Forest Follies
Adventures and Misadventures in the Great Canadian Forest
by Ben Parfitt
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Populations of Woodland Caribou and other large mammals are declining across Canada. Hundreds of "problem bears" are killed each year on government orders. Salmon stocks in BC are in danger of going the way of the East Coast cod. The quality and quantity of Canada's fresh water, one of our most precious resources, can no longer be taken for granted. Our forest products, which once commanded the highest prices in the world, can barely compete in today's global markets. Can we solve these problems without compromising our forests or our economy?
Ben Parfitt argues that we can. In this book, he explores the interrelated practices and policies that have damaged the forest, from logging, milling, cattle ranching and oil-and-gas industry practices, to modern land-use planning processes, to the shift in world demand from nothern wood to fast-growing southern pulp. He then argues for a more flexible and diverse approach, and he presents inspiring examples of communities that have abandoned rapacious resource extraction in favour of alternatives that sustain our natural species - including us.
close this panelIn BC and Ontario the fate of intact (unroaded) old growth forests is, as it should be, a subject of heated controversy. But comparatively little is said about the fate of old-growth forests in partially developed watersheds. Even less is said about the future of Canada's ever-expanding second and third growth forests. Yet it is these tracts of land that the logging companies are turning to as the last unprotected stands of old-growth are logged. And the decisions that those companies and the governments that reglate them make about those lands may well determine the future of many wildlife species in much of the country.
