John Doyle does it again, officially states the obvious failings of the BC Liberals.

Posted on by Laila

(UDATED BELOW – a must read add-on.)

John Doyle never fails to impress, and his latest report is a scathing commentary of how inadequate the BC Liberals really are at managing one of our most precious assets and resources, our forests.

CBC has the story now :

“The audit concludes the B.C. government failed to properly monitor and maintain B.C.’s timber supply and hasn’t properly replanted the forests.

The report released on Thursday morning by Auditor General John Doyle concludes the provincial government failed to halt the drop in timber supply and the loss of species diversity.

Doyle says the government has done very limited replanting, even though many areas of B.C.’s forests have been damaged by wildfires and pine beetles

He concludes that the government has a small window of time in which to turn the province’s forestry future around.”

You can read that full report among other findings, on the AG’s website here : http://www.bcauditor.com/pubs/2012/report11/timber-management

In particular, this is an easy to read, PDF slide format of the report http://www.bcauditor.com/files/publications/2012/report11/files/oagbc-timber-management-slides.pdf

The BC government has clearly, and on an ongoing basis, failed to balance economic interests with protection of our forests for future generations, and this is highly visible as you fly over these great lands. Much of what I had the pleasure of exploring with my dad growing up just north of Prince George, is now a vast expanse of dead trees, or vast areas of clearcut. 

I’m sorry to say I took it for granted back then, thinking in the innocence of childhood that it would be like that forever.

Nothing stays the same, I know now. I’ll never forget the first time I saw the extent of kill and clearcut driving to Babine Lake on a visit back home a few years ago -nothing could have prepared me for the physical pain  that clutched my chest as tears sprung unbidden to my eyes at the sight of once fertile, old growth forest dead, dying, gone.

Some of the damage was from pine beetles,but much of it was bad logging practices. I’m not kidding about the shock of seeing producing a physical pain -these forests were my playground as a child, my education, my life and my history.

Gone.

My children will  unfortunately never experience those forests and lakes in the same way as I did as a child, because they will be seniors by the time those trees can reach the same degree of growth. I can only show them what remains now, and show them photos of what once was and hope that instills an impression upon them to preserve and conserve the future.

It pains me now, again, thinking about it. And I don’t have to look at it everyday or live with the impact of it in my backyard, like many friends and family do.

We must heed John Doyles warning in this report, that there is a window of opportunity to turn this around. But will the government listen, or will they again demonstrate a penchant for profit over protection.

** update: I hear  Steve Thomson is already bleating denials and outrage, because, he sqeaks, the government is already doing what John Doyle recommends… ( they claim this about everything John Doyle schools them on)

However, thanks to a wonderful friend of mine who shared this gem on my Facebook posting of this column, we have a stellar paper that refutes everything Steve Thomson could ever say, and substantiates everything John Doyle reports.

Written and researched by retired Registered Professional Forester, Anthony Britneff, it stands a stark testament to forest practices in BC. Anthony has been sounding the alarm ever since his retirement and it’s about time we all paid attention.

I will be sending a copy to Pat Bell so he doesnt have to dig it out of a box on his floor somewhere…. http://www.wsca.ca/Media/Multimedia/Feb%203%20-%20A%20Backgrounder%20on%20NSR%20-%20Anthony%20Britneff.pdf

18 thoughts on “John Doyle does it again, officially states the obvious failings of the BC Liberals.”

  1. And my many trips through the Princeton area and into the Kootenays and beyond the last 10 years or so shows the same thing going on there. Clearcut after clearcut. In the past they used to cut further back in the mountains, now they’re within meters of the road. The mountains are bare with the odd little stand of trees scattered throughout the moutainside and they call this “selective logging”? Yeah, right. The rumour up there was and is, cut as much as you can as fast as you can as long as the lieberals are in power. Certainly been happening. The area is beginning to look like a moonscape. Disgusted.

    Thank you Mr. Doyle.

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    1. I know what you are talking about.As a child my family used to spend long weekends and holidays camping at what was then a backwoods lake only accesible by 4×4,no power, no water and a lot of good fishing and grizzly bears. This was Finger Lake, and the slopes along that lake were virgin timber, deeply forested, cloaked to the shore with a blanket of dark green.Nothing was more soothing than waking up on a cold early summer morning, hearing the loons calling and trolling down the lake for rainbow trout, watching the moose come to the reeds at the shore shallows to eat the water weeds. Bliss.

      Now,some slopes are clearcut,most are dead or dying with beetlekill and the water quality and fishing isnt so good I am told, from the debris that washes down into the lake when snow melts, or it rains, since there is nothing growing there to stop it. That all has a trickle down effect that cant be reversed without hard work and a government that values replacing what we take from our land.

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  2. Harper and his Conservatives and the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals, are rabid and insane with greed.

    I am horrified, there has been so little reforestation. Are they crazy? How can the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals keep sending freighter after freighter of logs to China, and not look after tree planting? Now the lunatics with their greed, want to log the Rain Forest. They can bugger off, this is the last Rain Forest left in Canada. This is where the Spirit Bear, the unique small wolves and important salmon runs are. Is there anything sacred and safe from the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals, monstrous greed?

    BC citizens also have to contend with Harper’s greed. The stupidity of stringing, the Enbridge dirty oil pipeline through BC. There are numerous, snow avalanches, mudslides, rock slides, earthquakes, and, swift running flooded rivers, that carry houses and highways away.

    Dirty oil tankers from China have to navigate, one of the most treacherous seas in the world. Every other day, we hear wind warnings of hurricane force in that sea. There are 40 to 50 foot waves. The channel narrow, the tankers massive, that have to make hairpin turns.

    Very recently, there have been three freighters, caught in the legendary bad storms off the BC coast. The rogue waves tossed the freighters cargo into the sea. The three freighters came limping into BC ports.

    Harper’s stupidity boggles me, as does the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals.

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  3. I’m John Tee and this is how I see it ! 🙂 Corruption in Canada’s political system is so out of control… We need to start from scratch,, A new political party as prime minister of Canada..A party that practices transparency, Enviromental concerns, Want’s to do away with the killing of wild salmon from fish farms.. “WELCOME TO THE GREEN PARTY” 🙂 Elizabeth May.. Has put all her receipts online.. Showing Canadians what she spends every penny on.. She participated in the walk for wild salmon.. They recognize the health affects of radio frequency radiation..(It’s proven to cause colony collapse disorder in bees .. Birds on there migratory route are dropping out of the skies by the thousands is a yearly event now.. This is the result of wireless technology. Aka electrosmog )And meshed network smart meters and took a stand against them first. They provided Dr. Magda Havas at there press Conference… Two great websites for research on Electrosmog are http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/ and http://www.magdahavas.com/ great to see good folks like you putting the truth out there.. I’m not sure if your aware of our freedom of internet being taken.. Here’s Openmedia.ca http://openmedia.ca/blog/letter-supporters-massive-public-outcry

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    1. Did you hear this ?

      Looks like Olson is NOT on her side anymore..lol..

      Jeff Davies
      @daviesjeff #bcpoli #cbc Premier’s office confirms Chris Olsen leaving as press secretary
      2
      Retweets 2:27 PM – 16 Feb 12 via Twitter for BlackBerry® · Embed this Tweet

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  4. Christy better get dem trees planted or her overlord (Harper) will be on her ass, because his Chinese overlords will be demanding the wood to utilize the mills Campbell gave them……….and Spiteful Steve will do anything to please his colonial masters!

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  5. It’s just such an easy answer for the Lieberals, just say that they are already following procedures in one of Doyles reports and the MSM dutifully lets the issue fade away. They don’t have to do a thing. It is just to easy for them.

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  6. Hi Laila, Gordon here. Reading this and hearing the pain and anger in your words like it’s my own, I’m pretty humbled and proud to say I knew you back in the day, You always did have that fire inside. Your dad must be really proud of what you do.
    Thanks.

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  10. I always said a person should be careful of what they wish for. All that bitching and complaining that went on during the 1990s when the NDP were government. We had the Forest Practises Code, had replanting, had a full and thriving forest industry instead of being just log sellers like we are now. Wasn’t good enough for some people though. Did everything they could to shut it down instead of fixing things that needed fixing. Now our industry is dead, trees aren’t being replaced, assets are being sold, crown corporations are being sold or given away to the lowest bidder, taxpayers are paying, paying , paying……are we happy yet?

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  11. In response to islandcynic;
    I think I understand what you’re saying, but you’re also only focusing on the smaller picture(s).
    The big picture that the Green Party draws (or attempts to) is one of government Transparency, Responsibility (fiscal and otherwise) and Awareness within that government to acknowledge what the people “need” as opposed to want. To put “corporations” and “profit” LAST, not first. This applies across “the board” as it were.
    But, do think the Oil, Gas and Mineral companies (or any of the other major “donators” to the current elected parties) are going to let that happen, no. The will spend every tax dollar to discredit such things as being “tree-hugger or hippie-throwbacks” blah blah.. but hey look at this shiny new Tablet I can give you for building an oil pipeline through your back yard.

    Our governments (prov and fed) are responding DIRECTLY to CORPORATIONS (and mostly FOREIGN at that), rather than the constituents that government is suppose to represent (ie: Canadians)
    Do you really know where EVERY dollar of your tax money goes? I do, right into some smug-arse LIEberal or CONservative corporate lackey’s pocket who says one thing to get elected and then does the complete opposite (for over 10 years now.. I … still can’t believe it’s gone on this long) and they laugh their asses off all the way to their offshore bank accounts and private island retreats, and given glorious titles like the OBC to Gordon C (… grr.. I can’t say that pos’s name anymore.) and other esteemed positions, while we citizens fight amongst ourselves for the scraps they toss us.

    This is, and could be HUGE. Precedent setting!!
    A WORLD-WIDE example (like Sweden with their drug problem/solution) of proper stewardship, not corporate “for profit”. But you gotta look past the forest for the trees.

    John Tee’s got it right.
    We need a COMPLETE revamping of both our political and judicial system, and elect a party that isn’t willing to throw away lives or destroy our province/country in the name of profit.
    The Green’s may not have all the answers, but the one’s they do ARE the TRUTH.
    Liking that or not is irrelevant.
    To say “we can’t do it because it costs too much” is to put profit before community and our basic “rights to life” which include (but not limited to) clean water, clean air, food, clothing, shelter.
    How many more BC Place Stadium roofs need to be built, or overpasses in the middle of nowhere, or P3 shadow tolls on our own highways or blatant criminal offenses like BC Rail, do we need before we say enough?
    It should be Ecosystem, not Economy which drives us. Enough of corporate dictatorship, how about some responsible government stewardship.

    Sorry about the rant.. but damnit, when you see the solution only to be told you can’t fix it because some rich person somewhere else on the planet may not think it’s in his/her best interest (read: won’t make as much profit), that’s just complete insanity.
    And to write off someone’s very logical statement as not being “worldly” enough is not a idea either.
    Let the world worry about itself and let’s take care of our current home, which is the immediate area you reside in.

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  12. This video was taken in June of 2009. The government shut down a thriving Surrey tree nursery, that produced plants for tree planting, to use it as a gravel pit for Gateway projects including perhaps the South Fraser Freeway, which ironically is another location where clear cutting of an important watershed is occurring. At the time I asked what is happening to reforestation in this province if the tree farms are being shut down. I guess I have my answer now, very sad to say.

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  13. Small business , owner operator call it what you will I make my living from the forest industry.
    Over the last 20 years I have seen the industry raped of its resources with little or no re investement to an industry that SHOULD be sustainable.
    The same applies to the fishing industry.
    I believe in free enterprize however in this Province greed is good & the survival of the fittest is the norm.
    I should add that under the LIberals annointed insiders are the ones that have benifited .
    The Liberals are not a party of ideology but a party that rewards insiders & monetary subscribers.

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  14. Hi there,
    Late to this discussion. But maybe it would be good idea anyways to point out that what is happening in BC forestry, and/or what the BC Liberals and Harper Conservatives are doing with regards of managing public resources, is not isolated to Canada. I’m from outside of Canada, and I’ve seen that this ideology that could be called “gangster capitalism on steroids” is being implemented all over the world in what looks like a concerted, organized effort.
    The resource management critiques referred to about BC could apply to the entire world’s resource management (with perhaps some minor, insignificant exceptions).
    Other regions of the world (and including the oceans) are already in much worse relative shape than BC.
    Even a hardened optimist is starting to feel like we are all on one huge Ttitanic sailing full speed towards our fate.

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