Review THREE MEN AND A FORESTER. By lan Mahood and Ken Drushka. Harbour Publishing, Victoria. 1990. Hardcover. 240 pages. ~ Consider these comments, and guess the source: “The kind of corporate structure that Operates in pulp and paper industry demonstrates a lack of commitment to B.C. These companies reside in highrise towers in distant locations, employing fixers intent on shuffling, prodding and using their eco- nomic muscle to gain control of the forest crop. They are delinquent in forest manage- ment in B.C., while at the same time they are investing in lands in the southern hemi- sphere to grow pine trees on a fifteen-year rotation. When that is achieved, operations will be phased out in B.C. During their passage in this province, they will have dis- placed independent business, stripped off the easy timber, scarred the mountainsides with huge clear-cuts and carried out crop- replacing silviculture at only a token level.” No, this wasn’t written by some left-wing radical, but by Ian Mahood. A retired forester, Mahood was a confidant to lumber magnate H.R. MacMillan. He was in tums manager of MacMillan Bloedel’s forestry operations, vice-president and director of Triangle Pacific Forest Products, vice-presi- dent of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries, former president of the Truck Loggers As- sociation and an employee of the B.C. Min- istry of Finance, working on forest land taxation. Wood industry scandals and how to stop them In Three Men and a Forester, Mahood uses his experience to write a biting indict- ment of the Tree Farm licence system and the political chicanery which surrounds B.C.’s forest management policy. He ex- poses the political manoeuvring and mis- guided thinking that has led to present-day clear-cuts and silvicultural practice that has been more of a public relations program than a science. Co-author Ken Drushka is a former log- ger and current freelance journalist who has written books on the tugboating industry and forestry, including Stumped, which exposed the machinations behind the stumpage fee scandal. In that vein, Three Men covers the major scandals: The two Sloan commissions, the bribery case of former Socred forest minister Sommers, the devastation of the land (allo- cated through bribery) near Ucluelet, and other facts about foresters more concemed with corporate profits than forests. And there are the questionable counting practices. Mahood writes: “Tt is difficult to calculate how much public equity has been lost by under-assessed sales of public tim- ber, under-measure of public property and other manipulations of the fixers ... One former forests minister has estimated it is in the neighbourhood of $1 billion per year, another suggests it is double that. If one compares stumpage and log prices collected on public timber sales in B.C. with those in the U.S. and others on a global timber mar- ket, a $-billion reduction in public revenues seems [a] reasonable [estimate].” Then later: “The failure of government to collect this equity is responsible for our bud- get deficits during the Bill Bennett regime, for the deficiencies in our education system, health care, social services, highways and other services. It is why we have to pay such high taxes. And most important of all it is money we should be spending on tending future crops so that our children and their children can maintain a decent standard of living in this province.” In their final chapter, “What to Do,” Mahood and Drushka outline a solution to the crisis in our forests. The first suggestion is regional land use boards, accountable to local communities, who make decisions about resource use in their regions. The second is a fundamental forest law that would apply to all forest land. “This law will say, as simply and clearly as possible, that it is not permissible to mistreat forests.” Third is the need to diversify tenure. The authors propose (and this is a challenging concept to socialists) privatizing some forest land: one-third to small individual or family holdings, and another third to large private or corporate holdings — primarily in spar- sely populated regions — with the remain- der in public hands. Fourth, they see a need for a separation between those who manage the forests and produce commercial timber, and those who use this timber to manufacture products for sale around the world. They suggest an in- dependent log market with many buyers and sellers. Mahood and Drushka state that this as necessary to get high value for timber and high return to the producer. It will also, they argue, provide a diversity of employment opportunities for foresters, making them less vulnerable to corporate and political man- ipulators, and freeing them to become res- ponsible forest managers vital to the ecological and economic future of our province. In Three Men and a Forester, Mahood and Drushka tell it like it is. The book is a readable, entertaining and informed look at B.C.’s most important industry —— recom- mended to help understand the fundamental causes of the turmoil which surrounds the forest industry today. — Gary Swann Classified Advertising COMING EVENTS COMMERCIAL _ DEC. 9: 1S AMARKET ECONOMY COM- PATIBLE WITH SOCIALISM? Roundtable discussion featuring Prof. Mike Lebowitz, Prof, Fd Shaffer, and Economist .Dave erg nt ee aetige: 2 pin vou are invited. Auspices: Centre for - Socialist Education. FOR SALE 1982 PONTIAC PHOENIX. Tested. No Rust. Auto. $3900 obo. 255-6443. GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS. Complete rinting services. Brochures, menus, leaf- ets, etc. A union shop. 2089 Commercial Dr. Vancouver. Hours: Mon-Fr. 9:30 a.m. ee p.m. Sat.; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 254- AUTOPLAN, GENERAL INSURANCE, Early Agencies Ltd. 5817 Victoria Dr. Home, tenants, business, trade unions. Call Dave Morton, 321-6707. VICTORIA BILL HARTLEY your AutoPlan man. All types of insurance. Mail in or phone in. 2420 Douglas Street, Victoria, V8T 4L7. 388-5014. LEGAL SERVICES CONSTANCE FOGAL. Family law, wills and estates. #401, 207 W. Hastings St. 687-0588. DIRECTORY COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA office is located at 1726 E. Hastings St. Van., VSL WORKERS’ BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION 1S9. Phone: 254-9836. Office hours: 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon; 1 a om Mon to Fri. For i inni information on political issues. of assis- 595 Pritchard Aenue, Winnipeg, Man., R2W 2K4 tanee in political activity. 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