Changing The Culture Of Forestry In Canada

Existing institutions and rules of engagement for sustainable forest management (SFM) in Canada are not designed to accommodate the rights or interests of its Aboriginal peoples. In recognition of this, there has emerged a community of Aboriginal partners and academic researchers committed to changing forestry practices, institutions, and policies. They have collectively undertaken research to address the needs, rights, and interests of forest-dependent Aboriginal communities, with the intention of producing knowledge and skill sets needed to reform forest and resource development sectors. This is the first of two volumes that will highlight the most current and critical research undertaken by this community of practice. While this book and upcoming companion volume are aimed directly at Canada's forest sector, the implications of this research should be of considerable interest and value to all who have a vested interest in natural resource development and management on lands where Aboriginal peoples assert constitutionally protected rights and interests. By attempting to create the ethical space for Aboriginal peoples in building new institutions and policies for their engagement in SFM, this volume addresses some of the most pressing environmental and social issues that Canadians face today.

This book brings together the work of over twenty-five researchers to provide a comparative and empirically rich portrait of community forestry policy and practice in Canada. Tackling all forestry regions from Newfoundland to British Columbia, it unearths the history of community forestry across the nation, demonstrating strong regional differences tied to patterns of policy-making and cultural traditions. Case studies reveal innovative practices in governance and ecological management but also uncover challenges related to government support and market access. This book also considers the future of the sector, including the role of institutional reform, multiscale networks, and adaptive management strategies.

Aboriginal people in Canada have long struggled to regain control over their traditional forest lands. Aboriginal Peoples and Forest Lands in Canada brings together the diverse perspectives of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal scholars to address the political, cultural, environmental, and economic implications of forest use. This book discusses the need for professionals working in forestry and conservation to understand the context of Aboriginal participation in resource management. It also addresses the importance of considering traditional knowledge and traditional land use and examines the development of co-management initiatives and joint ventures between government, forestry companies, and Aboriginal communities.

This plan was developed in consultation with clients and staff and is based on the national strategic plan of Forestry Canada. It describes the economic and social changes that impact upon the forestry industry, the challenges to the year 2000 and commitments in forest system research, forest industry competitiveness, environmental impacts research, scientific innovation and communication.

A page-turning memoir about a young woman's grueling, revelatory summers working alone in a remote lookout tower and her eyewitness account of the increasingly unpredictable nature of wildfire in the Canadian north. While growing up in Peace River, Alberta, Trina Moyles heard many stories of Lookout Observers--strange, eccentric types who spent five-month summers alone, climbing 100-foot high towers and watching for signs of fire in the surrounding boreal forest. How could you isolate yourself for that long? she wondered. "I could never do it," she told herself. Craving a deeper sense of purpose, she left northern Alberta to pursue a decade-long career in global humanitarian work. After three years in East Africa, and newly engaged, Trina returned to Peace River with a plan to sponsor her fiance, Akello's, immigration to Canada. Despite her fear of being alone in the woods, she applied for a seasonal lookout position and got the job. Thus begins Trina's first summer as one of a handful of lookouts scattered throughout Alberta, with only a farm dog, Holly--labeled "a domesticated wolf" by her former owners--to keep her company. While searching for smoke, Trina unravels under the pressure of a long-distance relationship--and a dawning awareness of the environmental crisis that climate change is producing in the boreal. Through megafires, lightning storms, and stunning encounters with wildlife, she learns to survive at the fire tower by forging deep connections with nature and with an extraordinary community of people dedicated to wildfire detection and combat. In isolation, she discovers a kind of self-awareness--and freedom--that only solitude can deliver. Lookout is a riveting story of loss, transformation, and belonging to oneself, layered with an eyewitness account of the destructive and regenerative power of wildfire in our northern forests.

With more than three quarters of Canada's forests under provincial control, provincial forest policies are crucial for encouraging the sustainable management of the nation's forests. Forest tenures, which allow private companies to manage public forest resources, are the key policy tool that provinces use to balance the requirements of sustainable management with the economic concerns of the forest industry. By offering an up-to-date comparative examination of contemporary provincial forestry policies, this book provides forest managers, policy-makers, scholars, and students with the information and concepts to critically examine Canada’s complex forest tenure systems. The authors look at tenure, stumpage fees, and other forest practices to assess how well different provincial schemes achieve the goals of sustainable forest management. They identify a number of essential policy attributes that could be used to guide tenure reform, consider potential barriers that could prevent meaningful change, and offer much-needed practical guidance on overcoming these obstacles.