Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
comes after logging has occurred. As the pamphlet's text made clear, fronted
by a picture of a tree stump out of which grows a green shoot, MacMillan
Bloedel sought to persuade readers that its approach to BC's forest resources
was 'beyond' the cut in the sense that the company was a custodian of the
forest on behalf of the public, not a rapacious destroyer of trees as a means
to the end of money making. In his foreword, the then company president
Ray Smith declared that 'We are committed to manage our forestlands in the
best interests of the public.' At the heart of this rhetoric of custodianship,
as Braun shows (2002: 36-41), were claims about expertise and responsi-
bility - each of which was illustrated photographically. Let me take each
in turn.
Beyond the cut
was peppered with images of 'experts' at work in forests,
in laboratories and in greenhouses. For instance, the company's Land Use
Planning Advisory Team was profiled, and readers learnt that it comprised
'specialists in soils, wildlife, fish, water resources, and growth and yield pro-
jections'. In other places, readers saw photos of road engineers who, they
were told, 'know that poor road construction practices can cause erosion
and mud build-up in streams'. The overall message was clear: MacMillan
Bloedel employed only highly trained and educated forest managers who
planned carefully for the process of tree removal and its extended aftermath.
Their planning, the pamphlet suggested, was based on careful observation
and experience, both framed within the protocols of scientific rationality
(see
Plate 4.1
).
This discourse of expert management was accompanied by one about
corporate responsibility. Because BC's forest lands are public (or state
owned), firms have rights of tenure for limited time periods only. In sev-
eral parts of
Beyond the cut
, readers learnt that MacMillan Bloedel went well
beyond its regulatory obligation to manage forest resources in a 'sustainable'
way. Claims were made that areas of forest had been transferred from com-
pany tenure to become provincial nature parks, while other areas had been
spared the saw. Equally, readers were told that the company worked closely
with the provincial government and other stakeholders in order that 'The
forests of BC no[t]
...
be decimated, or devoted exclusively to timber pro-
duction'. As the pamphlet went on to say, 'As custodians of the forest, MB
protects, cares for, and renews this great resource for the benefit of present
and future generations
...
'.
2
To summarise, and unsurprisingly perhaps, the forest portrayed by
MacMillan Bloedel in publicity like
Beyond the cut
appeared as a stock
of
potential economic resources
. The careful harvesting and renewal of these
resources was legitimised on the basis of the jobs and dollars it delivered for
the province. But it was recognised that forests are not only timber stocks,
and that it's important to protect special areas and also permit recreational
uses. However, outside these areas - whose precise size and nature was not
specified in
Beyond the cut
- BC's vast forest lands were represented as the
physical embodiment of potential monetary value in international wood
