The Boreal Forest: Community Control
By John McInnes, M.L.A.
The granting of Forest Management Agreements (FMA's) covering nearly 1/3 of Alberta is a serious matter for all Albertans.
The important debate on pulp mill effluent and air quality problems in northern Alberta should not obscure the fact that potential forestry damage is much greater than anything these polluting mills can cause. Clear-cutting the Boreal Forest has already endangered our Woodland Caribou population. There are also noticeable negative effects on water flows in some areas.
It is easy for the forest industry to forget that the forest is home to many values and many uses. The single use of the forest for fibre production has a tendency to destroy other values. Moreover, the traditional closed loop negotiations between forestry officials and the big companies has left the ecology unprotected and vulnerable.
Public outrage over this prospect boiled over in a series of open houses and meetings conducted by the Alberta Forest Service in 1989 and 1990. The Dancik Report, coming out of these meetings, makes it plain that Albertans no longer accept this model of forest management.
Many environmental groups such as the Sierra Legal Defence Fund and the Alberta Wilderness Association, have taken the Government to court in order to stop the clear-cuts. In one case, they argued that the Forest Act requirement of sustainability is not met by the current FMA system. They are right.
The judge ruled that the courts will not set environmental policy in Alberta. That is a job for an elected government and the Legislative Assembly.
For the past three years I have held over fifty forestry meetings in Alberta. Inspired primarily by the work of Herb Hammond and his students, I have drafted a Community Forests Act. This act turns forestry management in Alberta on its head and puts future forest management on a firm ecological base.
Under this proposed act, the Alberta Forest Service would be disbanded. Timber extractors would have to deal with community boards elected by local residents and representatives of various forest values. For example, aboriginal people, trappers, outdoor recreationalists, water users, and others would be represented on the Board. The Board would collect all forest revenues and would plan any timber harvesting operations at the landscape level. These Boards would avail themselves of the latest technology on community forestry. They would have to observe the principles of sound forest management, which are contained in the legislation.
I have tabled this legislation for the second time. It has been revised after much further public consultation.
We are preparing to empower Albertans to secure their own future and the future of our northern Boreal forest ecology.
John McInnes is the ND Environment Critic.
