***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
ACTION
ALERT: Planned Huge Clearcuts of Ancient Boreal Forests in Canada
***********************************************
Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation
Archives & Portal
10/06/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
The
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) in Canada is seeking
to
enact new legislation which endorses massive new clearcuts as
large as
10,000 hectares each, arguing that forest fires can reach
this
size too (10,000 ha is approximately the size of 20,000 football
fields). This is being done on the false
justification that
clearcutting
as an ecological disturbance emulates the effects of
forest
fire disturbances. While they may look
similar to the
untrained
eye; there are vast differences in amount of trees
retained,
soil compaction, nutrient recycling and the type of
regeneration
likely to occur-to name but a few.
Ontario's boreal
forest
region is globally significant and thus the Ontario government
has an
international responsibility to protect one of the World's
last
remaining large, intact pristine forests.
Please respond to the
Peaceful
Parks Coalition's appeal for letters (a local environmental
group). Stress that boreal wildlife species such as
Ontario's Forest
Woodland
Caribou require continuous old growth wilderness areas.
There
is no alternative to protection of their habitat, and this will
require
that the amount of logging fall to accommodate protection and
be done
in an ecologically benign fashion.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Action Alert!!!!!! The Harris Government
Plans to Clearcut
Ontario
Source:
Peaceful Parks Coalition, Canada
Email ppc@canoemail.com
Date: October 3, 2000
The
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is currently
developing
forest management guidelines which would introduce the
ludicrous
notion that clearcuts emulate natural forest fires. By
using
the analogy of wildfire, these guidelines could pave the way
for
clearcuts as large as 10,000 ha across Ontario's vast boreal
forest.
The
Draft Fire Simulation Guidelines are now posted on the
Environmental
Bill of Rights Registry for public comment. See
www.eco.on.ca,
or our "Call To Action" section below.
Background
These
guidelines are being developed because MNR is bound by the
Crown
Forest Sustainability Act, which requires that silvicultural
practices
emulate natural disturbances and landscape patterns while
minimizing
adverse effects on plant life, animal life, water, soil,
air,
and social and economic values, including recreational values
and
heritage values.
The Ministry
is using its new legislation to endorse the theory that
clearcut
disturbances emulate forest fire disturbances and has
recommended
clearcuts as large as 10,000 ha arguing that forest fires
can
reach this size too (10,000 ha is approximately the size of
20,000
football fields).
However,
the available scientific evidence indicates that clearcuts
do not
mimic fire disturbance, and rather this is simply the
government's
tactic to justify large clearcuts as the primary method
of
timber extraction in Ontario's boreal forest
Forest
fires are an integrating force that produce many effects at
once
and it has yet to be determined which effects are most
important.
However, it is certain that if a disturbance is going to
be
10,000 ha, it's going to be bad news ecologically if that
disturbance
removes all the standing trees!!! Taking the size of
disturbance
as one factor in isolation of others, such as nutrient
release,
the role of insects, pathogens and maintaining genetic seed
sources
is illogical, not ecological.
The
worst things that clearcuts do is remove the standing biomass and
genetic
stock of forest sites. In addition they cause soil
compaction,
promote broadleaf regeneration rather than conifer
regeneration,
are usually linked with the introduction of persistent,
toxic
pesticides and remove or damage wildlife habitat.
The
intent of the Crown Forest Sustainability Act was to improve the
way we
harvest Ontario's forests, not to make it worse. 10,000 ha
cuts are
doomed to failure especially in caribou country. Ontario's
forest
dwelling woodland caribou is now considered a species at risk,
partly
because of logging. Everywhere we have logged in this
province,
we have lost the caribou. Yet the Ministry tries to tell
folks
that large cuts will help the caribou and other wildlife
dependent
on old growth forests.
A Call
To Action
Here's
your chance to tell the Harris Government what you THINK.
*According
to the World Resource Institute, only 20% of the world's
original
forests remain. Ontario's boreal region is globally
significant
and thus the Harris government has an international
responsibility
to protect one of the last remaining intact pristine
forests.
Given the global context of disappearing frontier forests,
we must
re-examine if we need to harvest our forests at all.
*Many
boreal wildlife species require continuous old growth
wilderness
areas such as Ontario's Forest Woodland Caribou. Their
habitat
must be protected. The amount of logging must fall to
accommodate
protection, and should be the result of an ecosystem-
based
planning process.
*Protection
of wildlife habitat should be based on Conservation
Biology
science.
*Forest
management needs to abandon the "landscape gardening" or
"agricultural"
approach to forest harvesting and regeneration and
move
towards a selection harvest which considers and protects all
levels
of the forest ecosystem including species habitat, watershed
protection
and intrinsic wilderness value .
*The
ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples in relation to
forests
must be recognized, valued and applied as a critical part of
defining
ecological forest use. First Nations' rights and title
should
be honoured.
It is
illogical to completely clearcut a forest and then recreate it
through
a forest management plan. The Ministry will recommend
amalgamating
small mosaic clearcuts over a 20 year period to
eventually
create one 10,000 ha clearcut. Only a few token trees will
be left
behind as residuals. But even the most catastrophic fires,
which
are rare, can leave as much as 40% of the trees untouched.
Please
take the time to respond. Let them know what you think!
To get
a copy of the guidelines, please contact:
Fran
Paterson, MNR Forest Management Branch 70 Foster Drive, Sault
Ste.
Marie, Ontario, P6A 6V5 Tel. 705 945-5853 Fax 705 945-6711 Or
email:
joe.churcher@mnr.gov.on.ca
All
comments will be considered as part of the decision-making by the
Ministry
if they:
1) are
submitted in writing
2)
reference the EBR Registry number - EBR #PB00E7004 3) are received
by the
contact person within the specified comment period - September
29,
2000 - November 28,2000
Send
comments to;
John McNicol,
Wildlife Specialist
MNR
Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research 955 Oliver Road,
Thunder
Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1 Tel. 807 343-4002 Fax 807 343-4001
Email:
john.mcnicol@mnr.gov.on.ca
For
assistance in reviewing the Draft Fire Simulation Guidelines or
to
receive a copy of the Peaceful Parks discussion paper, Natural
Fires
vs Clearcuts, please contact us at:
Peaceful
Parks Coalition, P.O. Box 326, Station B, Toronto, Ontario
M5T
2W2, 416 537-3212 Email: ppc@canoemail.com
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed
without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest
in receiving forest conservation informational materials for
educational,
personal and non-commercial use only. Recipients should
seek
permission from the source to reprint this PHOTOCOPY. All
efforts
are made to provide accurate, timely pieces, though ultimate
responsibility
for verifying all information rests with the reader.
For
additional forest conservation news & information please see the
Forest
Conservation Archives & Portal at URL= http://forests.org/
Networked
by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org