ACTION
ALERT
***********************************************
FOREST
CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
Stop
Ontario's Massive Boreal Forest Clearcuts
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation
Portal
http://forests.org/links/ -- Forest
Conservation Links
09/23/01
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by Forests.org
New
draft forestry guidelines in Ontario, Canada, threaten the
province's
huge boreal forest ecosystems with massive clearcuts. The
Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) recently released a new
draft
of their clearcutting guidelines. They
remove any limit on the
size of
clearcut allowed, on the simplistic scientific basis that big
clearcuts
will be good for wildlife because naturally occurring fires
are
also big. Please respond to the action
alert below. OMNR must
abandon
its focus on forcing companies to have large clearcuts; and
protect
significant areas of big, old, continuous forest from the
impacts
of logging. Canadian forest ecosystem
sustainability, and
Canadian
legitimacy as credible spokespersons for protection of the
global
environment, is at stake.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Title: Help us stop massive clearcuts in Ontario's
public Forests !
Source: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
Date: September 19, 2001
ACTION
ALERT
The
vast boreal forests of Ontario contain some of the wildest, most
intact
natural ecosystems in the world. They cover more than 50
million
hectares, an area larger than all of Great Britain, this
region
is a vital part of a wild forest ecosystem that stretches
across
Canada-and around the world. With a new draft guideline, the
Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources, would require companies to
create
massive clearcuts in Ontario's public forests. Below please
find
further information on this guideline and what you can do.
Please
note that in order for your comments to be heard they need to
be
received by October 31st at the latest!
Late on
the Friday of a national holiday weekend, the Ontario
Ministry
of Natural Resources (OMNR) released a new draft of their
clearcutting
guideline, which requires companies to create massive
clearcuts
in Ontario's public forests (see the Wildlands League
website's
Action Alert Page for more information at
www.wildlandsleague.org
and follow the link to the clearcut
guidelines).
An
earlier draft of the guideline was released last fall mandating
the use
of 10,000 ha clearcuts. Rather than
addressing the public
outcry
that resulted, the MNR has now removed any limit on the size
of
clearcut allowed.
The new
guideline violates existing laws governing forestry in
Ontario,
which require that clearcuts be smaller than 260 ha in all
but
exceptional circumstances. The new
draft guideline would allow
the
vast majority of the area logged to be massive clearcuts.
MNR
says that big clearcuts will be good for wildlife because
naturally
occurring fires are also big. This
simplistic and
misguided
concept is the cornerstone of the guideline, and puts at
risk
the remaining areas of large, continuous, old forest in the
province. Woodland caribou, a threatened species, is
already locally
extinct
everywhere that industrial logging has occurred in Ontario.
This
guideline sets a dangerous precedent for forestry in Canada.
One of
the victims of the guideline is the forest industry itself.
In an
increasingly environmentally conscious marketplace, forest
companies
that are forced to create massive clearcuts risk losing
their
markets to other more environmentally sensitive jurisdictions.
Although
the guideline contains some progressive provisions for
providing
better wildlife habitat by leaving uncut trees in clearcuts
after
logging, these changes don't go far enough.
Any positive
changes
the guideline represents are swamped by its focus on massive
clearcuts
and the harm these will do to our forests.
We need
you to help us get the MNR to drop its plans to allow massive
clearcuts. The Ontario government must be shown that we
won't stand
by and
let them destroy our forests. Your
comments to MNR are a key
element
in the fight to get this guideline changed, and to stop this
dangerous
Canadian precedent.
Please
write to the address below and express the following comments.
MNR
must abandon its focus on forcing companies to have large
clearcuts.
MNR
must protect significant areas of big, old, continuous forest
from
the impacts of logging.
MNR
must make further improvements to clearcutting by requiring that
a
minimum average of 25% of trees be left in patches after
clearcutting
to provide wildlife habitat in the recovering forest.
IMPORTANT
In
order for the MNR to consider your response, you must email or fax
a
letter to the address below by Oct 31, and write "EBR Registry
Number
PB00E7004" on the top of your letter.
Send a copy to the
Minister!
Send
your comments to:
Joe
Churcher,
Silviculture
Systems Specialist
MNR
Forest Management Branch
6th
Floor, Whiney Block
70
Foster Drive Suite 400
Sault
Ste. Marie, Ontario, P6A 6V5
Canada
FAX: +1
(705) 945 6667
joe.churcher@mnr.gov.on.ca
Minister
John Snobelen
Ministry
of Natural Resources
6th
Floor, Whiney Block
99
Wellesley Street West
Toronto,
ON M7A 1W3
Canada
FAX:+1
(705) 945-6667
minister@mnr.gov.on.ca
(include
your mailing address)
Thanks
for your help!
Anne
Janssen, National Boreal Coordinator
Canadian
Parks and Wilderness Society
880
Wellington St. Ste. 506
Ottawa,
Ontario K1R 6K7 Canada
Tel.
(613) 569 7226 ext. 232 Fax. (613) 569
7098
Toll
Free: (800) 333 9453
<www.cpaws.org>
ITEM #2
Title: Ontario proposal removes limits on clearcut
size, excludes
First Nations, and ignores public opposition
Opposition growing to MNR's clearcutting
guideline
Source:
Date: September 11, 2001
(Toronto)
First Nations and environmental organizations today
expressed
great concern about the social, economic and ecological
impacts
of a proposed provincial forestry guideline. The guideline,
developed
by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), actively
promotes
large clearcuts without setting any size limits. The
guideline
effectively forces logging companies to create large
clearcuts
on the faulty premise that they mimic natural fires.
"Massive
clearcuts are an economic and ecological liability in
central
and northern Ontario." said Richard Brooks, Earthroots
Campaign
Director. "Ontarians must not stand by quietly and let this
potentially
destructive guideline be approved."
The new
guideline conflicts with existing legal requirements that
stipulate
that clearcuts larger than 260 ha should be undertaken as
an
exception rather than the rule. This new guideline, if
implemented,
would allow almost all of the area harvested in a forest
to be
in clearcuts much larger than this. Clearcuts in the tens of
thousands
of hectares are expected.
"The
proposed guideline is the latest example of the government
ignoring
its obligations to First Nations and our treaty rights to
control
lands and resources on our lands," said Raymond Ferris,
Deputy
Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Thunder Bay.
"Clearcutting
directly affects the livelihood of our communities and
our
ability to sustain traditional activities like hunting and
trapping
on our lands. There has been no meaningful consultation with
our
people about this guideline. This needs to change."
When
released in its first draft form last September, the vast
majority
of the almost 700 relevant comments from the public opposed
the
focus on large clearcuts. "It is very unfortunate that the MNR
has
chosen to disregard the serious negative consequences of
implementing
this guideline." said Chris Henschel, the Forests
Director
for the Wildlands League. "The development of this guideline
was an
opportunity for positive reform to logging practices. Instead,
MNR's
fixation with larger cuts threatens to make things worse."
Henschel
was forced to resign from the guideline's writing committee
after
MNR repeatedly failed to respond to environmental and public
concerns,
refusing to abandon its focus on larger cuts.
Gregor
Beck, FON's Conservation Director expressed disappointment
that
MNR ignored efforts to improve the guideline. "Our organizations
made
repeated attempts to seek a reasonable alternative with the MNR.
The MNR
would not put the emphasis of the guideline where it belongs:
the
maintenance of old, intact forests for wildlife."
The new
guideline will pose an economic challenge to forest companies
forced
to create larger clearcuts. The increasing environmental
awareness
of major buyers like IKEA and Home Depot means that Ontario
wood
suppliers risk losing market share to other companies in
jurisdictions
with more environmentally sensitive guidelines.
"The
people of Ontario need to send a strong message to MNR that the
guideline
needs to change," Henschel asserted. "We have an
alternative."
The public has until October 31st, 2001 to submit
comments
on the draft guide. Wildlands League, Earthroots and FON
will be
holding public meetings in northern and southern Ontario in
October
to discuss the guideline. The MNR is legally required to
create
a finalized version by November 30, 2001.
Copies
of the guideline can be downloaded from the MNR website at
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/forests/forestdoc/ebr/guide/disturbance_
pattern.pdf.
More information is available at www.wildlandsleague.org
or at
www.earthroots.org.
For
more information contact:
Chris Henschel,
Forests Program Director, Wildlands League: 416-971-
9453 x.
30
Raymond
Ferris, Deputy Grand Chief, Nishnawbe Aski Nation: 807-625-
4903,
807-624-7628
Richard
Brooks, Campaign Director, Earthroots: 416-599-0152, 416-819-
7424
(cell)
Gregor
Beck, Conservation Director, Federation of Ontario
Naturalists:
416-444-8419 x. 237, 647-285-2966 (cell)
The
Wildlands League is a chapter of the Canadian Parks and
Wilderness
Society. It is a charitable non-profit organization whose
mission
is to protect the land of Ontario through the establishment
of
protected areas and the promotion of natural resource use that is
sustainable
for nature, communities, and the economy.
Ninshnawbe
Aski Nation (NAN) is a provincial treaty organization
representing
the political, social and economic interests of its
First
Nations communities within the Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 areas in
Ontario.
NAN's
traditional territory encompasses two thirds of the province of
Ontario,
stretching from the Quebec border in the east to the
Manitoba
border in the west and from the James Bay and Hudson's Bay
watersheds
in the north to roughly the Canadian National Railway in
the
south.
The
Federation of Ontario Naturalists (FON) protects Ontario's nature
through
research, education and conservation action. FON champions
woodlands,
wetlands and wildlife, and preserves essential habitat
through
its own system of nature reserves. FON is a conservation
organization
representing 20,000 members and supporters and over 110
member
groups across Ontario.
Earthroots
is a non-profit, grassroots environmental organization
dedicated
to protecting wilderness, wildlife and watersheds through
research,
education and action. Earthroots has over 12,000 supporters
throughout
Canada.
###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 Portal at URL= http://forests.org/
Networked
by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org