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=om=n=()pinion/Letters Page 5, News, Tucsday, March 17, 1992 Goal setting essential in forestry management NORTHERN INSIGHTS by Larry Sanders Last week, I told you about the annual meeting of the Ontario Professional Foresters Association (OPFA) in Thunder Bay that was about to discuss the subject of forest audits. I told you how the OPFA has been trying for years to achieve the power of professional self-regulation. At this year's annual meeting, the OPFA added the definition of standards for proper forest audits to its agenda. I also gave you my view that the forestry profession needs to take another look at itself, and rethink its role as stewards of our resources. Now that the OPFA meeting is over, I've concluded that I am not alone in my views. No less an esteemed authority than Dr. Gordon Baskerville agreed with me. Baskerville is a professor of forest dynamics at the University of New Brunswick. You may remember that he was the one called in by Ontario to do an "audit" of the province's forests as one of the conditions of the NDP/Liberal "political accord" which brought the Liberals to power in 1985. But instead of approaching his assignment like a financial auditor and count- ing the province's trees, then telling us whether we have as many trees as the forestry industry regulators say we have, Baskerville argued at the time of the release of his "management audit" and again at the recent OPFA conference, that a "bank balance" approach to forest audits is not only wrong, but deceiv- ing. Dynamic Systems He argues, quite convincingly, that forests are dynamic systems that should NOT have traditional financial auditing methods applied to them. To use his words, "The numbers in a ieee account don't give birth, they don't grow, and they don't die." "* Baskerville's bushy eyebrows bristled as he told the foresters: "Audits, as we're discussing them here, are little more than a scam to get approbation for the landlord." (In case you have to look up the word "approbation" like I did, I'll save you the trouble. It means "acceptance, approval or commendation." ) Baskerville added that a traditional "audit" approach, borrowed from the accounting profession, only looks backwards at what was done in the past, not forwards at what impact our forest practices might be having on the future. "An audit of accounts may be necessary to satisfy the rules of administra- tion, Baskerville said. "However, that approach is dangerously deficient with respect to evaluating forest management as its impacts accumulate in the forest. As far as I'm able to determine, no one in this country is trying to evaluate that systematically so we learn how to deal with the unfolding future." That's quite a statement, coming from someone as revered by his colleagues as Baskerville. = Under the current system of forest management in Ontario the closest thing we have to something that might be considered a "forest audit" is the review made every five years of local Forest Management Agreements. Baskerville's assessment of the FMA "audits" was blunt: Good, not bad tools ""We're at the point now where what constitutes good forest management is the use of good tools and not using bad tools. The risk is that we're going to design a system (for ae (for doing forest audits) that says, 'see, we're using good tools and. minimizing the use of bad tools' and not even looking to see what the outcome of the use of the tools is." Baskerville challenged the OPFA to invent a new, dynamic method of "'for- est accounting" that was forward-looking enough to be able to determine whether the forest management decisions we're making today will profoundly limit our management options in the future. ; He seriously questioned the ability of his fellow professional foresters to do that kind of "audit" when he said, "'we do not know how to audit the perfor- mance of a dynamic forest system under management." Baskerville said that before any rules are laid down for forest audits, there needs to be public consensus on desired goals for our forests. Setting those goals, he argued, requires extensive public input. I agree. No one seems to know whether we are managing our forests simply as a source of wood fibre to feed a forest products industry with an uncertain future, or whether we are managing forests so they can meet a lot of other societal needs. Baskerville also argued that jinn foresters should not try to set those continued on page 7 Americans playing politics The following is a transcript of a statement made by Liberal Forestry Critic Réginald Bélair, Cochrane/Superior MP, in the House of Commons March 9. Mr. Speaker, last Friday the U.S. commerce department's International Trade Commission handed down another ruling, declaring that Canadian softwood lumber exports to to the United States are unfairly subsidized. This ruling, which has resulted in a punitive action of 14.48 per cent duty on Canadian lumber imports, is totally unacceptable. The softwood lumber indus- try stands to lose some $400 million a year as well a thousands and thousands of jobs. The Americans are not playing fairly. Canadians more than ever believe that the free trade agreement is a one way street leading straight to the United continued on page 7 Letters to the editor Town hall an "historic building" I recently received a call from some concerned citizens from Schreiber regarding the demolition of the Old Town Hall. Although I am-not a resident of Schreiber, I can certainly understand their sadness in losing a building that has been a central landmark for so long in Schreiber. There is much concern these days of so many of our historical buildings being destroyed in the name of "progress." One wonders if those who conduct the studies that "save" or "destroy" care about a community's heritage. Granted, buildings were not built as they are today with good insulation, etc. (many were built better), but wouldn't it be wonderful if monies were spent to restore such an historic sight for use by the Schreiber Library as well as the his- torical archives and displays of years gone by. Centrally located where young and old alike could come and not only read the books of today but yesterday, and views the splendid history Schreiber has to offer. Perhaps it would even be nice if The News would run some old pictures and stories about the Town Hall, bringing back all it has offered the community and letting people remember once again... . = -- ---- Thank you, Judi Sundland, Rossport Council should consider bridge Many times did I admire the beautiful walkways created for the citizens of Terrace Bay. The walkways tie Terrace Bay together, and at the same time direct the children and walkers away from the streets to a safer and more beau- tiful area. Quite often when driving over the CP Railway pass I encounter pedestrians and cyclists. Driving over the narrow bridge meeting oncoming traffic pedestri- ans and cyclists cause anxiety for the car driver. It occurs to me that extending the walkway from the Shell Station further to a pedestrian bridge over the rail- road tracks would create a safer environment for the people walking or cycling to and from the mill. It would also open up the area east of the tracks for hikers. I think Terrace Bay Council should consider a pedestrian bridge over the railway and approach the provincial government and CP Rail to participate in the construction of such a bridge. Charles Kneipp Jackfish Lake