‘Grumpy’ Fletcher blind to big picture
Dear editor,
Mr. Fletcher is once again on the warpath against environmentalists (Avatar sequel bombs in Walbran, Jan. 12). His latest peeve is that campaigners want to protect 500 hectares (count ‘em) of old growth forest in the Walbran Valley. After all, he says, they already have the “vast” 16,500ha of Carmanah Walbran Park. But the logging industry has already cut 670,000ha (count ‘em) of old-growth forest on southern Vancouver Island. So let’s see: Carmanah Walbran 2.46 per cent, logging industry 97.54 per cent. An extra 500 ha would bring it to 2.54 per cent versus 97.46 per cent. There is still some old growth left to log on southern Vancouver Island, but while environmentalists must fight for every stick that’s saved, logging companies have an assumed right to cut. Environmentalists campaign for the general public, now and for the future; logging companies act for the benefit of shareholders. It is mechanization, on behalf of increased profits for shareholders, which has caused so much loss of employment in the logging industry over recent years. Meanwhile, by logging the very last remnants of spectacular old-growth left on the south island, tourism potential is trashed and massive amounts of sequestered CO2 are released to the atmosphere. Mr. Fletcher never seems to look beneath the surface of the issues he likes to write about, he just complains. Given the references to various movies that he makes in his last article, I shall now always think of him as Grumpy, the dinosaur.
AJ Vaughan,
Black Creek
