Conservation Battle Over B.C. Cedar Targets Interfor
12/16/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Conservation Battle Over B.C. Cedar Targets Interfor
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 16, 1999
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, December 16, 1999 (ENS) - Four
railcars loaded with Western Red cedar timbers headed for markets in
the United States were blocked by Greenpeace activists in the
Burlington Northern Sante Fe rail yard in New Westminster on Tuesday.
The wood belongs to International Forest Products (Interfor).
A van with a banner on the side reading "Interfor: Selling Out
Canada's Cedar Rainforest" was parked across the railway tracks to
block the railcars. Two people dressed as bears symbolising the loss
of grizzly habitat were atop the railcar. Greenpeace activist Rob
Cooper locked himself underneath the truck. Two other Greenpeacers,
Saraha Start and Suzanne Jackson, chained themselves onto one of the
railcars holding placards saying "Will Work for Habitat." Over 100
other bundles of Interfor cedar sat next to the railcars awaiting
export to the United States.
Police arrived after an hour and quickly removed the protesterst in
bear costume on top of the railcar.
Cooper proved more difficult to remove. Police lifted the van with a
tow truck, removed the drive shaft and finally arrested Cooper. The
action lasted about four hours, and attracted coverage from local
newspapers, television and radio stations.
The three arrested Greenpeacers were released from jail Tuesday
night, after being charged with mischief.
"Western Red cedar is one of B.C.'s natural treasures," said
Greenpeace forest campaigner Gavin Edwards at the blockade site.
"Every railcar of cedar heading south represents more habitat loss
for grizzly and black bears. When the forests are gone, the bears and
the salmon will be gone. Is this the legacy British Columbians want
to leave for future generations? Alternatives exist and must be
implemented before it's too late."
The demonstration was timed to coincide with the launch of a campaign
to protect Western Red cedar by the Coastal Rainforest Coalition
based in Berkeley, California. Led jointly by Greenpeace, the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and the Rainforest Action Network, the
Coastal Rainforest Coalition (CRC) was founded at the urging of B.C.
environmental groups to redirect U.S. markets to ecologically sound
alternatives to the logging of native forests.
The CRC is sending mail to over 100 U.S. companies involved in
remanufacturing or selling cedar, informing them of the increasingly
endangered status of cedar in British Columbia and making their case
that it is no longer acceptable to use old growth cedar unless it is
independently eco-certified. The alternatives include sustainable
forestry products, new technologies, and alternatives to wood based
products.
"U.S. consumers need to hear the true cost of the cedar products they
purchase," explained CRC campaign director Todd Paglia.
Roughly 6.25 million cubic metres - over six million telephone poles
- of the wood, valued for its tight grain and durability, is logged
every year in B.C. and used to make roof shingles, decks, saunas,
gazebos and garden furniture. U.S. buyers represent 66 percent of
this market according to industry figures.
The logging industry says it plants new cedar trees every time it
cuts old ones down, so cedar is not threatened. But conservationists
say the B.C. government is allowing logging at 41 percent above even
their own definition of sustainable logging.
It can take over 1,000 years for cedars to fully mature; once gone
they will be replaced with tree farms which will be logged once every
100 years. "This will have devastating impacts on wildlife and
produce inferior quality wood for future generations. For example,
second-growth plantation cedar trees do not provide denning habitat
for bears on the coast of B.C.," Greenpeace points out.
Interfor is also facing resistance against its plans to log near
Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, one
of B.C.'s main tourist attractions.
Plans by Interfor to cut 18 blocks near the park boundary could be
disastrous to the ecological integrity of the area, says the Ottawa-
based Canadian Nature Federation which has now placed Pacific Rim as
number six on its Top 10 list of Canada's most endangered parks.
The B.C. Ministry of Forests has approved the Interfor logging plans,
over the opposition of the Tofino Chamber of Commerce and the Friends
of Clayoquot Sound, who have declared they will fight to preserve the
park.
Interfor is also asking for approval to cut another 19 blocks in the
area. Company chief forester Rick Slaco said Monday the company is
planning careful, selective logging and the logging amounts to a
small fraction of Clayoquot Sound.
To add to Interfor's troubles, laid-off sawmill workers filed a
lawsuit Monday in British Columbia Supreme Court accusing provincial
Forests Minister David Zirnhelt of illegally granting log export
permits to Interfor.
Woodworkers for Fair Forest Policy Society, represented in court by
the Sierra Legal Defense Fund, is claiming that a July 13 deal
authorizing Interfor to export 330,000 cubic meters of timber this
year violates the Forest Act.
In exchange for the export permits, Interfor agreed to reopen its
Squamish sawmill, which had been shut down for a year. The Interfor
arrangement is the largest of 14 similar deals brokered by the
provincial Job Protection Commission for the export of up to 800,000
cubic meters of wood to provide jobs for 500 loggers and 1,200 mill
workers. But the plaintiff woodworkers maintain that exporting raw
logs is really exporting B.C. jobs.
Interfor is making an effort to be environmentally responsible.
Interfor's Coast Forest Operations were recommended for registration
to ISO 14001 on December 9, following an independent audit of the
company's environmental management system by KPMG Quality Registrar
Inc. The recommendation applies to all of Interfor's coastal
operations from Vancouver to Prince Rupert. If approved, it will be
the largest ISO 14001 registration of public forests in coastal
British Columbia.
ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard for environmental
management systems.
Interfor's vice president of Coast Forestry and Logging, Hugh
Sutcliffe said, "Passing the ISO 14001 registration audit is a major
accomplishment, which will help demonstrate Interfor's environmental
leadership to our shareholders, customers, employees and the public.
Good environment practices are the result of a dedicated workforce
that understands environmental integrity is a key corporate value."
Mill Valley, California home covered with western red cedar siding
(Photo courtesy Western Red Cedar Lumber Assn.)
Interfor's ISO 14001 registration of its coast forestry and logging
operations will cover an annual harvest of 3.3 million cubic meters
of wood. Speaking for Interfor, chief forester Slaco said, "The
company's effort to certify its forestry activities will help its
customers make environmentally responsible purchasing decisions."
But according to the Coastal Rainforest Coalition, while other
logging companies in British Columbia also log cedar, Interfor is
logging in the most controversial endangered forest areas in B.C.
Interfor's Hammond Cedar sawmill produced 123 million board feet of
cedar in 1998 and is one of the biggest cedar sawmills in the world -
milling 7.7 percent of all Western Red cedar cut in British Columbia.
Conservationists recommend alternatives to old growth cedar that
include:
* Forest Stewardship Council eco-certified second-growth cedar, which
is currently available from Northern California
* wood that is pressure treated by a new process developed in the
Netherlands that provides the weather-proof properties of cedar
without the use of toxic chemicals usually used in pressure
treatment.