Living among trees
and ideas of forests

Hundreds of local families gathered in the wind and
rain Sunday at a location normally closed to the public —
a clear cut in an active logging area. They came to plant
trees.

It was a largely symbolic gesture; organized by the
local people in Scouts Canada, the Kalum District Forest
Service and Skeena Cellulose. Despite the unpleasantly
cool and wet weather, about 3,000 one-year-old seedlings
of Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and western hemlock
were put in the ground. It may have been symbolic, but it
was still important because a large number of adults put
their concerns about forests into action and were
witnessed doing so by their children, and those children
got an inkling of what a critical issue forestry is, even to
those who aren’t directly involved in the industry.

Skeena Cellulose picked a textbook site for its clear cut,
the good, clean kind of job that does credit to the indust-
ry. Just enough debris left on the floor to return nutrients
to the next growth; branches, needles and limbs evenly
strewn to the depth of a treeplanter’s shovel; stumps cut
close to the ground; the ground itself looked barely dist-
urbed, hardly a scene of carnage featuring chain saws and
skidders.

Company representatives and forest service advisors
wandered around the site, quietly instructing the uniniti-
ated in the art of planting trees. As men, women and
children clad in rain gear moved on to the site and fanned
out, they cautioned on another not to step on the tiny
trees planted by those who went before them.

Archie MacDonald of Skeena Cel’s operations division
said the company had done well on the site, the begin-

| ning of logging activity on their new Skeena West forest |
IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH NOW, BUT GIVE IT 70 YEARS. Terrace Scouts Canadamember jicense, He surmised that the area may have experienced

Richard Watts was one of hundreds of local residents who turned out Sunday to plant seedlings fi bout the time the railroad was. + th
-cut logging site in the Skeena West forest for National Forest Week. res about the time the railroa was put through * the
on a clear-cut bagging Ste — trees that came off it were 80-90 years old, solid hemlock

and amabilis fir sawlogs. The stands that haven’t burned
in the area host centuries-old trees that will be largely
pulp. Bob Wilson, district silviculturist for the forest
service, said it is a good, productive valley-bottom grow-
ing site. With care and attention, the trees planted Sunday
are going to do well.

This area could have been planted by a group of pro-
fessionals in the same way that millions of trees and - -
thousands of hectares are replanted in this district every
year. The significance of this kick-off to National Forest
Week is that the people who are concerned and uncertain
about the health of our forests got to meet face-to-face
with the people who are doing the cutting and representa-
tives of the government that monitors their work. In the
controversy that roars daily among industry, preservation-
ists, governments and every other agency that has a stake
in the woods, direct experience is the only recourse for
those who wish to discover the truth.
or mechanical services, shocks, brake The future vitality of our forests cannot be secured until

and alignm ents 9 we all have learned to distinguish the living reality of
; forests from the politics of forestry. This is National
@ locally owned and operated Forest Week, and it is a week that we can well wish
@ actively involved in the logging industry In would last the year Jong.
Terrace for over 25 years (associate member , a
Truck Loggers’ Association) —_. |
@ top quality tires — Goodyear, Yokohama,
Michelin for cars, pick-ups, logging trucks,
skidders and loaders

e BANDAG retreading, BANDLUG capping
and hot capping |

@ 2 fully loaded service trucks for on-site work —

or emergency road service

~ Cedarland Tire so

4929 Keith Avenue Phone: 635-6170 | BANRS |
Terrace, B.C. V8G 1K7 —* Phone:.635-6151 | QvaNAAe

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