CO ER EE EO TE Se TT

Terrace Standard, _— Octobar 17, 1999 — ——

fiving in thé north west.

“regional district,

ment.

As the premier and cabinet were Jorcibly reminded during —
_ their recent town hall meeting here, the future Of the forest in-
dustry continues to be a dominant issue and concern for those -

ncreasingly it this region, local. government has been tak, a
ing. a greater-interest in and been more voluble:in.its com. :
plaints about the industry and Forests ministry. That has been

: particularly true of the directors

“The, district. recently. ‘made a: “subritssion te ‘the Forest"

‘ Resources Commission outlining’ its concerns and what it sées
| as the: shortcomings: of the industry ‘and those in it, The «||:
district's comments inirror opinions held by many members 1) dea be
the public. Reproduced below are excerpis from Fhat docu-. |}

British Columbia’s forest 5 sec:

tor is coming under. close. 4 ith’
scrutiny of the public. Forest ”-
‘Management practices are being”

subjected . to . severe: and
‘widespread criticism,’ as’ the

public reasserts its ‘ “ownership”, ;

aver the forests, .
The management ethics of the

forest industry and Forest Ser- ~

- vice are seen to be outdated, En-

terest groups are much more ac-
_tive-in the province, an. en-
vironmental awareness has

again emerged and.a deferential ..

“attitude towards professionals is
-maintained tess and less,

' No longer can - professional
‘foresters and forest company

executives dictate the best and -

-proper use.of forest lands.
_-*Qne‘of the many critics of
“current forestry practice is local
“government (which) has an
overriding obligation. to main-

tain- a stable economy, Con- -

fronted with the prospects of
: diminishing timber supply, lack
of: diversity in the economy,
‘dependence upon distant
‘markets and a distant and often
‘unhearing. source of govern-
‘ment. policy, local government
must involve itself in forestry
“issues,
kkekkk.

:district has for many years com-

‘mented on forestry issues which °
» affect,

wmember communities.
:-Many = times ‘those directly
Tesponsible for forest manage-
‘ment in the region react with
~-Surprise. there would be
“criticisms from local govern-
“ment.

eee a Vernal;

“In the northwest, the regional

Often, ‘those people entrusted

of ‘local ‘government officials -|2
who, of course, , donot have the
professional,

‘eredentials of
forest industry and ministry of
‘Forests personnel. -

-In contrast to the above, local :

‘government officials. can pro-
vide - legitimate ‘expertise ‘to
discussions about’: forestry in |
their - respective regions.

Regardless, the dominating in-

terest of local government in.

enhancing economic develap-
ment at the community level

: gives it'an automatic entree into’

forest management issues.

It is incumbent upon
managers of the forest to drop
any: pretensions that they have
exclusive ‘domain to forest
management, to be receptive to
the opinions of others and not

Not knowing. the in-
tracacies .. of tree
‘physiology does not
mean local government
cannot distinguish bet-
ween well formed and
ill-informed policy.

simply retaliate by providing
“better information” to the
public,

Local government officials
may possess valuable
knowledge pertaining to
forestry that professional
foresters and other forest sector
personnel do hot. have. Local

hype tro t took

of: the Kitimat Sekine’

LADEN WITH logs destined for the Skeena Cellulose mill in the background, trucks like the one above
are a common sight here, They also underline the importance of the industry to the community. In its
statement to the Forest-Resources Commission, the Kitimat-Stikine regional district points out that’s
the case for many northwestern communities and argues local governirfent should therefore be involy-
ed_more often in forest management decisions. :

government offi als are familiar
with governmental procedures
and policy. development, :-

distinguish between well formed
and ill-informed policy.

It should also be noted. that-

many local government
representatives are long time
residents of their communities;
many in.B,C. communities have
worked in the forest industry.
This personal knowledge should
be cultivated and incorporated
into forestry planning.
kkk kk

"Recent advertising campaigns
in the forest industry are open
to criticism that they are im-
properly motivated and based

upon false assumptions about :

public concerns about the way.
in which the forests are manag-.
ed, Dy

It appears it-is assumed that
public support for. current

forestry practice will be restored

simply by providing better: in-|

formation about how the in-

. dustry operates.. a

Not knowing the intricacies -
of tree physiology does not
mean local. government’ cannot:

There is: little ‘acknowledg-
ment that’--fundamental
Philisophical. differences may be
emerging in the. populace, Dif-

. ferent people. may place very
. different values onthe forests.’
‘Like environmentalism, a —

growing trend is community
self-awareness. As communities

become more ‘politically active, |

as tougher questions are asked
about forest managerhent, (a)
“right to know’ is being
asserted, Time consuming as
may be, managers of B.C,
forests have no legitimate
reason for avoiding demands
for more information.

It must be acknowledged that
public demands for more infor-
mation and more involvement

in forestry planning. create a‘.
’ new challenge for foresters.

The guardians of the forests
can no longer hide behind a
facade of technical language but °

very

‘fuse.

must be very careful to describe ~
forestry to the public in easily .

understood terms.
Expressions such as “over-

mature forest" possess no logic .
“except: to foresters, Common
. bantering .of terms such” as

“TSA” or '‘PHSP’' only con-
Professionalism ,
forestry will in the future be
measured by the ability of one

to‘describe forestry practice in

simple terms.

The regional district would
gladly surrender. responsibility
for management of the forests
to those properly trained and

entrusted with authority from -

the province, but it will require
foresters to provide good infor-

‘ mation to the public when re-

quested, evidence that pravin-
cial policy is flexible enough to
suit regional needs and -a
demonstrated commitment of
the ministry of Forests and
forest companies to community
stability. and growth,

» Deputy minister of Forests
from 1978-84, Mike Apsey is
a ‘now ‘president and chief ex-
‘| ecutive officer of the Council
'|of Forest Industries of B.C.
“COFI members and affiliates
= p.account for more than 90 per
“Veent of: the value of Sorest
| products: Produced in the
s}province.

“Below, in the first of a two
part. series, he reviews
cc) Changes Ae has seen occur in
ash ‘the: industry since he emerged

from. UBC. in’ 1961 with a
‘degree i in forestry,

if you could. time-travel a
forest: company executive from
1950's or. '60's to the pre-

Abel and i roaging Technics,
roduction methods, ae tere

New: forest: ‘policies, the tax
on ‘lumber exports to the U.S.,
increased stumpage rates, stiffer
“komipetition in world markets,

laimis, increasing public. con-
cem: ‘over’ environmental | im-
pacts, ‘the. Canada-US. Free
ade ‘Agreement, changes in
government priorities, changes
industry ownership and
changes In the forest ‘resource
Itself are'“Just a, few of. the

¢.-conflicts, native land —

changes our sector -has-had* ‘to, a

al with:these past few years. a * worklorde is chaniging,.0 our co

Mike Apsey

Once one of the world’s few
exporters of wood, we are now
one of many, There are new
producers and new products.
Throw In the effects of currency
fluctuations, outbreaks-of pro-
tectionism as well cas the
development of ‘wood
substitutes and there can be no

doubt we are now traversing a
very ‘different landscape’ from —

the one that shaped much of the ©
industry’s growth up tothe
1980's,

‘Change has beconte the norm
inthe forest products business,

Our markets are changing, our

products are ‘changing, our
competitors. are changing, our: :

\ I

porate structures are changing,

‘and the public values and

government policies that affect
us are changing.

It’s important to remember
that the private sector in most
industrialized countries is
caught between two centers of
authority: economic and
political. It is also important to
recognize that the objectives of
these two realms of power are
different,

The -objective of the
economic realm is to produce
profit. The objectives of the
Political realm are two: the
assertion of national sovereign-

ty and the Preservation of law
and order,’

Managing: the. relationship
between. the - realm of govern-
ment and the realm of markets

has alway been one of the most -

difficult challenges confronting

‘the business’sector. But in most
western industrialized coun- ~
-trles, it-has been made easier by

_ the fact the government, and
the: population. at large, have -

long recognized the benefits of
economic growih and are

gétierally: ‘willing to work

towards creating a framework

-within * “which - business can
operate, ‘Smoothly::

Thus : government's role of
regulator and overscer has not
n completély at odds with
the dictates of the marketplace.

In: theory: at:least, it intervenes
in* bahines: ‘sector ‘activities only °

tute. Bre og! aoa we bate we aE vote a Puiahiidtne sees Unione ae age

A AA Sh

when the dictates of the
marketplace threaten govern-
ment’s primary objectives.

The benefits of economic
growth was the core value that
bound all the players in this
system at this point, so much so
that it led to the evolution of a
second stage, a stage that saw
the industry begin to develop a
capacity to communicate with
policy makers and governments
adopt a partner-like or
cooperative approach with in-
dustry-on some issues:

There are many examples of
this in the forest sector. Part-
nerships have developed bet-
ween government and industry
on-a range of issues including

trade, market development,
regional development, man-
power and. training aud
silviculture — to name a few. _

But at about the time many of
these initiatives were getting
underway, another new variable
emerged, Public perceptions of
forest sector activities were
beginning to have an impact on
government invelyement in
those activities,

This accompanied the ap-
pearance of limits to growth —
the realization that there were
no more frontiers — the forest
resource was finite. With this
realization came disputes over
who would'do what with the
resource,

guesare reas

in:

_ LETTERS”

TO THE TERRACE STANDARD

Hopping |
mad at
PM

An open letter to the
Minister of Finance. -

Dear Sir: |

If the business. banquet
a-la-restaurante is still tax
deductible and the workers
doughnut is taxed at. the
snack bar, you are going to
have quite a few workers
hopping mad.

If it’s brand x plus 7 per-
cent GST in central Canada
and brand x plus freight plus
7 percent GST in the east,
west and northern Canada,
then you will have more than
a few hopping mad. -

There must be, ‘thousands
of news videos across
Canada: recording. your
pledge of honour =~ at elec-
tion time — that food would
‘not be taxed — that this

“would be a fair tax for ALL
Canadians.

If the above statements are
true then Canadians must
assume that you have reneg-

_ ed on that pledge of honour
-and have deserted all Cana-
dians in the outer provinces,
Yours,
- Harold Ealden,
- Nanoose Bay,

Louriges
need
improving

Dear Sir:

I have lived in Terrace for
more than 10° years and
recently had my first stay at
‘Millis Memorial Hospital, +1:
- would -like .to extend . my’
heartfelt thanks to all those I

came in contact with. —

Everyone. was kind and
thoughtful, especially the
nurses. Their care was skill-
ed, efficient and friendly.
Not only does the body
mend, but the emotional well
being gets a lift as well.

The only facet of the
hospital that stoked my
frustration was the patient
lounges.

The non-smoking lounge,
a quickly revamped four-bed
room, was so hollow it was
impossibie to carry on @ con-
versation with the T.V. on or
someone else talking.

I, a non-smoker, therefore
frequented the smoking
lounge. This lounge has the
only access to the outside and
because of the wallboard it
has less of the hollow, exho
effect.

However the furnishings
are old and uncomfortable,
the vinyl couch and chairs
are. armed in metal and
wood, the colour scheme is a
mustar$ vomit and the T.V.
is manned with rabbit ears,
ears that have been broken
and mended with bits of tin
foil, Patients in wheelchairs
or with I.V. poles had to be
strategically placed so they
won't disrupt picture recep-
tion.

It is the staff's desire to
hasten.patient recovery. This
entails getting patients ‘up
and out of their beds, Other,
than walking the halls or go-
ing to these lounges there are

ho other avenues, -

If we could donate time,
skills or funishings to
brighten and bring comfort
to. these patient lounges, we
would all benefit. oe

I have always found]
myself griping and complain-
ing along with everyone else
but this time I had to speak
out and try to do something,

1 hope this will at least
catch readers attention. Let
us take a stand and all make
an effort. Don’t find
yourself or a loved one in this
poor excuse for patient com-
fort. ;

Kathy Corvet;
Terrace

(

PS i oe i be ee
Mie wh