4 - Sunday, April 8, 1990 - North Shore News Bos HUNTER PROBABLY THE goofiest piece of parochial writing 1 have read in years was a recent column in the Vancouver Sun by Nicole Parton about the Carmanah Valley. Ms. Parton fumed about ‘‘slick federal hucksters (who) must think British Columbians are gum-snap- ping, knuckle-cracking rubes”* because four members of the fed- eral standing committee on the en- vironment came to B.C. and hinted at a national rescue effort if the Socreds decide to axe the 6,800-hectare Carmanah. The lady oracle wondered aloud: ‘“Have the feds launched themselves into the fray to divert national attention from the poisoned water of Meech Lake, endless sops to Quebec, and a much-hated GST? Is their intru- sion a cheap political trick to gain “a few friends for the Mulroney government? I suggest that’s exact- ly what it is.”” Good grief, Nicole! On the scale of things, the fate of the Car- manah — and even a federal effort to save it — is hardly so high- profile an issue nationally that it’s going to bump Meech, Quebec or the GST from the headlines or The Journal. As for saving Mulroney, gimme a break. Wha: really riled Ms. Parton was the audacity of four fone es reer tmerbene SUT MT mer 30 ARDAGH HUNTER TURNER Barristers & Solicitors a Personal Injury AFTER HOURS [FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION 645-8989 986-4366 #300-1401 LONSDALE NORTH VANCOUVER, BC. parliamentarians flying over Van- couver Island and describing the clearcut wasteland below as look- ing like the ‘skinned hills and bleak deserts”’ of Ethiopia. Perhaps it’s time The Sun sent Nicole by plane over Vancouver Island, because that description happens to be perfectly accurate. And it is not just the island. Try flying up the Inside Passage and looking down. It’s the same ecological horror show. And that, of course, is what Carmanah would look like if MacBlo and Jack Munro had their way. . Munro admitted reluctantly in The North Shore News recently that logging the ertire valley was no longer an option, but his con- cern, as ever, wasn't with the big- gest and oldest trees in Canada, it CANADIAN CLOSET SHOPS 986-4263 Free home estimates FAX 986-9286 : Rescuers: battle blizzard ‘to search for lost skiers was with the 100 jobs he claimed could be lost. I understand where Jack is com- ing from. It’s pretty simple. If logging jobs are lost, union dues aren’t paid, and if that happens too often Jack might have to take a pay cut. Talk about horror! As for MacBlo, | think Pau! George of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee summed it up nicely the day after Ms. Par- ton’s petulant column appeared. Lost jobs is a **bogus argu- ment,”” he told reporters. The Carmanah is not crucial to either MacMillan Bloedel's profitability or the provincial economy. In any event, the forest giant created its own problems by refus- ing to direct its massive profits back into reforestation, George said. And that’s the nub of the issue. Ms. Parton buys — lock, stock and barrel — the forestry industry propaganda line that three trees are planted for every one cut. J didn’t think in this day and age that anyone took that claim seriously any longer. On the books, it might look real, but the fact is that the planting has been done so shoddily that we are still experiencing a net loss of forest every year. Clearcuts, according to Parton, are ‘‘safe, efficient, and cost-effec- Like most of her ilk, she leaves Rock-a-Stack Reg. 7.99 Musical Mobile Reg. 42.99 Fun ’n Food Reg. 11.99 Crazy Camera Reg. 27.99 Hot Wheel Cars Reg. 1.69 Tumble Turtle Rey 9.99 Keys of Learning Reg. 10.99 So Small Babies Reg. 13.99 Family Dart Board Rey. 23.99 (with safety darts) TOYS BY FISHER PRICE Activity Pots & Pans Rey. 22.99 Sale 16.88 TOYS BY MATTEL |S. 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To which Paul George respond- ed by pointing out that the Car- manah is a fragile ecosystem where there is no room for compromise. **You cannot compromise on ecological integrity. If you cut an ecosystem in half, that’s not a compromise.’’ The fact is that the remaining trees are affected by runoff and erosion, and may not survive. The main point about the Car- manah is that even if saving the valley somehow turned out to be a mistake, it is reversible. Ten years from now — or 20, 30 or 100 years — we can always go in and log it, if we’re that bloody desperate. But as George explains, ‘if we cut half of it down and there is Sale 4.88 | Sale 29.88 jj Sale 8.88 Sale 19.88 Sale 4.88 Sate 88¢ Sale 7.88 Sa 7.88 Sale 5.88 Sale 12.88 | G21 SSS BY HASBRO 30% OFF REGULAR PRICE | Toys on Sale Sunday April 8th to Saturday April 14th while quantities last more erosion there and we start flooding out the big trees, we can’t turn back history."* There are few unlogged water- sheds left on the province. What, exactly, is the panic about having to log the Carmanah now? MacBlo should be putting its energy into reinvesting in the Alberni Valley where it still has clear wood left. Parton complains that land-use decisions should consider the needs of all British Columbians ‘‘rather than a vocal few.’’ Money, she addes wittily, is also green. Well, gee, we knew that, Nicole. But what is this ‘‘vocal few’’ bit? The Carmanah is Crown land. It belongs in theory to everybody, not a corporate few and their shareholders, and not just a few unions bent on keeping their members happy. The history of logging in this province is the story of a great iand being plundered for the benefit mainly of a handful of robber barons and, to a much less- er extent, their minions. Blaming the bad old feds for taking their responsibility for all of Canada’s environment seriously is exactly the sort of regional myopia that we don’t need. I bash feds all the time myself, but not when they finally do something right. Don’t be so petty and short- sighted, Nicole. And while you’re at it, do your homework. ‘Ci