Page A2, October 14, 1979 - Sunday News The , recent series" of articles by Hugh Weatherby, on B.C.’s forests andthe threat they are facing, dwells in the main on the economic repercussions of running out of wood. What is equally important to keep in mind is the overall ecological effects of the type of logging that is. now going on in our province. It’s not just the... trées that we are stripping off! The following is reprinted from International. Wildlife . Magazine, the official publication of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Entitled ‘Caribou Extinction in B:C. - A Distinct Possibility’, it appeared.in their Sept./Oct. issue. . : _— The remaining Mountain Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) of central and southern British Columbia may be destined for ex- tinction if. sustained yield forestry is not quickly reintroduced by the provincial government. . Currently declining populations of caribou are being ~threatened as never before by new logging pressures upon subalpine habitat where lichen growing - in spruce-fir forests at altitudes of 4,000 to 6,000 1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 OFFICEJINEWS (604) 980-0511 -,_ CLASSIFIED 986-6222 CIRCULATION 986-1337 @u SN Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Bob Graham Edittorin-Chiet Noel Wright Managing Editor Anay Fraser Newa Editor Chris Lloyd Photos Etsworth Dickson Advertising Olrector Eric Cardwell Traffic Manager Faye McCrae Ctaasitied Beri Hitiard Administration Andrew Walters Accounts Sylvia Sorenson North Shore News, founded in 1969 an an independent community newspaper and alified under Schedule 111. art 1114, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, ia published each Wednesday and day by the North Shore Free Preas Ltd and distributed to every door on the North Shore Second Class Mail Ragistration Number 3685 VERIFIED CIRCULATION 48,478 Entire contenta®) 1879 Nonh Bhore Free Prose Lid. All rights reserved. THIS PAPER 1S RECYCLABLE feet provide critical forage in winter. ‘TREE CRISIS _Subalpine forests were never considered important to the forest industry until recently. Various forest companies operating in the interior are now struggling to - obtain new sources of timber supply to keep processing mills operating over the next 10 to 20 years. Their hope is that previously cut-over lands (mostly unmanaged or insufficiently replanted) at lower altitudes will be of “sufficient size and quality to provide additional future supply after the liquidation of the climax subalpine forests. - The forest companies face a real supply crisis. A crisis for which the- provincial government need accept much of the responsibility. A crisis created through short- . Sighted economic planning ’ and old fashioned greed. As part of the solution it is now proposed to sacrifice our Mountain Caribou. It is important to un- derstand, in an_ historical sense, how the caribou populations have reached this point of potential ex- tinction. It is equally im- portant to appreciate why the forest industry is running out of timber in the interior. First, current caribou decline can be attributed to the cumulative effect of several factors: habitat destruction, increasing access and _ recreational hunting. Other factors such as aircraft and all-terrain vehicle harrassment and hydro-electric developments may pose potential threats in the future. But the principal threat has been and is in- creasingly the result of logging and the absence of a forestry policy in B.C. EXPENDABLE Principally during the 1960s and without public knowledge the B.C. government abandoned its commitment to sustained yield forest management. The typical scenario went something like this. The provincial government agreed to establish new timber processing mills, usually owned by non-B.C, firms, along side cxisting interior companies. Only after making political commitments to these new firms did government consult the Forest Service and order timber supplies to be made available. The Forest Service had no choice but to obtain the new timber supplies at the expense of a ‘speckulations | b y Peter Speck | sustained supply for the older companies’ in the future. The future turned out. to be approximately 20 years later, 1980. Today the short- term economic benefit enjoyed through the building . of excessive timber processing mills is coming to an end.’ Now both the old - _and the new mills are short of supply. As behind the scenes squabbles between Forest Minister Tom Waterland and the timber . hungry _ companies are played out, the Caribou are seen as an expendable pawn — an external and unim- portant part of another short-term economic fix. Mountain caribou rely heavily upon climax lichen- bearing forests for winter survival. The most luxuriant. and accessible caribou lichen pastures grow in cool, humid fir-spruce between 140 to 250 years old. Current . forest practice would restrict tree age to less than 80 years. HERD HABITS A forest such as the Forest Service would now produce in caribou range could be termed early successional and cannot supply necessary _ winter food. Caribou’ are not browsers and consequently are not attracted to young stands. Short rotation cutting practices are not compatible. Caribou herd = survival depends heavily upon the implementation of management practices that permit the continuation of traditional herd habits, learned behavior and migratory routes used to reach important range areas. Caribou are highly vulnerable to disturbance and have a low reproductive potential. A comprehensive program is required to resolve the conflict between caribou CONTINUED ON PAGE A4 Psst An assortment of quatity used and out of print — titles in MILITARY & NAVAL HISTORY Pacific Books 1135 Lonsdale North Vancouver 980-2121 ‘Sunday & * Monday Oct. 148 15 Remember Happy Night! DeLuxe Burgers—!/2 Price! Every Tuesday Spm ‘til Closing =~ 404 Lonsdale 987-4131. don't gamble with your life ... Keep Firefighters on the trucks! On August 9, 1973 two children perished in a house-fire in Lynn Valley. At that time, the Fire Department ran Fire Trucks with three men. Public outcry resulted in pumper strength being increased to four men. Now, due to budget restraints, the Fire Department has been forced to run pumpers with three men on many occasions over the last six months -- a manpower reduction in some residential stations exceeding 25%. Your firefighters have chosen Fire Prevention Week to make you aware of the added danger to which both the residents and firefighters of North Vancouver District are being exposed. Only you can keep firefighters on the trucks! Public pressure must be brought to bear on District Council in order to maintain the quality Fire Service that your tax dollars pay for. CALL YOUR MAYOR OR ALDERMAN TODAY! District Office - 987-7131 Sponsored by the Public Safety & Educauon Commitee of the North Vancouver Disinct Firefighters Union tee aaa ieee inne an annmn eerie en ee ilaaeaaaaanaiel