By BERT WHYTE fough Canada’s forest resources » they are not limitless,” says Canadian handbook, Cana- 1 cubi In addition to the 3,500 mil- ty. ©. feet of wood used every migestry, more than 2,000° mii- uc feet are lost to harmful in- lsease, and forest fire. As well oak Out more intensive forest it ie and reforestation to re- Pn the = man himself has taken Wm rests, Canadians must there- m Ntain the struggle against Major Natural enemies.” Maen Bly 5, t0rests in Canada cover Pre ie million square miles. About Mt Of the forests are conifer- Rin Percent deciduous. Stretch- the broad belt from the Atlantic iy wllic, they are of key import- Sur country’s economy. Rei a four-fifths of Canada’s pro- Pet land is publicly owned, Cital ustry is entirely in pri- Mite «St hands. These companies Mtea Profit and can hardly be MPs ,,; PON to use the nation’s | Wisely, Me aa Leonov’s great novel, The Orest, a passionate cry is Rion by a Man who believes that estry ues off a controversy that Pitiey © this day. The author was €nin Prize, fantdian experts assert that Ying tliminates the danger of Many © country’s forest wealth Dinio Oviet experts hold the Seni” Telation to their coun- “0 gold.” Me the’ facts are disturbing. For ex- § are Steater part of the USSR’s State uated in the Asian part » remote taiga region. It rn sPensive proposition to astern Siberia and the €rritory and ship it un- Cone” European part of the Cent quently, the main lum- S are in the European »~% and the Arkhangelsk, as for Vand Permi region. So “Ut wis StS are far from exhaust- wt tim 30 years, some experts Pace ,. felling continues at its and it is planned to accel- Sis situation will arise. Cy Baty ago the forests in the try -°' and central areas of £te largely destroyed by 10n. Today felling is re- oc cut aoe trees grow annually i eback. n. The forests are mak- Yeloryce: lorussia. There the Minister Rs Dregs of all the produc- "nd in Canada is pub- a ut the harvesting of 8 induece™ out entirely by J to bet an arrangement ood Unique among the 37,009 producing countries. Passeq’ Gcres of forest 3 ‘nto private owner- Present hing pmber Produced, more Qnd ths of the newsprint MY ot Seable proportions Ning dust er products of the ties —“'®S, are sold to other About two-thirds of —] =]. Se: Harrison, in 867-1960" Hundred |The fate of the forests The very names of our labora- tories indicate the main trends of our researches. These are the seed Productivity * of different trees, questions of forest regeneration . under any conditions, problems of steppe forestation, the interaction of different arboreal species in forest strips ... Our biologists are working in close contact with industry. Con- stant contacts are being maintain- ed with a number of forestry de- partments, in particular, practical recommendations for the regener- ation of forests that have perished owing to pests have been elabor- ated at the request of Tomsk and Altai sylviculturists. —Professor A. I. Cherepanov, Director of the Biological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch. They swarm forest that was alive a standar the heaviest taxes, th ing nothing of the future, to their wea bottom, as if t Always there were mor at election times, Hee resources, boundless future, row. Only now do we begin to sus i iti i he trees, plowed the ground, ed sigpe-tt Oe pe cares up shalt cities so fast that, you will find ten-foot stumps of the virgin few years ago. With Pat 5 ete gin ae e most extrav : atghalvlog aga icc ae the happiest life. Built it, think- ; of wasting resources, as if there could be no end Ith, as if forests would last forever, as if mines could never reac he fish could breed without spawning. — fe e resources. Unlimited resources, the politicians assur- and that was good enough to win an election—un- re, no need to conserve or think about tomor- pect that there may be an end... Now we d the sea, blasted the rock, plundere in the back yards of Vancouver today, ; t go on forever. suspect tha —Bruce Hutchison, in The Unknown Country *™ Moiseenko, presents this . “Forests form nearly a third of ae republic’s area. Forest aL vier ae - made good progress In recent bye ihe making a more productive use (0) state forest land. “The intensity of forest ae is determined in the first place by ae scale and rate of eR ee new ions. During the pas nce were planted over an ates a 270,000 hectares. The five-year p aneot 1971-1975 envisions a further a 9 — tion of hundreds of thousands 0 tares. “The sanitary conditions of the for- ests, their protection from harmful in- sects and fires calls for stringent meas- ures, The timber enterprises set up new fire-chemical stations and erected ob- servation posts. The ground and serial forest fire protection systems are being improved and up-to-date methods are being employed in fighting off forest pests and diseases. “In the new five-year period the for- esters of Byelorussia will apply their efforts to the elimination of existing shortcomings and will work to improve the efficiency of forest management and ‘a large-scale introduction of the scientific organization of labor.” oo * 2: The fate of the forests in Canada and the USSR depends largely upon forest management and research. in Canada, under terms established by the British North America Act, provin- cial governments have the sole right to enact laws regarding management and sale of public lands, including the tim- ber on those lands. And so, for a fast buck, vast tracts of good timber are handed over to giant private firms. In the USSR all land is owned by the state — that is, the people. It is to the benefit of all if the exploitation of nat- ural resources is handled wisely. Academician N. Anuchin, Director of the USSR Research Institute of Fores- try, puts it this way: “The attention paid by the public at large to our green friend—the forest, one of our native land’s biggest riches —has increased in recent years. All the shortcomings in this matter are kept sight of. Facts of the irrational use of wood, its improperly big waste at forest fellings, and the incorrect exploitation of mountain forests are justly noted. It goes without saying that all these losses have to be combatted. But to talk about the fate of our forests in a pessimistic tone is not correct. “Timber felling carried out in the proper way is quite a lawful and natural action of reaping a crop. Outwardly it does make nature lovers’ hearts ache at times, but thanks to that man becomes an active participants of an impor‘ant biological process going on continucus- ly in nature and helping the rejuy:na- tion of the forest, ensuring its stab ity and raising its productivity. In s} ort, forest felling which appears to b- a symbol of destruciton actually proved to be one of the most important r ea- sures for the preservation of our g: en friend. At that, felling and reproduc’ ion * of the forest, and the use of its gifts, must have a firm scientific founda ion —then the wealth we have in common will multiply.” carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. | would say no subject has heen discussed so long and irreconcilably as th fate of the Russian forests. One stratum of authors asserts that our forests or being depleted fast under the impact of industry. Coniferous forests containin ships’ timber give place to stunted thickets of cheap deciduous varieties. Due Q that rivers become shallow, the climate deteriorates, and even the threat of < oxygen deficiency arises, because the forests, besides everything else, abso: But there is also a different point of view whose adherents try to prove th the level of the exploitation of our forests cannot be compared with the inten felling in Western Europe and America. According to the claims of these authc ities, up to this day we are felling less than what is growing up in our count wherefore no danger of the depletion of our forests threatens us. What is the truth about this matter? Who is right in these polemics? —Academician N. Anychin, Director of the USSR Research Institu:e of Forestry and Mechanization of Forestry. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1971—PAGE 7