4 - Wednesday. August 1, 1990 - North Shore News

Province’s forest policy
is ‘ecological madness’

ONE OF the best publications I have seer to date on the
issue of our dwindling old-growth forests — and what we
can do as individuals to slow the rate of destruction — has
just been released by the Heritage Forests Society. The
Vancouver-based coalition is fighting to bring some kind
of ecological sanity into a debate that has so far been
dominated by industry, unions and sadly misguided

educators.

I add educators on to the list of
culprits because, as the Heritage
Forests Society correctly points
out, “The forestry faculty at the
University of British Columbia, by
gearing its research and teaching
framework primarily to industrial
values and requirements, may be
working against public interest
and the long-term survival of nat-
ural forests."’

The fact is that we do not even
know how much old-growth forest
remains in B.C. Estimates range
from 9.3 to 70 per cent. How can
you build a science of forestry on
such appalling ignorance?

If we were indeed approaching
the problem of forest destruction
from any kind of remotely scien-
tific basis, the very first thing we
would have to do would be carry
out a detailed province-wide in-
ventory of all remaining old-
growth.

instead, our politicians settle
for bizarre solutions like cutting
the Carmanah Valley in half,
which is a purely political solu-
tion, based on the perceived need
to satisfy warring interest groups.

The other fact that underlies the
incredible ignorance of the men
and women who presume to
“*teach”’ forestry is lack of knowl-
edge about what constitutes the
minimum size of an ecosystem
that can actually protect the
genetic integrity of the forest, to
say nothing of the equal lack of
knowledge about what is necessary
to protect the composition of its
soi! and the quality of its water.

In B.C., there is no maximum
size to a clearcut.

Government policy is to liqui-
date all old-growth forests except
for the piddling 2.6 per cent which
has been protected ths far.

Shareholders in foresizy com-
panies, union bosses and the ig-
norant academic elite who call
theniselves the forestry faculty
define an old-growtin forest as be-
ing ‘‘decadent,’’ mesi:ing it ought
to be cut because otherwise all
those board-feet will be wasted.

They fail utterly -- and deliber-
ately, I’m sure — to recognize
that ‘‘decadent’’ fz-;2. .s represent

Woman stabbed

NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP
ar. investigating a July 23 stabb-
ing incident that took place in the
300-biock of West Fifth Street.

Police said a 38-year-old woman
was stabbed at approximately
10:30 p.m. and was wounded in
the attack.

She is listed in stable condition
in Lions Gate Hospital.

Police arrested a 32-year-old
man near the scene who told
police that his name was Rico
John Charliebois.

But a police investigation found
that the suspect was, in fact,
Richard Edward Louie, who had
escaped from the Elbow Lake In-
stitution where he was serving a
life sentence for murder.

Number corrected

THE PHONE number in a July
29 News story concerning the peti-
tion being circulated by Friends of
Cypress was incorrect.

The correct number to call for
information on the petition, which
requests West Vancouver District
Council to hold a referendum on
the controversial 27-hole golf
course proposed for Cypress
Ridge, is 926-7002.

Bob
Hunter

ECOLOGIC

a healthy and dynamic ecosystem
at a certain stage in its evolution.
Without that critical stage there is
no catalyst for new growth.

Incidentally, lest the reader
think I am being too hard on the
forestry faculty at UBC in par-
ticular, I draw your attention to a
letter published in The Province
last Feb. 9, signed by none other
than Robert Kennedy, the dean of
the faculty.

Quoth he: ‘‘The large integrated
companies are increasingly spon-
soring or supporting our faculty’s
research. They can easily be
alienated by the perception that
the faculty is promoting a subject
which they deem not to be in their
best interest.’’

Is tenured academia so bereft of
any sense of independence or any
values beyond the lust for research
grants that this sort of bare-faced
toadying is tolerated?

Dean Kennedy let it all hang
out there, didn’t he? What kind
of ‘‘science’’ are we going to get
from shameless lapdogs?

So far as forestry is concerned,
we get exactly the kind of
“science’’ we're begetting. It’s not
worthy of the name science. Why
not come right out and call it in-
dustrial public relations?

Little wonder the politicians and
bureaucrats are floundering and
waffling so badly on this issue.

Entire inventory on sale wom

Hurry in NOW?!
Open Sundays 10-6pm.

ange
-_ SHOPS ,@4 DOITUP
986-4263 S& RIGHT, BC

"
Free home estirnates

Who can they turn to for
technical advice that isn't
skewered from the start?

And itis not just that the so-
called teachers are ignorant about
their subject. Ask one of them

‘AT BCIT, IT’S NOT
about the impact of clearcutting ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...
or slash-burning on the habitat of ree 7

a given forest ecosystem and Md ‘seat De
they'll tell you to go talk fo a ; -
biologist or zoologist. It's not
their department.

Yet obviously many species
besides humanity depend on
forests for shelter and food. The
forest industry assumed that when
it nukes a forest, enough birds,
animals and fish will escape to
carry on elsewhere.

There are no binding regula-
tions to leave enough forest for
habitat or migratory corridors in
any cutting area. No wonder
Canada’s wildlife is dying off at
an unprecedented rate!

Just last month, 12 new species
were added to the endangered
species list in this country. bringing
the total ta 195.

Among those additions to the
fist of the doomed and dying is
the Marbled Murrelet, whose
old-growth rainforest nesting
habitat is being destroyed by loge-
ing.

And when we use a broad term
like ‘‘logging,’’ let us keep in
mind that this means dues-paying
unionists, company executives,
power-loving politicians and toa-
dying academics. Did [ leave out
gutless bureaucrats who serve this
unholy cabal of nature-wreckers?

This is my language, by the
way. It is not the language of the
Heritage Forests Society, which
makes its case against the destruc-
tion of old-growth forests in
polite, carefully-worded phrases.

We are talking here about a
culossal act of ecological madness
that will do so much damage,
probably within the next five
years, that our children will look
back on our generation with bile
and loathing for having allowed it
to happen.

What is needed is nothing less
than a whole new approach to
forestry, starting with a whole
new approach to the teaching of
forestry. The teaching of prostitu-
tion, which is what it row
amounts to, is best left in other
hands.

For that Fieritage Forests Socie-
ty publication, by the way, write
to P.O. Box 34293, Station D,
Vancouver, or phone 736-0168.

In most programs students work together in sets, sharing
experiences and forging lifetime friendships. When they re not
studying. they have a variety of sporting. recreational and social
activities to choose from. The social life is an added benefit to
the one BCIT is famous for — Jobs on Graduation!

The following programs are currently accepting registrations
tor September:

PETROLEUM - Training in this versatile program opens the door
toa wide range of opportunities at home and abroad. Your creden-
dials will qualify you to work in the office. plant or field of the
oil and gas industry. and just about any other process industry. The
type of work available is just as varied. Starting salaries run at about
$2000 a month. Call 434-3304 or Don Campbell at 432-8326.
MINING — Like Petroleum grads. Mining grads qualify for a
wide variety of interesting jobs on graduation. From exploration
to production. from field to office. our grads employ their skills
in geology. geophysics. geochemistry. surveying. sampling. assav-
ing. mine planning. diamond drilling and computer applications,
etc. High level of student financial assistance available for students
in this program. For information cali 434-3304 or 432-8323.

Math not up to scratch for Petroleum or Mining? Part time
courses are available. or sign up for our Engineering Technology
pre-entry program starting in September.

If you wish to receive information on either of these

two programs by mail, please fill out the coupon and
return the ad to Ms. Terry Suen, Schoo! of Engineering,
BCIT, 3700 Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby, B.C. V5G 3H2.

Petroleum Program 0
Mining Program 0

Please send me information on the

» Name
Address
Postal Code

rons EX RVIZ

Gentlemen's Fine Apparel
818 Burrard Street at Robson
Phone: 662-8878