[Rhonda]

Agreed.  
I spent a bit of time in Clayoquot Sound earlier this summer - wow! what 
a place - and the overwhelming majority (ok, *all*) the local residents 
I spoke with were in agreement that old-growth forests are worth much 
more standing than in the back of a logging truck....why the logging 
industry doesn't "get" that is beyond me, plantations as you said would 
provide the lumber/jobs they need plus much better PR.  Tourism 
generates huge revenue for the Tofino/Ucluelet area, with a high 
proportion of businesses running local kayaking, surfing, 
whale-watching, rainforest hiking, aerial sightseeing, and other tours & 
activities, with the big draw for all being that the Clayoquot Sound 
area has the largest remaining "intact" areas of temperate coastal 
old-growth rainforest on Vancouver Island....if it was all logged over, 
the place wouldn't be nearly as popular.  I took an aerial sightseeing 
flight and the pilot showed me a number of areas scarred by 
logging....it's really jarring to see those jagged strips and entire 
patches stripped bare, and downright ugly.

The Friends of Clayoquot Sound (www.focs.ca) recently announced on their 
website that Interfor, the main logging company in the area, has agreed 
to a 5-year moratorium on logging in two of the area's last remaining 
pristine valleys, to allow time for possibly more complete protection to 
be developed.  Clayoquot Sound was designated a World Biosphere Reserve 
by UNESCO  in 2000, but that gives absolutely zero legal protection.  

One downfall of plantations, though, is like any farmed crop - any 
high-density monoculture is at a much greater risk of disease or 
pestilence, which could then spread to and devastate natural areas.  

Rhonda




Nathan Arrowsmith wrote:

> >>>create employment in forestry areas
>
> My take on this is that the biggest obstacle to stopping logging of 
> old growth forests is the employment it generates. If alternative jobs 
> can be provided for forestry workers in the areas they live in, then 
> the logging idustry doesn't have a leg to stand on. All timber can be 
> provided by plantations.
>
> Nathan
>
> Jess Clark wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> */marty <martinhoare at bigpond.com>/* wrote:
>>
>>     A great big angry rant and;
>>          my appologies to anyone with the dreams that voting labour 
>> because
>>     of pete  will
>>     4  create employment in forestry areas
>>
>>     I didn't realize that cutting down trees was a "green" objective. 
>>     But then I really don't know that much about Aussie politics.     
>> Please... explain?
>>
>>     Jess
>>
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