Letter to the Editor.Concerns over proposed clearcuts Dianne Gouliquer, in the May 2001 "Living legacy making strides' story, unfortunately got roped in by government greenwashing rhetoric. In truth, rather than promoting protection of natural areas, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the forest industry are trying to change the laws governing the size of clearcuts and the way business is done in Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it . Since 1994, the maximum size for clearcuts has been 260 hectares; however, serious changes are being planned. Under the new rules maximum clearcut size will rocket up to 10,000 hectares. This would make the new limit for clearcut size 40 times what it is now. Can you picture a clearcut the size of 18,000 football fields? This new government proposal is cunningly titled the Fire Stimulation Guidelines. Forest and wildlife researchers have shown repeatedly that clearcuts lead to erosion, corrupted watertables and drainage patterns, loss of wildlife habitat and the insidious insidious /in·sid·i·ous/ (-sid´e-us) coming on stealthily; of gradual and subtle development. in·sid·i·ous adj. Being a disease that progresses with few or no symptoms to indicate its gravity. conversion of pine and spruce spruce, any plant of the genus Picea, evergreen trees or shrubs of the family Pinaceae (pine family) widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere. The needles are angular in cross section, rather than flattened as in the related hemlocks and firs. forests to the less desirable and economically valuable poplar Poplar, city, England Poplar, former metropolitan borough, SE England. See Tower Hamlets. poplar, in botany poplar: see willow. and birch. Continuously, and with straight faces, government and forest industry representatives repeat their gospel, and with almost perfect harmony state that clearcuts mimic fire. Common sense suggests this-is false. One thing I know is that after a natural forest fire one thing that is not left is a network of roads, which is the case in clearcuts. It is urgent that the-public demand that the government direct its energy and resources towards creating more sustainable forestry Sustainable forestry is a forest management practice. The basic tenet of sustainable forestry is that the amount of goods and services yielded from a forest should be at a level the forest is capable of producing without degradation of the soil, watershed features or seed source practices, both environmentally and economically. Richard Brooks
Co-director or Earthroots |
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