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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letters On. page 8 ©