Battle Over Canadian Forests

In response to Craig Turner’s excellent July 11 article on the clear-cut devastation of British Columbia’s forests, and the ensuing brouhaha following the New York Times celebrity-signed ad, I felt compelled to write. Living in B.C. for the first 27 years of my life, I too took for granted the endlessness of our forests.

The time has come for us to really look at how we make our “living,” whether it be mining for oil in the military regime that is Burma, to using rain forest wood to make Hollywood movie sets, or using B.C.’s old-growth forests to make California phone books. This is not merely a Canadian-American issue; it is global. Such debate as is currently occurring between my two countries is a good thing. Contentious dialogue and controversy are catalysts for revolution.

The United States has already decimated much of its old-growth forests for timber and paper and it won’t be long before Canada’s is gone too. And then what? No more trees, no more jobs, no more money. Countless animals extinct, native peoples homeless. It is time for all of us non-natives to wake up and learn from those who have been here much longer than we.

As humans living on this Earth we have been endowed with the ability to care for our planet. Will we learn this when there’s nothing left to save? I hope not. And I plan to use every ounce of my energy toward this end--for our children and their children and those not yet born.

STEPHANIE BOYD

Venice