Features Mills Sawmilling
Alarmist talk about forests is wrong

Oct. 4, 2013, Montreal - They are machine operators, forestry engineers, hunters, professors, technicians and lodge owners. They all have great respect for the forests, which they do their best to cultivate the way one would care for an immense garden. In contrast to the alarmist talk we often hear on the subject, the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) went out to meet these people and released an enlightening documentary on the forestry industry seen through the eyes of those who make their living from it.

In this report, we learn that the forest, as a resource that regenerates itself, can be cut and returned to production without threatening its existence. In fact, trees that are too old would eventually wither and die if they were not harvested. Conserving for the sake of conserving helps no one, not even animals that need forests at different stages of maturity to feed themselves.

"As soon as you fly over the land and you listen to these people speak about the forest, the reality begins to appear very different from the shocking image suggesting massive deforestation. You discover instead a dynamic ecosystem in which humans both take from and give back to the environment. By seeing to the renewal of the resource the way they do, those who use the forest protect the region's economy and their children's future," explains Jasmin Guénette who travelled north of Dolbeau-Mistassini to film this short video.

The latest figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization confirm that our forests are doing fine and that they are being exploited responsibly. Indeed, according to the FAO, Canada's forest cover has not changed from 1990 to 2010.

Filmed in the summer of 2013, the 6-minute documentary can be viewed at www.iedm.org.

The Montreal Economic Institute is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit research and educational organization. Through its publications and conferences, the MEI stimulates debate on public policies in Quebec and across Canada by proposing wealth-creating reforms based on market mechanisms.

October 4, 2013  By CNW Telbec