Future-Proof our Forests

Some of the messages  from FPAC (Forest Products Association of Canada) conveyed under their “Forestry for the Future” series,  FB page etc. in 2024 and we can assume, ongoing. I have looked for the research/documentation behind the various messages, it seems to consist of the “Reports” listed at https://www.fpac.ca/resources/reports, but most of the “Reports” cited provide more undocumented statements. Below, in an effort to reflect the discussion/response to the post, I will post selected comments on the Dec 11, 2024 post, both positive and negative, roughly in proportion to their occurrence. Further down are screen captures of other posts and links to them on the Forest for the Future Facebook Page,. – david p for NSFM

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Forestry for the Future FB post Dec 11, 2024

A few of the 47 comments

Most were not supportive.

NDF: Come on, “Forestry for the Future”, greenwash BS cover for the clearcut-happy Forest Products Association of Canada, you are conning the well-meaning public into participating in lobbying for exploitative logging practices on your behalf. This deceptive advertising is a shameful abuse of public trust. Disgusting.

DI: Yes people need to be more careful as the largest ones were caused by carelessness and arson. Let’s not forget that when you are doing your fear mongering!

KT: Yes please, can’t survive without trees

TR: Most of the fires in the interior of bc start in the older trees

NN: This is industry sponsored greenwashing. In the east where I live, the forestry industry continues to work against nature, converting the natural Wabanaki forest with its mix of fire-resistant hardwoods and more flammable softwoods into softwood monocultures. Clearcutting, the industry’s favoured form of forest removal, leaves even-aged stands with lots of fine fire starter twigs reaching from ground to crown. Since industry insists on favouring the boreal species (fir, spruce) that are least able to thrive in the increasing temperatures resulting from our ongoing reliance on fossil fuels, these even-aged monocultures of unhealthy trees are the most fire-susceptible forests in the landscape.
Thanks so much for the offer to ‘manage’ protected areas, Forest Products Association of Canada and friends, but no thanks. We need protected areas where nature can heal without interference. In the places where forestry is practiced, we need to maintain forest cover and mixed age, species diverse forests. Yes, that is going to be a big change for the industry. But failure to halt the degradation of our forests is going to cost us all far, far more.
Here in Nova Scotia, government, industry and environmental groups all accepted the 2018 Lahey report’s recommendations. Chief among these was that the protection and restoration of ecosystem health must be the “overarching priority” in how forests are managed in this province. How about it, FPAC? Want to work together so we have a liveable planet to pass on to future generations?

CL:No, you need to be leaving the forests, and nature alone

BW: Sadly, in the past, the forest industry has made so many mistakes in how they have “worked with nature”, that it seems unlikely that they can change their ways. Many forestry practices have actually made forests far more vulnerable than they would have been had they been left to nature. For example, spraying to kill deciduous trees like Ash, Aspen and similar, has left the coniferous trees very vulnerable to crown fires — as has monoculture planting of all coniferous (softwood) species — spruce, fir and pine to create pure softwood stands of even aged trees. Further, harvesting methods have left the earth exposed so that it gets hot and dry in summer. Slash and damaged trees left on the ground get dried out by the sun and wind and can be easily ignited. Meanwhile, that heat and dryness makes it harder for young trees to grow — and then the spraying happens, that kills all the hardwoods, making them info more fuel for fire.
As for “nature” — that includes wildlife. Plantation forests are not wildlife friendly places except for a few species such as Red Squirrels and some of the cone seed eating birds. Diverse forests – mixed species of hardwood, mast species (Beech, Oak, etc..) are needed for nature, but that’s not compatible with industrial objectives. Creating logging roads through forests — particularly the way they are made — often cut far wider than necessary — are not “helping” nature either. They leave disturbed ground where invasive species such as European Buckthorns, and a host of other invasive brush and plants can get established, upsetting the natural ecology of the forests. Also, all of these logging roads open the forests up to poachers who kill wildlife, and to careless recreational users who do stupid things that result in forest fires. Opening up logging roads also changes the movement of animals such as making it so that Deer will move into Moose habitat, spreading brainworm, and also making it easier for predators such as coyote to hunt — increasing pressure on wildlife that dwells in deeper forest habitat.
For those who want to see how forestry has actually contributed to the conditions that increased the danger of wildfires, there is an excellent documentary entitled “Quebec On Fire” that was made in the wake of the terrible wildfires that burned in Quebec in 2023. Listen closely to what the Cree people have to say about the state of the forests and how they have been impacted by industry. While arson was the cause of many of the fires, climate change, and their previous condition due to harvest practices, all had a lot to do with why they burned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42oGw9uPUxI

RL: Trudumb hires people to start fires to push his ridiculous green carbon plan,mother nature will do a fine job! Close the borders that’s getting green!

DS: Halt land degradation through clear cutting. Get your machines out of the forests and tell your lobbyists that it’s over .

LG: Do not build family home’s inside of the ” Forest ” ; and cut down any trees growing 50 feet near a family home . This will , at least , help to prevent the family home from catching on fire and turning into nothing but ashes leaving the family homeless and at a grave loss of all material possessions .
Early stages of a forest fire be certain that there are 2 good size ” Garden Hoses ” on 2 different sides of the family home to sock down the roof of the family home & land that the family home is built on .

DGP: “Forestry for the Future” (FFF) is looking increasingly like a covert campaign to log Protected Areas. It surely is playing on people’s fears, and makes un-warranted generalizations. There is no documentation backing them up. Where are the technical documents, the ones that reference scientific studies, that look critically at the evidence?

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MORE POSTS BY FFF/FPAC

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A comment: “Uh Huh. Even FSC certified forests did not stop Port Hawkesbury Paper in Nova Scotia harvesting old growth Yellow Birch for biomass. On the plus side, they do not use herbicides.”

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