mbers are too far north to grow to a usable size, d enormous stretches of forest south are in hope- i. lessly sub-standard shape. “‘The new forests which . are developing in areas which have been harvested ~ or affected by natural disasters are frequently poorer than the forests they are replacing,” said the conference communique. “They are often inade- quate in terms of preferred species, quality, density of stocking, insect and disease resistance,or location = for economic wood supplies to existing m og The expert consensus was that up to 20 per cent of the land harvested every year does not and will not regenerate properly. When areas where regen- eration has been blighted by insect infestations, fires and wind damage are added, a total of 647,000 acres is lost from the nation’s potentially productive forest stock every year. This being added in turn to a backlog of un- productive forest land.accumulated over many years which the Canadian Forestry Association estimates at a staggering 60 million acres. Large parts of this BROADBENT TOURING CANADA wasteland are to be found in every province. In fact, no province can claim that regeneration within its boundaries is even keeping pace with the yearly cut. According to the Association, “Inadequate atten- tion to forest regeneration is responsible for re- stricting expansion possibilities in some regions, has reduced employment in others, and will result in a continuing decline in future forest-based jobs and re- venues.’”” Some experts predict really critical . Shortages by the end of the century if large-scale forest management and renewal programs are not put into effect. : Can Canada catch up? F.L.C. Reed, one of the nation’s leading forestry consultants, says the an- . swer is yes — but just barely. As he stated in a recent- report for the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, “‘A more intensive program of forest management is imperative if market opportunities are to be realized and emerging timber deficits offset.” ; It would be unfair to suggest that either govern- ments or the industry have been entirely negligent in matters of regeneration. Every province has its tree nurseries and reforestation programs; forest THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER | products companies attempt to stimulate regenera- tion through a variety of techniques. Canada ranks high among the nations of the world in forestry research. The problem is not one of a lack of tech- nology nor of good intentions. It is simply that not enough is being done. We know what to do and we have the means — fertilizers,site preparation by machines or controll- ed burning, improved species that grow faster and have more resistance to insects and disease than those seeded naturally. But it will take a deliberate commitment on the part of governments, industry, and indeed the public at large to-ensure that our forests meet our future needs. Difficult problems of cost, responsibility, ecology and the claims on the forest of industry and recreation will-have to be resolved. The task will call for common sense, com- promise, and determination — but it must be accom- plished if our greatest natural legacy is to continue to yield its tremendous rewards. ©THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA MONTHLY LETTER CLC HEALTH FIGHT Organized labour has decided to lead a national campaign for easy access to free health care, Dennis McDermott, IN EFFORT TO SAVE PETROCAN | NDP leader Ed Broadbent has begun a cross-country tour to mobilize public opinion to save PetroCan and to explain why the role of the national oil company should be expanded rather than dismantled. The NDP feels particularly responsible for PetroCan since the party forced the Liberal minority government to estab- lish it in 1974. Terming the dismantling of PetroCan “utterly indefens- ible,’ Broadbent said that the “evidence of public support for PetroCan is very clear.”’ While the Conservatives received only 36 per cent of the votes May 22, a majority of Cana- dians, including those who voted for the PC Party, favour the retention of PetroCan, he Said. - Broadbent pointed to state- ments from several provincial governments, from the Tory -president and declarations from economists and energy experts as well as industry spokespeople who have indic- ated clear support for PetroCan. Ramon Hnatyshyn, minister of energy, recently appointed a four-person task force to recommend ways of selling parts of PetroCan to the priv- ate sector. The Tory minister Said that the crown corporation _ Would retain all exploration aspects including the develop- ment of tar sands and explora- tion of the northern frontiers. “What the government has done is to give away to the private sector all those profit- able areas of the company and to retain for the public sector all the high risk work,”’ Broad- bent said. “That is totally un- acceptable,’’ and he charged that the Tories would probably completely dismantle PetroCan in a year when they could claim PetroCan was no longer profitable. Broadbent also criticized the appointment of Donald Mc- Dougall as chairman of the task force. McDougall is a prominent Conservative from London, Ont. who was recently granted indefinite leave of absence as president of Labatt Brewing Co. . Broadbent charged that Labatt’s parent company, Brascan Ltd., had already expressed interest in acquiring some or all of PetroCan. “‘If you ever wanted a conflict of interest, you’ve got it with the appointment of Mr. McDougall as chairman,” he said, “What seems to be needed is for the people’s message to be clearly brought home to the government through petition campaigns, letters to the Prime Minister and other MPs, to newspaper editors, and by whatever means people have at their disposal.”’ Broadbent urged that Cana- dians make their views known quickly, since the government is only one month away from its first. Throne Speech. “If the government is not prepared to lead Canadians on this crucial matter, I hope it will at least follow them,’ he concluded. Dennis McDermott Canadian Labour Congress president appealed to Cana- dians to respond to the reconstruction of Nicaragua with the same spirit of gener- osity that they have responded to the plight of the Vietnamese boat people. It was a message that went down well with the Public Service Alliance of Canada which came up with a $178,000 response. In a wide-ranging speech to the PSAC convention, McDer- mott told a horror story of the legacy left in Nicaragua by former dictator Anastasio Somoza.”’ “‘Somoza stole all the inter- national currency in the coun- try,”’ he said, ‘‘and he burned all the domestic currency in the country. The chaos is un- believable.” He said his executive assis- - tant, John Simonds, had just returned from an International Confederation of Free Trade Unions tour of the war-torn country. Simonds learned from ‘first hand reports’ that 520 corpses were recovered from the lake in front of Somoza’s palace, McDermott said. “They are discovering un- derground prisons with their entrances dynamited, with faint cries coming from within. “They have destroyed all the medical supplies right down to the hypodermic needles,” and they have destroyed most of the food. : president of the Canadian Labour Congress says. ‘Medicare has to be saved from the gradual erosion caused by irresponsible provincial governments and reactionary medical associations, and labour has already begun the fight,’’ he said. He said the congress and some church, consumer and co- operative organizations will hold a national conference in Ottawa in early November to discuss the problem. by John Clark Federal public servants are doing a good job for their country and they are going to let Canadians know about it. With little debate the almost 450 delegates to the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s recent triennial convention put the stamp of approval on a resolution committing the Alliance to launching a “concerted campaign to bring to the attention of the Canadian public and the Parliament of Canada the serious con- sequences of any reduction of the federal public service.”’ ‘ Alliance president Andy ‘Stewart told the convention Canadians were “‘told wrong’’ when the Progressive Conser- vatives campaigned on a plat- form that included a 60,000 person cut in the size of the public service as a good way to cut back government spen- ding. “You cannot cut back costs without cutting back service. You cannot reduce the work- force without reducing effi- ciency. You cannot run the public service with unfilled positions,’ Stewart said. Issuing a strong call for the involvement of all PSAC mem- bers in the public awareness campaign Stewart said ‘‘with your solid support in the months to come, we will be able to expose the 60,000 cut- back for what it really is — an ill-conceived and rash election promise; an election promise which should have never been made and, if we have anything to say about it, an election promise which will never be implemented.”’ Stewart’s call for total mem- bership commitment received strong backing from Joe Power, national president of the Union of National Defence Employees, PSAC’s largest component. “You the converted are the only ones that can go back and convince your fellow workers to tell the story of the valuable service being provided by the public service,” Power said. Spending millions of dollars on a slick advertising cam- paign would not do the job, he said. ‘“‘We must get public ser- vants to fight. We must stand as one and say that Joe Clark will bear the responsibility for reduced service,’ if the government carries out its threat. The Alliance cutback re- action policy: document also touches on a couple of points that have been sore for a long time. It calls for an end to con- tracting out — the expensive practice of having jobs that could be done by public ser- vants farmed out to the private sector. And it demands a job security clause in all collective agreements. Stewart warned the govern- ment against accepting a re- commendation in the Lambert Commission Report on public service staffing that responsi- bility for all appointments ‘be transferred from the Public Service Commission to the government.