WCWC File Photo
In Alberta, money grows on trees
By Derek McColl
Every day an estimated $1.5 million worth of Alberta timber cut from private land thunders across the border into British Columbia.
In one 24 hour period last January, Park officials stationed on the Trans-Canada Highway counted more than 200 truckloads of spruce and pine headed for B.C. mills. Since 1993, when the B.C. government cut timber allowances to pulp mills by 15-30 percent, Alberta land owners have been cashing in on high prices offered by B.C. mills desperate for affordable wood fibre. In the municipality of Bighorn, outside of Banff National Park, prices soared from $10 per cubic metre to $40 per cubic metre. Wood that used to be burned or left to rot is now making some Alberta land owners rich.
Although timber from Crown land cannot be sold outside the province, timber from private land is open to the highest bidder. Large forestry companies from B.C. now drop brochures in the mail to prospective clients and send representatives to Alberta to solicit the sale of timber stocks. The media has reported extensively on the feeding frenzy of B.C. mills, and most woodlot owners across Alberta realize they're sitting on a gold mine.
Every day an estimated $1.5 million worth of Alberta timber cut from private land thunders across the border into British Columbia.
Environmentalists concerned about unrestricted logging of private lands have focused primarily on the southern part of the province. Areas flanking the Rocky Mountains like the County of Bighorn and Pincher Creek have seen far more extensive clear cuts than anything in central Alberta.
The most striking example of unabashed exploitation, however, is on the Stoney Indian reserve just west of Calgary. Last January, nearly 50 logging companies downed more that $25 million worth of timber, without band permission or a federal government permit (which is required by the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs) before the federal government stepped in and shut down operations. The situation at the Stoney reserve may have served a greater purpose in the end, however, at least for environmentalists. It focused attention on the issue, and alerted the media to the scope of the problem.
At the current rate of harvest, all of Alberta's marketable timber from private lands will be exhausted within two years. Despite this, the Minister for Environmental Protection, Ty Lund, is reluctant to place restrictions on the logging of private lands, even though strict regulations exist for other resource industries like oil and gas exploration.
Instead, the province is entrusting the responsibility of monitoring and regulating logging on private lands to municipal districts and counties. Many local governments see little need for strict regulations, although this often determined by location. Predominately agricultural regions of the province obviously have no need for regulations, but in areas like the municipality of Pincher Creek, where dramatic forest landscapes dominate, the issue is of paramount importance.
at the current rate of harvest, all of Alberta's marketable timber from private lands will be exhausted within two years.
In response to public pressure the municipality of Pincher Creek drafted a detailed set of guidelines to curb wholesale logging of private woodlots. These guidelines limit the amount of timber that can be harvested and address the protection of watersheds and reclamation of land after logging has occurred.
Although these guidelines encourage moderation they have little substance without the power of law. They cannot be enforced, and in many cases are ignored completely.
One parcel of land, almost 9000 acres, (nearly 14 square miles), is presently being "developed" in the area, and the owners refuse to allow anyone on the land to inspect logging practices. The Pincher Creek guidelines could serve as a model for provincial legislation, but it's unlikely the Klein government is willing to enforce any restrictions on issues regarding private land use, even though they have done so in the past for the oil and gas industry. Instead, they have developed a woodlot management program, jointly funded by the provincial and federal governments, to educate woodlot owners on responsible forestry practices. The program, however, reads much like a how-to manual on how to clear-cut land,and even provides guidelines on how to draw up a contract with a logging company.
Without speedy government intervention, including adequate policing mechanisms, Albertan's might have to get used to not being able to see the forest for the cut blocks.
Bob Cameron, a founding member of the South Peace Environment Association, feels
legislation regulating logging on private land would be ineffective without the mechanisms to police such activities. He also disagrees that regulatory responsibility should fall on the shoulders of local government. In Cameron's opinion, lack of commitment and self-interest would stand in the way of effective bylaw enforcement.
Instead, Cameron advocates "an international effort to change land owners perception of the value of treed properties. British Columbia has a lot of community forest board, generated by land owners. This comes from the difference in the perceived value of forested lands."
British Columbians, he adds, place a higher value on treed land because they can see it. The geography is more dramatic, and areas where dense forests exist are populated, whereas much of Alberta's forests are found in isolated, relatively unpopulated area. This goes a long way to explaining why the municipality of Pincher Creek is active in curbing wholesale logging of private lands. Residents there can see what is left after the machines have mowed down the forest, and it isn't pretty.
To believe that Albertan's will change their thinking before all private woodlots are turned into pulp is to believe in the power of positive thinking while sitting on the deck of the Titanic. Optimism can only take you so far. Without speedy government intervention, including adequate policing mechanisms, Albertan's might have to get used to not being able to see the forest for the cut blocks.
