Now, a statement like that seems extreme to some of you who mightened ever have consider yourself 'a green', but there is more to this than you might think...
A massive amount of the the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland is scheduled to be clearcut harvested over the next five years, particularly around the Eastport Peninsula and the Pt. Lemington area.
The Pt. Lemington harvest appears to be very problematic for the communities in and around the cutting in terms of future domestic firewood supply.
These maps are a result of the current round of forest districts 4, 5, 6 & 8 five year planning team meetings that have been taking place in Gander over the past year. This is the only planning process on the Island that is mandated to take into account public input on the land use surrounding communities. While the forestry department is mandated to take the publics input surrounding these plans, they do not have the fiscal ability, nor the mandate to facilitate all the uses outside of forestry that exist on our land base.
Through planning like this, the current government is ignoring the basic needs of well-established, sustainable human communities existing in the bays and inlets that have predominated the landscape of this serene coastline for centuries.
There are other, longer-term plans that are potentially even more destructive than what you see above. The 25 year harvest plans that the forestry department is working with are fantastical, and upon close inspection show an even darker future for our forest industry than we are led to believe.
Can you describe the nature of the companies that have won the concessions? Island-based? Mainland? Mutlinational? How much employment will this activity provide to the local communities?
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of products will be coming out of these clearcuts? Roundwood? Sawnwood? I can't imagine how anyone would consider harvesting those plots for primary products economical, but perhaps something value added...
The gov't forestry officals say that the wood from these areas is designated for the local sawmill industry. It's suspected however that it will be traded for sawlogs from the interior (on Abitibi and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper limits). This old growth black spruce fibre is vital in the production of high-grade pulp and paper.
ReplyDeleteThe employment factor is negligable and will only employ a small number of people with a few seasonal work hours. It will reduce the areas ability to sustain itself with diversified and traditional uses of the forest namely tourism and local firewood supply.
They are trying to prop up the sawmill industry until the pulp and paper guys get out of the woods. Hard to do when 66% of the forests here are under long-term tenure that the companies don't want to give up because of the lucrative hydro deals they have going.
It's a tough one, no doubt.