Swan Song for Canada's Ancient Forests

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

8/7/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Following is Rainforest Action Networks August Action Alert which draws

attention to the ongoing liquidation of Canada's Old Growth forests. The

alert is written by Matt Frewer, the Canadian-born actor behind the

character Max Headroom, and details the destruction of ancient forest's

across Canada, particularly British Columbia, for items as "crude as paper

and lumber for the U.S. market." This item was posted in econet's

rainfor.general conference.

g.b.

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/* Written 3:53 AM Aug 7, 1996 by ranmedia@ran.org in igc:rainfor.genera

/* ---------- "Singing Forest/RAN August Action Al" ---------- */

Rainforest Action Network<Action Alert, August 1996

SWAN SONG FOR CANADA'S ANCIENT FORESTS

an appeal by Matt Frewer

British Columbia's ancient forests are among the world's last remaining

primary forests, but they are being destroyed by greedy chainsaw

executives and a compliant government, not only in Clayoquot Sound, which

you have heard about, but across the province. B.C. chainsaws chop down

another acre of primary forest every minute.

I am a Canadian myself, and I know what I'm talking about. I have been

fighting to save a 1,600 acre tract of rare thousand-year-old trees in the

Kootenays interior temperate rainforest, in southeastern British Columbia.

Even as you read this, the trees there are being cut down. It is an area

that the government's own land-use commissioner identified as a

"spiritually significant old growth forest." Local people call it the

"Singing Forest," and have been trying to protect it for years. We have

even offered to buy it with our own money.

With your support, I am certain we can save the Singing Forest before the

chainsaws finish their dirty work.

I wish everyone could see how destructive clear-cutting is. The B.C.

government is telling the world that logging is now being done

sensitively. What a cruel joke! Just look at this photograph of recent

logging and see for yourself!

As I got deeper involved in the fight to save the Singing Forest, I found

out that similar battles were being waged across British Columbia. I found

out that the government still wants to log the remaining pristine

rainforest valleys of Clayoquot Sound. I found out about the mysterious

white Spirit Bear, which is found nowhere on Earth except in the

rainforests of Princess Royal Island. That region is slated for logging

too.

The hardest thing for me to swallow is that these magnificent ancient

forests are being razed to make products as crude as paper and lumber for

the U.S. market. Even today, most telephone books are printed on paper

from ancient forest trees!

Canada has earned its reputation as "the Brazil of the North." In a word,

the government policy is to liquidate its primary forests in order to

replace them with tree farms. Just last month the government admitted

that one out of ten species of plants and animals in British Columbia is

in danger of extinction<and the main reason is logging. Sadly, the forests

with the thickest trees and the greatest biological richness are the most

cost-effective ones to cut down.

I urge you, as concerned citizens of the Earth, to do all you can to stop

this mad destruction.

* Matt Frewer is the Canadian-born actor behind the character Max Headroom.

Mr. Frewer is leading efforts to save the Singing Forest.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Provincial Government is considering whether parts of the Kootenays

rainforest will be protected. If we apply sufficient pressure now, the

Singing Forest may be saved forever. Write a letter to B.C. Premier Glen

Clark, in care of Legislative Buildings, Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4, Canada.

Send a copy of your letter to your local telephone company, too, and ask

both to respond. Together, these simple actions can help save the

planet's remaining primary forests. U.S. postage to Canada is 45 cents.

Dear Premier Clark,

It is unacceptable that your government is threatening to log places like

Clayoquot Sound, the Singing Forest, and the home of the Spirit Bear.

It is unconscionable and insulting that primary forest pulp is used to

make throwaway products like phonebooks. This kind of practice must

stop<and will stop when companies that continue to use primary forest pulp

open themselves to consumer protest and loss of customers.

I urge you to protect these areas, and to abandon your policy of logging

primary, old growth forests. British Columbia must set an example for

those very few places in the world where there are still chances to save

primary forests.

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including writing letters, organizing campaigns and forwarding. All

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responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. Check

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