Exploiting the Forests Exploiting the Forests
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Exploiting the Forests Exploiting the Forests • Some readings: – Sweeney & Holmes (2008) on treeplanting Canada’s Forests • Canada has the third largest forest coverage in the world – After Russia and Brazil • We have more forest cover than the USA – But we are only exploiting it half as much • Forestry in 2015 represented $22.1 billion of the Canadian economy (1.4% of Canada’s GDP). Canada • The world’s second-largest exporter of wood pulp – After China • The world’s biggest exporter of paper, wood panels, sawn softwood • Canada a major resource-provider in the global forestry sector – But not doing much high-value manufacturing Ways of Looking • Let’s consider how we might look at forests, forest exploitation in Canada The Ecological Perspective • Forests as important ecosystems in Canada • Global forest watch Examples of Forest Types • Coastal boreal NL • Boreal fire sites: – Fire Lake QC – Catastrophe Lake ON • Mixed: Seguin Trail ON • Columbian: Tokum Creek BC Commercial Forest Products • Canada’s Forests produce two kinds of wood • Hardwood from deciduous trees – Furniture, flooring, specialty tasks • Softwood from conifers – Construction lumber, cellulose, paper Hardwood forests • Mainly S Ontario, S Quebec • Heavily cleared for farming, cities • Once exploited for hardwood furnishing, flooring – Some remaining – Maple syrup production Mixed forests • Mixtures of hardwoods and conifers – Hardwoods on clay soils, conifers on sands, gravels • Mainly Ontario & Quebec – 20M HA in Ontario, some commercial use Coniferous Forests • Forests of the western mountains, coasts • Boreal • Prone to fire Western Canada • Dominated by conifers • Coastal rain forests clip 2: Galiano Island • Mountain forests • Heavy rates of access and exploitation Boreal Forest • Dominated by conifers • Commercial harvesting for pulpwood, softwood lumber – Black spruce for pulpwood – Spruce for dimensional lumber • 50m HA in Ontario Coniferous Forests • Tend to burn • Need to manage the fire risk • In 2016 Ontario had 636 forest fires (83,010 HA). – 2015: 667 fires (39,611 HA) – 2014: 303 fires (5,386 HA). • Burning is natural, reduces fuel build-up – Too much fire prevention leads to big burns Forestry Issues • Cutting the forest damages the ecosystem – Damages soils, river systems – Requires roads, mills, chemicals • Regrowing the forest takes time, money • Most forest is on crown land, traditional lands of First Nations Subsistence • Strong tradition of subsistence use of forests in Canada – Begun and continued by First Nations – Many rural communities still exploit the forest in this way Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland • Strong traditions of self-provisioning and subsistence • People cut, haul and store their own firewood from public land • People grow vegetables on public land – Raleigh Black Tickle, Labrador • People still heat with firewood – Oil and propane available but expensive • Island community has no trees • Islanders cross the sea ice on skidoo to harvest firewood 70 km inland Subsistence • May not seem impressive • May not involve lots of money • But is the only sustainable form of forest exploitation we currently have – May even be carbon-neutral Subsistence • The last time Toronto was sustainably fuelled by local firewood: – 1831-1832, population 2,000 – After that, unsustainable Commercial Expoitation • Commercial considerations dominate forest exploitation in modern Canada • Major companies mostly exploiting forests they don’t own – On crown land or aboriginal land claims Forestry Empires • J D Irving owns Irving Tissue makers of Facelle, Royale and Majesta • Other Irving companies: – Irving Oil; J.D. Irving Ltd; Irving Equipment; Kent Building Supplies – New Brunswick Railway; New Brunswick Southern Railway; Eastern Maine Railway; Maine Northern Railway – Brunswick News; Acadia Broadcasting – Midland Transport; Irving Shipbuilding – Cavendish Farms Staples Thesis • Formulated by Harold Innis • Canada greatly shaped by the commercial exploitation of its natural resources for export to outside markets – Canada begins as a resource-producing colony exporting to Europe – Resource-exploitation a powerful factor in the development of Canada’s urban centres, transport routes Staples Thesis • The resource staples are varied, change over time: – Fur, fish, lumber, minerals – Oil, gas, hydro, potash • Canada plays a role as a resource- producing hinterland exporting to metropolitan ‘heartlands’ elsewhere – Europe, the USA, eventually Asia Industrialization • Commercial forest exploitation becomes industrial – Part of the industrial system – Uses industrial technology, organization – Run and governed by a priority of industrial values – Deployment of mill towns to the forest regions An era of classic mill towns • Thunder Bay ON • Espanola ON • Atholville NB • Sayabec QC • Temiscaming QC Industrialization • Enjoyed a golden age from 1910s to the 1970s (Fordism) Industrialization • Foreign investment flows in to exploit Canada’s forests – Builds mills, companies, company towns, ways of life • Enriches Canada’s stock markets and banks – Toronto and Montreal benefit especially – Canada exports paper, lumber mainly to the USA Industrialization: Post Fordism • Canada’s forests now facing global competition – From low-waged economies – From economies with weaker environmental protections – From previously inaccessible forests – From all three Industrialization • Demand has changed • Technology altering demand for newsprint, fine paper – Advertising shifts to the web – Electronic media replacing paper, newspapers in decline • Growth of paper recycling relocates pulp supply regions to urban markets 2007-8 US Real estate collapse • Dramatic reduction in demand for Canadian softwood lumber for construction Industrialization • In recent decades the US has been restricting Canada’s access to US forest products markets – Softwood lumber dispute resolved by imposing import penalties on Canadian lumber – BC, more dependent on softwood lumber badly hit • 2015: US restricted Canadian glossy paper Post-Fordism • An era of mill and company town closure – Grand Falls-Windsor – Brooklyn NS Post-Fordism: Changed Values • In the golden age of industrial forest exploitation little attention was paid to – the needs of the environment – The rights of First Nations • Government, industry, the general public accepted that the priority was industrial production Post-Fordism: Changed Values • Since the 1960s: – Rising public concern in Urban Canada over pesticides, clear-cutting, pollution, sustainability of the forests • Rising public sympathy for rights of First Nations – Barriere Lake Algonquins link 2 • Forests facing depletion Post-Fordism: Changed Values • Commercial forest exploitation faces the challenges of accommodating environmental, First Nations concerns – Does not always give in Post-Fordism: Changed Values • Chlorine-based pulp bleaching was phased out – Mercury issues • Replaced by sulphur bleaching Community and Labour • Commercial forest exploitation created community: • Company towns • Company workforces – Sweeney & Holmes (2008).