Add Another Layer to the Beetle Cake

Thursday, August 02, 2007 03:46 AM

The Federal Government’s new Mountain Pine Beetle Advisory Board does have some , "notables" on the Board, but folks, do we need yet another layer of bureaucracy in order to get some money to where it is needed? All we want is to try and offset the beetle problem.

We have in this region, the Feds, the Province, the various deputies who go with them, and then we have a number of lesser lights such as OBAC, who are supposedly telling the two levels of government where to put the money.

They all seem to have been able to cut off a bit of the pie as it passes through their hands, and of course another layer of advice simply holds up the process some more.

Has anyone ever come up with the novel idea of companies, individuals and other interested parties putting their requests forward?

Case in point, the airport in the city.

Now I don’t know whether that money is coming from the Beetle pot or some other pot the feds are guarding.

All we want is to get on with the program, cut the red tape.

Somehow we don’t seem to be heading in that direction. Every time you add another layer of paper shuffling you add another body here or there that has to justify the means and the whole process gets slower and slower and in the end guess who makes the call? “government” .

In the meantime, the wood is drying and losing value, forest companies are faced with closing mills, communities are scrambling to "diversify" their economies, and all the while, the beetle continues to march east.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 03:46 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: Andyfreeze on August 2 2007 10:01 AM

...and for our tax dollars we will get more retoric and red tape.
Another complete waste of time and money by a government that really doesn't give damn for anything north of Hope!
This province needs an election in the worst way!
Never has the distain for the voting public by the Campbell government been more obvious!

Posted by: kevin1006 on August 2 2007 10:36 AM

Again...zzzzzzzz....

to the European mind set wood only has value if it is exploited in the name of the REAL God for the European: MONEY!

The wood is not "going to waste.." just because it's not being turned into future land fill via one illogical product after another. Left where it is will be of huge benefit to hundreds of species of bird, fish and animal. This in turn will offer a sustainable economy as tourists will flock here to fish, hunt and enjoy the life these forests offer. Thinking long term is not the strong point of the European mind set.

I recently met a man from Oregon that has been coming to BC to fish for 30 years. He confessed to me that he is getting close to stopping his trips because of all the clear cutting. "It's very depressing to see all the destruction to the forests..." he said. He was not talking about the beetle kill.

Too many here forget that tourists don't like ugly and will not spend money to go see ugly. And we have not even begun to fully exploit the tourists potential of the increasing wealth of Asia.

It is my sincere prayer that the red tape gets worse, to the point that the wood is not worth a single dollar to the forces of short term greed.

Posted by: diplomat on August 2 2007 12:25 PM

Google search:

"Caption: In this region of Southern Oregon, home to many valuable species, 27 percent of forestland has been clearcut since 1971."

Clearcutting is as common in Oregon as in other areas where the forests are being *managed.* These resources provide jobs and incomes for working people and companies, taxes are paid which maintain this modern society, roads, schools, hospitals etc.

The forests are not being destroyed, they are being replanted continuously.

I agree that some beetle kill can be left behind and nature may be allowed to do its thing, as it always has done before.

Perhaps the gentleman from Oregon was trying to get away from his own state which clearcuts a lot in spite of the objections of some residents.

Non-European mindset people here in Canada also log, clearcut and utilize the forests for their own advantage.

Posted by: ammonra on August 2 2007 12:53 PM

I suspect that Kevin1006 will have to wait a long time before the wood is not worth a dollar. The forest industry is here to stay, despite the problems currently being experienced, and trees will continue to be cut down.

It is an often ignored point that cutting an area, or just thinning out an area with selective logging, opens up the forest and the regrowth of other plants, sometimes not even trees, has a beneficial effect on wildlife. There are many birds, for instance, which live at forest edges rather than in heavily overgrown areas. Increase the edges of forests and the habitat for these birds is increased and they flourish. In other words, cutting trees can be beneficial and, after all, forest fires do much the same naturally.

Of course, anything can be done to an extreme, and I am not advocating strip mining the forest. However, I see nothing wrong with using the province's forests as long as it is done in a permanently sustainable manner.

I do have a query about the man coming to BC to fish. Why not fish in Oregon? They have salmon and trout there too, don't they? Have they destroyed their rivers, perhaps? I'm curious.

Posted by: metalman on August 2 2007 2:23 PM

Logging brought the moose into this country. Stands to reason that other wildlife could benefit too. Some people have a very narrow mindset, and can't see the forest for the trees. Logging the beetle kill also helps remove tinder dry fuel from the forest, which I think is a good thing.
metalman

Posted by: Andyfreeze on August 2 2007 3:24 PM

Actually,as metalman mentions,logging can in fact be beneficial to wildlife in many cases.
The downside however, is increased access by hunters to areas not normally that easy to get into.
That in itself is not always a good thing for wildlife, like bears for example.
Logging can drive them into urban centers where they become nothing more than pests.
Every action has a re-action unfortunately, and it all depends on what your point of view is.

Posted by: Palopu on August 2 2007 8:26 PM

I guess we dont want to talk about the Forests in New York, Ohio, Penn. or some other Eastern States. Is that because they have all been logged off and no longer exist???

I think if you would do some research you would find out that after first and second growth forests, your chances of gettng much of a tree on the third growth is pretty slim. Certainly not in the Northern Climes. After each cut the next one is smaller, because of the lack of undergrowth to feed the trees, etc;

At the end of the day the forests would be much better off serving animals rather than people. Animals at least would make a better use of the trees. People are gluttons and have no limits on what they can destroy. The only reason we log the forest is to build cheap houses, and make paper for newspaper flyers, and playboy magazine. Hardly a worthwhile cause.

Posted by: diplomat on August 3 2007 9:25 AM

The planet is being stressed (overstressed) by the requirement to support a human population of 6.5 Billion and growing.

As long as quality of life and success are measured by the number and size of toys that people acquire - excessive materialism - the destruction will continue unabated.

That's why the search is on to find other *livable* planets to spoil after this one is worn out.