m21.    Why is there controversy over old-growth deforestation?

Preservation costs lumber industry jobs; one in 10 jobs in Canada is directly related to forestry. Although these forests are, for the most part, managed by the National Forestry Service, violations of illegal practices (export of raw logs and domestic sale of raw logs) are not punished or not punished sufficiently. To protect these forests, preservationists have proposed several solutions:

• Reduce annual harvesting from federal public lands by half.
• Ban clear-cutting. A Japanese consortium holds a government license to clear-cut 65% of the 270,000 hectares cut per year.
• Raise price of timber cut from public lands to include environmental costs.
• Require use of sustainable forestry methods.
• Provide grants for loggers/logging industry to diversify.
• Provide retraining/relocation for loggers and families.
• Close loopholes and strictly enforce regulations.
• Tax exports of raw logs heavily, but not exports of timber products.
• Provide financial incentive for retooling of sawmills for milling of smaller trees.
• Provide funds for extensive reforestation.
• Allow individuals or groups to buy conservation easements no logging could take place in these areas.  

e01.    What is biodiversity?

e05.    Where are National Parks located?

e06.    What is “wilderness” and how much do we have?

e08.    What are bioregions and biosphere reserves?

e09.    What is succession?

e10.    Why do organisms become extinct?

e15.    What was early life like?

e16.    What do computer models of greenhouse changes show?

e11.    What types of old-growth forests are there?

g04.    What causes climates to change?

g05.    How are forests of geological importance?