ie
i}
:

forestry professor on the future
of the resource and the industry.
This week, wandering the lake-
shoré, Herby ponders the views
of another authority, an ecol-

-ogist, whose views are somewhat

different.

‘Weetby Squish respected
H forester F.L.C. Reed as

a man of -vision. He.
| particularly liked it when Reed

touched on the philosophical
aspects of forestry. But he, like

several others, didn’t always

agree with Reed’s view of. the

_ Future.

Still, at this point it was com-
forting to consider Reed’s sense
of hope for the future. Reed
didn’t believe falldown was
inevitable. He believed there was

_ time for mankind to turn things

around, ;
Squish recalled one of Reed’s
more philosophical moments and

- couldn’t help but smile in the
-face of his depression. It came

in the closing comments of a

Presentation Reed gave at a
‘national conference several years
ago and went something like

this: |
"There are probably many in

this audience who have ‘grown

accustomed to and even comfort-

able with pessimistic timber

a D5 Bala he ite ABE teeter fete ea bas

The experts and
contrasting views

7 ‘Last week, we left forester Herby
| Squish mulling over the tough,
but optimistic views of a UBC

supply scenarios. There may be
others who were: taught more
recently that falldowns are inevi-
table, and that efforts to mitigaté

these are, at best, ill-considered.

' "My answer is taken from a
line by George F. Will (1983)
who referred to another policy
as both ’intellectually idle and

politically feckless’. The way I
read the public’s mood is that

falldowns will not be tolerated
by them or by their elected
representatives.

"Similarly, the intellectual

‘Sterility of policy analysis is

nowhere more pronounced than
in the field of stewardship of our
forest resources. Those who
counsel the status quo, or worse,
will not survive the legitimate
criticism of informed citizens
and the sooner they are thrown
down the memory hole, the
better.

"I spoke earlier of Canada’s
destiny as a forest nation and
invite you to reflect on this in
the days ahead. As we repair our
forest policies and practices,
may: you dream of a richer life
as well as a better one."

.. Yes, Squish decided. As ante

as mankind has food to eat an
air to breathe there is always
hope. But in the three years
since Reed had spoken those
words there had been so little
change. 7
"Look around, talk to people...

oa eee Ee ee ee

There is a a will to change," he
agreed as though talking to Reed
himself, "There is even a sense
of urgency about it. But the
commitment... Where is the
commitment to change?"

Squish scuffed the toe of his
boot in the gravel until he found
another round, flat stone and
scaled:it out across the surface
of Gearbox Lake. "...eleven,
twelve, thirteen... Wow!"

One man in the know who
didn’t necessarily share Reed’s
vision of hope, thought Squish,
was professor William E, Rees.
At the time, Rees was the asso-
ciate professor of Planning and
Resource Ecology in the School
of Community and Regional
Planning at UBC, and he offered
some insight through his testi-
mony before the Standing Com-

mittee on Environment in Ottawa

in the Spring of 1990.
,One,,.member: of parliament
 Sgutlined our folly from his per-
sonal perspective. A group of 42
nations had suggested the world-
wide harvest of trees should be
increased to 30 million acrés per

' year by the year 2000. Fibre-

hungry Canada, however, had

en en tm ee

disagreed. Our representatives
Suggested the world-wide harvest

should be 47 million acres per

year.
And the B.C. forest’ industry
was far from innocent in helping
to develop that Canadian view.
Even though the annual national
harvest was 166 million cubic

metres of wood, the B.C. forest —

industry. was lobbying in 1990
for an annual cut of 160 million
cubic metres in B.C. alone.
Was this reasonable? We didn’t
seem to be able to replace what
we were already cutting and the
Canadian Forest Service has
gone on record as saying that
globally we need to replant 472
million acres of forests by the
end of the decade. .
“How can we make sense of all
this?" the politician had wanted
to know. And asked Rees to
define the term "sustained-
yield... sue

a isyu Raber ote

Squish hadn’t been there to.

hear Rees answer, of course. But
he did have a copy of what was
said and it was frighteningly
simple.

"IE we grow as much wood as

we harvest we have a sustainable

’ Terrace Review —— Thursday, January 2,1992°7

orestry
Insiq

- by Tod Strachan, in consultation with Rod Arnold and Doug Davies’ -

resource," Rees told the politi-
cian. But there is far more to it
than simply cutting and planting.

"We first have to decide what

we are attempting to sustain,"
Rees continued. "Do we simply
want to sustain trees on a free-
by-tree basis, or do we want, ‘to
sustain Mother Earth?" °
"Good point," Squish agreed.
"One thing trees do very well is
control: the amount of carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere.” _
The sound of a loon echoed
through Herby’s world. . -
"Are you laughing at me?" he
shouted, not really expecting ‘an
answer. .
“Mother Nature," he smiled.
"She really is beautiful. I am
quite positive man could never
take such an ugly bird, install
Such a horrible sound, and have
it instill such a romantic mood
in all who hear it. The Scottish

, ttled, with their. pDaBPiDes: and

failed miserably.".. .
Squish skipped a ‘final ‘rock
across the surface of Gearbox
Lake. "...cight, mine, ten...
Should have quit while I was
ahead."
— Continued on page 8

MABEL ANDAR RSE RAE MAE MA NAREBA ED RIERBAD DOD

Former Terrace resident sends

To the Editor;

Once again may I send

through your paper my wishes for
& happy Christmas and a peaceful
New Year to my friends in Ter-
race.
The past year has been one of
mixed pleasure and sadness for
me, I lost a very dear friend in
April and a very dear and close
cousin in November — those sad
losses, combined with the unex-

Pifer —< Continued from page 6

cities they would get their clinic, a
promise which is sure to come
back to haunt him, one way or the
other,

Put simply, if Kelowna does
not get the full-service clinic, then
you can put this NDP government
in the same category as Mr. Van-
der Zalm’s “favours for friends”
regime,

And the signals which THAT
would send out, would destroy
much of the groundwork the New
Democrats have laid in trying to |

pected loss. of Bruce McColl in
Vancouver recently, brought me
much sadness.

I did have a lovely seven
weeks visit with my sisters in
South Carolina and Virgina in
March and April, and a visit from
the Virginian sister and her hus-
band for six weeks in May and
June, My daughter Tricia was here
for the month of August, and all
this caused the year to hurry

project an image of being differ-
ent, more fair, more honest, and
more understanding than the nasty
old Socreds who went before
them.

Two other fields which are lit-
tered with political landmines for
the. NDP are labour negotiations
with the government employees
union, and this government's first
Throne Specch, Budget and Icg-
islative sitting, duc at the end of
February/carly March.

Pll deal with them next week.

along. We had a good summer and
fall and I can still see the odd rose
blooming in the garden,

I have a new addition to my
family in the person of a three-

year-old female scotty dog. She

had lost her mistress and needed a
new home, and we are getting
along fine. She is good company

for me and gets me out more often '

for walks.
I still enjoy reading your

regards from Wales

paper, sent out to me monthly by
Margaret Sinjur. A public “Thank
You” to her constancy as a great
friend. Also my congratulations to
your new MLA Helmut Geis-
brecht. My few years experience
working with him on Terrace
council assures me that he will
work very hard for everyone.

I look forward to visiting Ter-
race again one day and extend an
invite to visitors to this country to

Thanks from Big
Brothers and Sisters

To the Editor; .

Big Brothers and Sisters of
Terrace would like to thank all the
people who supported our second
annual Golf Scramble on Septem-
ber 8, 1991. We would also like to
thank the merchants and business-

e8 who participated, and the

Skeena Valley Golf and Country
Club.
We netted $400 which will pay

our telephone bill for several —

months to come. Special thanks to
Edith Gieselman, winner of the
$100 cash draw, who so generous-
ly donated it back to our organiza-
tion.

Pat delaRonde,

_ Secretary, Big
'~ Brothers and Sisters,
‘Terrace.

give mea call and arrange a visit.

To the mayor and council, may

your labours be fruitful-in °92, and

let us all pray for the world’s sick
and homeless.

_ Sincerely

Mrs, M. Nattress

= L Rockbridge Park

ce Presteigne

Powys, Wales

| LD8 2NF

Phone 05476 368

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