourseives in the present genera- tion. I find it stuange that a great deal of re- search goes into finding bad things about managing our forests. It is not all gloom and doom out there in the forest, as portrayed by small groups of preser- “vationists, 4. There must be firm incentives for indi- viduals and companics to grow mote trees on both public and private lands. There are close to 1 million hectares of agricultural land tying idle due to a lack of clear policy. The Forest Practices Code must be simplified so that il is clear to all. [t also has to be changed from regulation-oriented, where all must do the same thing, It should be changed to result-oriented Management and long-term security with arca-based tenure so that all forest land Managers know there is a long-term future for management and investment. It will take major efforts on the part of government to renew faith in the future of the industry. Individuals and companies must be cn- couraged to try different methods of man- agement. There is no doubt we can ensure a bright future if we follow these four basic princi- ples. No one can plan a sustainable forest until some of ihe poorly thought issues are put to rest such as: 1, the Spotted Ow! reserves in old growth, which are a non-issue since bundreds of owls have been found in second growth in the United Slates. This is not surprising when there is far more food in second growth and open arcas close by, either made by man or fire. 2. Viewscapes could cover the whole. pro- vince if you Jook from high hills or mountains, plus all the area seen from roads, rail or cruise boats, etc. This is total- ly impractical in a province that mainly lives by forests, ’ Cleared areas, either by fire, clearcuts or agricullure, soon green up and disappear in a few shorl years when the new vigorous crops come up. A farmer couldn't produce much food without plowing, which looks like a clearcut, and both have to have a ‘rotation period for maximum growth, There are lots of things we want in life. But can we afford to reserve large areas of land for various purposes which return no revenue to = governments while still maintaining our social programs? _ 3. Wildlife corridors are rarely necessary. Over the centuries, wildlife changes. its trails or migration routes without ‘much problem: following large fires, windthrow or even beaver darts. MODERN FORESTRY requires innovative techni- ques such as helicopter logging. The fying machines are becoming popular as the art of logging changes to meet new regulations and new ways of getting the wood into processing plants. Born south of Burns Lake, Cyril Shelford for years represented first the Omineca riding in the legislature and then the Skeena riding. He was also an agricultural minister under two So- cial Credit governments. Mr. Shelford is now a consultant and author. He lives in Victoria and takes a keen interest in the future of B.C, : sete, 3 Cyril Shelford 4, Protected areas outside of parks are just another form of park on and above the 12 per cent, where most activity is limited and an open invitation for those in urban areas to experiment with ideas that can slow things down and keep key people in the forest service tied up for long periods from doing useful work. This is put together with native co-management rights outside their core area, which will cause more conflict dis- putes than all the disputes in the past put together. 5. Biodiversity is another area of dispute that can go on forever if no one takes a firm band. All you have to do is find 10 people and they witl find 10 different ideas con- cerning how to manage it. Nature is doing a far better job than we give it credit for. Most of these issues mentioned are slowing down the economy and reducing tax revenues to governments. If we don’! pause to look where we are going following the im- pacts on the industry, we could find ourselves not only with the 17 per cent cutback but up to 50 per cent by the time these regulation changes from the Forest Practices Code, Protected Areas Strategy, C.O.R.E, and timber supp- ly review work through the system. Very few of our problems are caused by outside enemies — we seem to be able to cause most of them for ourselves. As | said in Think Wood, there is a happy story to be told if only we all would get out and look at the forests and the vigorous growing new stands before crying doom and gloom, - , We owe that to all our young people before we restrict the use of our forests anymore, Before going further down the road of change, we must. - step back and be sure of where we are going before we devastate our economy and force more and more of aur young people ta.seck employment in countries with fewer restrictions and uncertainty about the future, The Mail Bag On right track Dear Sir: In your Nav. 27 article, ‘‘Sawmill workers taid off,”’ our MLA was quoted as saying '‘There was a time When mills kept functioning even in bad times. Things seem to be different now."’ I was not present during the interview 50 Cannol com- ment on the context in which it was made. However, I am confident Mr. Helmut Giesbrecht will agree it does nol apply to West Fraser and Skeena Sawmills, The Skeena mill was bankrupt when West Fraser pur- chased it 14 years ago. It has enjoyed an enviable record of never having lay offs as a result of market conditions, and I can assure you that we have gone through several up and down cycles over this period, In fact, West Fraser has never, in 41 years, closed a facility for a prolonged period of time. However, Mr, Giesbrecht is right, things are different now, We are faced with a very different circumstance than fluctuating market conditions, Skecna Sawmills has lost money for 18 months and bas kept the mill op- craling, We all knew the problem existed last spring. That has continued and we are currently losing moncy al the rate of $1 million a month, when the market is preity good. I wish it were just a matter of waiting for a market turn but that is not our problem. What has changed is that we cannot hope to even cover operating cosis as every log simply costs too much and that will continue unless fundamental changes are made. Il appears Mr. Giesbrecht and the government under- Stand thal we have a rather unique situation that is not of our making. We look forward to identifying and im- plementing solutions with them on a cooperative basis. Bruce MacNicol General Manager Skeena Sawmills, Terrace, B.C. Should taxpayers pay? Dear Sir: The Terrace Standard reported on Skeena Sawmills’ losses of $1 million a month, The key problem, accord- ing to the story, is that the company faces “‘.,.a double challenge: forests with fewer of the lucrative sawlogs powering interior mills’ profits and more difficult, mountainous, and expensive lerrain.”’ One possible conclusion to be drawn from these cir- cumstances is that the company should receive special help from Canadian taxpayers to compensate for these difficult conditions. An alternate conclusion would be that the company should not be culling trees in these remote, fragile watersheds. We have some of the steepest slopes in the province here, with relatively thin, unstable soils. The long-term damage thal logging in inappropriate places has done to fisheries values and forest regeneration has arguably cast society much more than the benefits of such log- ging are worth. , Trees left standing now can always be cul later. But the damage done by blowouts and destruction of river productivily may last hundreds of years, Perhaps instead of losing money and causing long term damage by Jogging in inappropriate places, it is time for West Fraser to do what they will have to do eventually in any case: focus on improving regenera- lion and on intensive management of the relatively flat, deep-soil areas where trees can be harvested profitably and with minimal environmental damage, West Fraser’s request for a government handout also mixes strangely wilh a report in the October 31 Van- couver Sun that ibeir net earnings of $46.5 million for the third quarter were ‘‘more money than every other B.C. public forest products company combined made during the quarter.”’ Native people are often characterized as being depen- dent on government, This current situation raises the question of just who is dependent on who. Should tax- payers pay to help rich companies log places that can’t be logged ata profit, and shouldn't be logged at all? Kenneth R. Margolis, Executive Director, Nanakila Institute, Kitamaat Village, B.C. Wolves not a bother An Open Letter to Lynn Christiansen Dear Lynn: I’m glad about your Nov. 20 response to my letter on wolves and farmers — ] really hoped to start a discus- sion. You will have a lot af public empathy because your opinion represents the way a majority of people approach this topic -— on a very emotional basis. My ‘‘callous’” way lo address the subject merely was an effort to show that there is also a possibility and a necessity to analyze our part in encounters with wild- life. Mr. Hamer’s case was used as an example, By no means did | intend to offend bim as a person, I feel com passionate, but mainly for the attacked animals which totally rely on the quality of our care and also for the eventually-killed predators that might not have attacked in the first place. I think we could all agree on the fact that good animal husbandry includes knowledge about the animal’s needs, and predators’ basic behaviour patterns in order to create a safe and healthy environment. To do things right, it might help to practice for a decade, but a logical approach based on knowledge will bring you very far, too, The smallest hobby farm works on the same principles as a professional farm. You mentioned that the facts [ stated were wrong. My own experience is a fact to me — wolves are known to breed female dogs in heat and Kuvasz are originally bred to stay with the flock and protect it. Certain farming practices 1 mentioned are used by some individuals nol only in Terrace and it is not solely the area that exposed our to predator attacks. There are many examples where you have very close neighbours and one has a problem with predators and others don’t. If you analyze the facts, you will most limes find obvious reasons for It and a change of setup and management of the homestead or farm will stop these problems.. _ ‘By the way, I do live close to the river at a mountain base and should be haunted by predators according to your statement, Yes, they are around my property, but ~ not on It, and neither attacking meé or my animals. © 1 still think that this is not only luck and if I should ever have an incident, I will blame myself first and try to improve protection strategies, : aan Ellen Hansen, Terrace, B.C.