Suaday, March 26, 198¢ - North Shore News © strictly personal © = N 1 HAVE noticed professional foresters get extremely testy when one suggests, as I did in a column a while ago, that maybe they haven’t been carrying out their sacred duties as well as they might. According to Willem H. van Heek, the fatest forester to com- plain in the Letters to the Editor column, the comparison I made between what was happening to B.C.’s forests and what is happen- ing in Brazil ‘‘is ludicrous.** My statements were misleading and ‘full of overcrowded, nasty cliches.” Mr. van Heek reminds us that all logging plans on Crown lands are scrutinized by the Ministry of Forestry to ensure reforestation so that ‘‘sustainable development’ can be maintained. Yet Mr. van Heek admits there is a ‘reforestation backlog.”’ Say what? Everything's being sustained even though we're not replanting at a sustainable rate? I see. Thank you for clarifying this for me. “We may not be perfect,”’ writes Mr. van Heek with awesome humility. ‘‘But progress is being made."' Good to hear it, although | am somewhat less assured by your admission that ‘‘staff reductions at the federal and provincial govern- ment level have indeed been detri- mental for Canada's forest management.”* Okay. So, along with Auditor- General Kenneth Dye, we agree on that much. A question, Mr. van Heek. As you must know, the Oregon Bureau of Land Management is required by law to prove that any particular forest management method will result in at least three successful crop rotations. They have to show evidence for their belief that what they are proposing to do wil) actually work. Smoke and mirrors just won't do any longer. - Am I correct in stating that the Ministry of Forests in British Col- umbia is under no such obligation to the public? When it comes down to the crunch, in other words, we simply do not force ourselves to play by the rules of the most sophisticated, rigorous scientific methods possible. We roll the dice quite a lot more, wouldn’t you say? J.P. Kimmins, a professor of forest ecology at UBC, says that if such a requirement as proving you can sustain even three crops was introduced in B.C., the forest ministry anid timber companies would be ‘“‘hard put to comply.” “The difficulty,’’ he says, ‘‘lies in the lack of experience of the rotation-length and multiple-rota- tion consequences of current forest Practises.’’ In Europe, some forests have been clear-cut six or more times, but no foresters in history have ever had to take into effect such phenomena as acid rain, air poltu- tion and signs of massive climatic changes. Even the Europeans, for ali their experience, have been caught off guard by the uniqueness of the problem, and the swiftness with which it is hitting us. Sir, do you realize that as much FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION as 70 per cent of Ontario's forests face possible die-off within 10 years if acid rain continues? Forestry in B.C, has had a short, brutish history. For all the clear- cutting and slashburning and spraying that has been done, leav- ing vast tracts of the province hideously ravaged, we are stil! harvesting unmanaged old-growth forest. Another question, Mr. van Heek. Do yield projections ac- count for soil changes that may occur as old growth is converted into managed second-growth? | suggest that they don’t. According to Prof. Kimmins, *twhat we lack are believable yield-assessment tools’’ te allow us to properly forecast what is likely to happen if present management methods continue. Sounds like you forestry boys are whistling in the dark. Another question. It’s all very well to talk about everything being under control, thanks to a happy alliance of ‘‘foresters, politicians and, yes, even bureaucrats,"’ but how do you justify New Zealand- owned Fletcher Challenge, which has just gobbled up 8.C. Forest Products and Crown Forest, being handed tree farm licences for the entire 25,000 square-mile MacKen- zie area? Even in a province whose history is a series of land-grabs, this is a land-grab that stands out. We are talking about an area twice the size of Vancouver Island, being handed over to a multinational company with an appalling record. Just last year, Fletcher Challenge was fined $57,000 for wasting [4,000 cubic metres of us- abie wood. And this was just in one tiny area of Vancouver Island. Now, Fletcher Challenge is talk- ing about laying off 425 workers, on top of the 50 who have already been sent home. The reason? Not enough wood left for the local mill, what with it having been left to rot on the hillsides. This is *‘sustainable develop- ment,’’ Mr. van Heek? Skeena MP Jim Fulton says the Mackenzie give-away ‘‘alienates the land from any future use, creates an explosive road block to land claims seitlements, and becomes the ‘property’ of a foreign-based multinational. ‘'Fletcher Challenge can even borrow money from Tokyo o1 London using this land as col- lateral,’’ Fulton notes. *‘All this with utterly no public debate.’” We are talking about an area covering no less than seven per cent of B.C.! That’s 35 per cent more land to Fletcher Challenge than all the parks, wilderness areas and ecological reserves in the prc- vince combined. This is all part of the big privatization plan, of course. The Socred government plans to boost tree farm licences from 29 to 67 per cent of our forested land. Progress, Mr. van Heek? That's not what [ call ic@ 986-8600 #300.233 W.ist. North Vancouver New primary school system delayed IMPLEMENTATION OF the revolutionary new ungraded dual entry primary system has been delayed a year. The North Vancouver School Board decided Tuesday night to put off initiating the new system until September 1990, rather than plunge in with it this fall. All children that are five in 1989 will start kindergarten this September, while those © cning five in 1990 will begin tee foo rw- ing September. Assistant school superintenuent Dr. Robin Brayne said the extra year will give the district time to work on the new curriculum and cther necessary preparations, prior to starting the new primary system. “We've discussed this with our teachers and principals and come to the conclusion that it is risky to experiment with youngsters that age,’’ commented Brayne. Many parents have been calling schoo! principals with their con- cerns about the new system, Brayne said. More information wiil be forth- coming from individual schools through their newsletiers. Brayne predicted that other school districts may be taking a similar stand. Under the new system, children who turn five between May 1 and Oct. 31 will enter kindergarten in EXTERIOR 1.64055 etl $9.00 off the regular price of every 4 litres of interior and exterior premium Quality General Paint Aikyd and Breeze Latex. Paint specials are also available at participating dealers North Vancouver 133 West 16th St., 988-0141 {one block west of Lonsdale) September, five from Nov. t to April 30 will start the following January. while those tuming “¥Pacific “*