By Sean Smyth
I have been observing an uptick in the anti-old-growth logging campaign. Both in protests and online. I have no doubt that these protesters are sincere in their care for BC forests; there is no point in being rude to people who think they are doing the right thing.
I have a message for these protestors. There are two things your organizers aren’t telling you.
First, the facts on the ground. According to the BC government’s own figures, out of the 11.1 million hectares of old-growth forest in this province, about 9 million hectares — roughly 80% — are already protected or not economically harvestable. Only 3 million hectares are within the timber harvesting land base, and just 22% of the annual harvest comes from old-growth stands. The forests you’re fighting for are, in large part, already protected by law.
Second, is a lesson I learned during my first term on the city council. I served that term with Charlie Cornfield. He once told me, “If something does not make sense, follow the money.”
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation — a Silicon Valley billionaire family foundation based in San Francisco — has directed over $267 million into BC environmental groups. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Tides Foundation have added tens of millions more. These are American institutions, run by American boards, pursuing American interests: keeping Canadian resources landlocked and Canadian industry uncompetitive.
The organizations delivering your signs are guided — and funded — by foundations that have never set foot in a BC forest, nor have any plans to do so.
You believe you are fighting for a good cause, but you also deserve the truth. Before you march or post, follow the money. Ask yourself, who are you really working for?
Sean Smyth is an elected city councillor in Campbell River, and is also the general manager of West Coast Helicopters.
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