Terrace Review —

Furore in the forest —
the clear-cutting debate

by Michael Kelly

r. Hamish Kimmens sees
D the same pattem repeated-
ly in the long-term history
of humanity’s efforts to use the

forests. With the public outcry
against clear cutting, he fears a

the forest industry, the social fabric
that is based on the forest econ-
omy, and the resource itself,

Kimmens, a professor with the
UBC Faculty of Forestry, stopped
in Terrace during a lecture tour of
the province in March. More than
50 local people listened to his
analysis of the clear cutting debate.

"Of all forestry issues, clear
cutting raises the most anger,
antipathy and confusion,” he said,
then explained that he is not an
advocate of clear cutting but advo-
cating a rational, thoughtful
approach to the question.

Forestry in any jurisdiction his-
torically can be viewed in four
evolving phases, Kimmens said: an
unregulated cutting phase that
usually exhausts the resource; an

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Dr. Hamish Kimmens: ‘We
must avold embracing the
wrong paradigm.

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administrative phase that attempts,
always in an unsuccessful manner,
io belatedly regulate cutting; an
ecologically-based phase founded
on reliable, site-specific silviculture
practices; and the "social" phase,
‘in which values other than com-
mercial timber play a much larger
role in the management of forest.
lands.

Kimmens believes that the pro-
cess is taking place much faster in
North America than it has in the
past in other parts of the world.
The "social" phase has arrived
before the ecologically-based phase
has even had time to get a good
start, and wide-spread opposition

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nent indication of that.

"The public is asking things of
the industry that it hasn’t devel-
oped the capability to deliver yet,"
he said.

But they’re working on it, and
Kimmens sees the public pressure
put on industry as, overall, a good
thing. "The environmental move-
ment is responsible for the green-
ing of the public and the politi-
cians, and they descrve to be com-
mended, But 1 would respectfully
ask that (heir rhetoric be changed,”

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backlash that could inflict harm on

to clear cutting is the most promi-

Wednesday, May8, 1991 C15

he said.

Kimmens sees a danger in the

public mood, however, Clear cut-
‘ting was at one time universally
applied to every stand of trees in

B.C., an attitude totally insensitive
to the individual ecology of sites.
If clear cuts somehow become

banned under public pressure,

Kimmens fears, whatever method
for harvesting that succeeds clear
cutting would suffer from the same
problematic attitude — a single
solution for an astounding diversity
of different landscapes and ecosys-
fems. -

"We must avoid embracing the
wrong paradigm," he urges.

What is done with the forests
will depend upon what values we
establish for it, Kimmens argues.
When asked if he thinks logging
has changed the ecology of B.C.,
Kimmens replied, "I suspect for-
estry has had no effect. The physi-
cal framework -— mountains,
rivers — creates the ecology,
nothing short of a meteorite can
change that.

"On a local scale, forestry can
augment or degrade, it would
depend on the biodiversity goals...
but we don’t have biodiversity
goals. We have to be clear about
what we want."

On the issues of preserving
woodlands, Kimmens reflected on
the now-famous spotted owl con-
troversy in ihe northwestern U.S.,
a preservation move that took
thousands of hectares out of the
operable forestry land base. "We
have to decide what we value and
realize the social costs of those
values. How much do we conserve,
considering that our social values
depend on using the resource?"

Preservation nearer to home was
another question Kimmens took.
With regard to the proposal to set
aside the Kitlope watershed south
of Kemano from any logging or
development, he said, "We don’t
have to manage every last hectare
on this planet. These areas will
become more valuable as they
become more scarce. There will
have to be trade-offs, because there
is a social cost.

"The level of reservation depends
on the value placed on it. As an
individual, I think it’s a reasonable

. thing to do."

Earlier, however, Kimmens had
noted that from an ecologist’s
perspective there is little sense in
blanket preservation of entire
watersheds, "If less than 30 percent
of the vegetation is disturbed,
there’s no impact,” he explained.

In the Terrace area, Kimmens
said, he had seen large clear cuts
"that would offend many people".
Those cuts, he added, appeared to
have taken place during the "ad-
ministrative cra". The industry: Is
taking a different approach to
visual impact of logging now, he
added. "There are still things to be
improved, but in 22 years I have
seen many changes.” |

"When we log," he concluded,
"what was there is there no more.
But there are processes of recov-

ety.

"Bul, is that recovery fast enough

to satisfy our social agenda?"

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