Voting For Real Change – and the Enviro!

Resisting the temptation to post – yet again – about financial shenanigans, let us comment briefly on the Environmental importance of the upcoming Canadian election.

Truly, the level of voter apathy may turn out to be stunning this year. Prime Minister Stephen Harper (and correct me if I’m wrong) has called a mid-term election in an attempt to win an overwhelming government election. This would be disastrous, and here’s why:

ONE: The Oil Industry is in his backyard – and is the heart of his voter group. He may quite literally be the driver of both the oil boom (new-boom circa 2004), as well as the housing overconfidence in Alberta – which by the way will make a sweet crack once it all comes tumbling down on exaggerated values. Here’s the problem – all the environmental damage that is being done now at an increasing rate because of our oil sands extraction (see: tailings up the wazoo) will be in vain as the industry is in the process of crumbling. I have read, and sorry, I am my own source, that our oil sands are only producing profitably at over $101/barrel oil. Watchout: we are approaching $50-60 oil according to some technical analysts. And, even if we don’t reach $50/barrel oil, the oil-sands projects could spend many a year trying to work towards profitability.

**On that note, when buying Canadian mutual equity you’re basically buying into oil/energy. Pffft! And my “advisor” keeps pushing me to buy-and-hold…can you say generational divergence? Mutual funds are out for me. Screw you all, bankers!!

TWO: To assist the struggling forest industry, Canada’s other economic heart, we need leadership that will, 1) recognize the ecological importance of protecting old-growth and original forest, and 2) assist the sector in both marketing and innovation for the use of second-growth timber. Forestry is a top employer in Canada and there’s no way the industry can be forcibly scaled down (free-markets take care of that) – our jobs need to be protected, and at the same time innovation and protection needs to keep jobs in Canada. For example; our top problem is the export (to U.S. and beyond) of raw logs. That leaves too many processes and jobs out of Canadian hands. In an upcoming recession – jobs need to be forcibly kept on Canuck soil.

In summary: Harper will continue to convince us that the Oil industry is Canada’s heart, but the truth is it must be scaled down before more irreversible damage is done. Stop damaging investing that will destroy our land and pocketbooks.

…and: if we don’t vote change into the Canadian federal system (VOTE GREEN!) – not enough is going to change. Liberal and Conservative agendas may speak for change, and show enough difference to convince us of a multi-party system…but what has the last 10 years given us besides the same thing, over and over again??

The same goes to American votes – vote real change!!!

The Words ‘Global’ and ‘Climate’ Shouldn’t Lead to Political Babble

I’ve been hearing some chatter, as well as read a little, about the US decision to put polar bears on the ‘threatened’ list. Some of the comments I hear, and from journalists who don’t know shit-all, say that it’s ridiculous because that population is apparently thriving. They can’t believe that the polar bear is a symbol of the threat of global warming, and can’t help but call out the ‘eco-radicals’ on their shenanigans.

Here’s a segment from an “article” I found (among top of Google search, which makes it all the scarier):

“What’s really going on here?

Kenneth Green at AEI exposes the politics behind the eco-radicals’ polar bear campaign and the consequences:

Listing the polar bear as a threatened species would have significant public policy consequences. It would set a new precedent, representing the first linkage of species endangerment with global warming. Such a listing would basically wall off the entire Arctic region to exploration, resource extraction, and development–at least by U.S. companies–and a threatened species listing would give environmental groups the ability to sue future U.S. governments to force them to reverse climate change by whatever means necessary.”

AEI – who chose to ‘expose eco-radicals’ (above) and write about how our bears are ‘just fine’, is funded by Exxon Mobil. Go figure.

I recommend only visiting that site if you want to continue to browse radical conservative shyte. I’ll save you the pain, and here are some comments regarding that post above which I found silly and misguided:

**WHAT?!? The polar Bear population is 5 times MORE than it was in 1960!!! WTF does an animal whose population is INCREASING land on the endangered list?!

**When will people wise up to this global warming farce? What a joke…

**I have lived in Alaska since ‘74 and I can tell you first hand it is NOT getting any warmer here. Of course we are sometimes influenced by the warm currents from the Pacific Ocean and so even in winter we can sometimes have a warm spell. I am all for a little warming, but it a’int happening!

**The polar bears at the Houston zoo do fine in the summer,average temp of around 95 with 90% humidity.

After throwing-up a little, I figured that it needs to be understood that the concern is more than imagery of a warming planet, and an ice-less polar bear (a threatened list doesn’t have the power to influence climate policy, yet): There should be focus on protecting land from further, and unprecedented development. So, lets say all that arctic ice melts back and polar bears die off. Saying that the concern is the bears themselves puts their previous habitat at risk of development free-for-all. That gives us all the more reason to protect what might be a future forest or grassland. Thanks, global warming.

An important step in curbing public opinion is creating a monument that opinions rally around. For example, how much would you care about the Bald Eagle going extinct if it weren’t a symbol of a nation? The bird may be a glorified crow when it comes down to it, but its bold eyes and American-esque wingspan make it a symbol of freedom and power. Like magic, we care.

Can we not leave human development out of at least selected habitats? It seems that when an initiative does so, there’s always a way to complain. We are perfectly capable of turning land into ecological disasters in every-which way, so don’t give me your politics to screw this one up.

Politics and ‘eco-radical’ bashing utterly confuses the situation and makes no sense. We should be seeing the habitat as fragile, and not focusing on just the bears.

A Forest Story: From Carbon Sink to Carbon Stink

The following is a story about one of the most important forests and versatile resources that Canada has to offer to the world. More than just the forest, it is a story of a beetle the size of a grain of rice. This is a story about the mountain pine beetle (MPB), and how it is transforming our precious resource as (one of) the world’s largest carbon sinks, to the worlds largest carbon stinks.

• In the late 1800’s to early 20th Century, a series of fires swept their way across the western provinces and states (which is only natural), making way for vast pine forests that thrive in post-burn habitat.

• Also, before 1993 or so, the pine beetle was just another species coming and going amongst our resource. Fires would stop their spread, and temperatures below -30 C for weeks at a time would usually wipe them out. Today: fires are controlled for industrial and safety reasons (private and/or public land), and temperatures are not getting down to those killer numbers anymore. This is Global Warming causing itself as the beetle kills the pine…

• Scientists estimate that mountain pine beetles will wipe out 80 percent of B.C’s pine forests by 2013 – the only race now is to stop their expansion into Alberta, which has already begun. Today they have already killed billions of trees on their way to Alberta, and the current focus is community safety, beetle-kill salvage, and suppression of their move east.

• Researchers from the Canadian Forest Service report that by the time the current infestation ends, the rice-sized beetles will have killed enough trees so that an extra billion tonnes of carbon dioxide will be wafting through the atmosphere. Apparently, that is five times the annual emissions from all the cars, trucks, trains and planes in Canada.

The outbreak has been a disaster for B.C. and it is estimated more than 435 million cubic metres of timber has been lost. I have seen, worked and been within communities and parks which are now in the midst of dead forests that can stretch hundreds of kilometers. Also, due to increased – and often salvage – logging, there is more and more timber on the market to further drive down prices, and to further harm the industry.

The question now is, where we go from here, and what can you do to help?

• The move to biofuels is an important step. While controversial, expensive, and often speculative, creating energy from the beetle-kill salvage is already underway.
• Future investment within B.C, education of future resource managers, and use of pre-infestation management techniques such as controlled burning will help to reduce the impact of a future infestation.
• Users of any land and resources, that’s you, should know and be aware of its existence and impact on the land as well as market. Having read this, you can now use it as an example of mis-management, and understand the benefits of controlled management.

Importantly, all should know that the MPB may (and is beginning to) break out in California, Oregon and Washington. As of today, this is a B.C. and Alberta problem that will become a North American issue, especially concerning the released carbon and its future impact.

Three Baby Steps to Appreciating Land and Resource Use

It’s a big world, shit happens, and life goes on: just three reasons why people feel that resource use and the industry are out of reach. There’s such a massive disconnect between ourselves and where energy and wood is produced (for example) that it becomes very difficult to imagine having an effect on industry. But the truth is that our requests and complaints have a very small effect on their choices; it is about us as a market and the numbers they see in us. Believe me when I say that things only change when we need more, or we need less.

The other day I realized that we are making a mistake in using a name like “Mother Earth.” It implies that it cares for us, that it is nurturing. Our traditional approach with Earth and mothers is that they care for us, and when it gets old and fragile we care for it. I vote for the compassionate approach.

This is our Baby Earth, and these are some introductory baby steps to appreciating what it gives us.

**Appreciating Our Forests: There’s something to say for ‘seeing the forest for the trees’, but it’s hard to see them as anything but a resource when it comes down to it.

• People travel great distances to use them for recreation, this makes them a resource;
• They provide our cities and landscapes with stability. They provide cooling properties to our disturbed land (roads, buildings and pavement); and
• Alongside their products, they provide us with great need for discussion and citizen action. In fact, they bring people together for protest.

Here’s a bit I picked off the net to bring a factoid into this post: Starbucks uses up to two billion paper cups a year, of which 10 percent is recycled. That is not including the cardboard sleeves served with them, another two billion I would assume. Be weary of automatic consumption.

Overall, the best first step is becoming interested. I went ahead and decided that I have a favourite tree here in my city. You don’t have to be such a nerd, but it certainly helps to be appreciative.

**Appreciating Our Freshwater: Water brings to us what we need, takes from our homes what we don’t need, and flows through us day after day. Water is incredibly versatile, and more limited than we like to think.

Almost everything we do on land will have an effect on hydrology, one of nature’s most important systems. Land relies on water, water relies on land. Everything we do that affects its cycle should be taken into consideration.

**Appreciating Generations: Often, when aboriginal communities (and us that work with and for them) create anything that resembles a land use plan, they use what they call the Seven Generations Plan. Simply put, they are considering every move and its effect on the next seven generations that follow. Most importantly, ensuring that there will be resources to care for seven generations from now – pushing us to do our part in sustainability. As a community, and well versed at small-scale resource use, they are much better at ensuring sustainability.

The key to appreciating generational thinking is realizing that resource use and community are so interwoven that they cannot, and should not, be separated.

One of the hardest things to do is imagining what we will be leaving our children and grandchildren. We do – in a very general way – appreciate that what we affect carries on, but we are such an urban species that we feel individually inconsequential. Our effect on the land though, is entirely en masse.

Being aware of land use is easier as we are (after all) terrestrial creatures, but where water is concerned, we are used to its continual availability through taps and pumps. Try counting how many times you flush, shower, wash, rinse, drink and flush again. Think of the deterioration of a resource that needs to be available seven generations from now.

Think Baby Earth, and know its weak points.

Production Decrease: News

Canfor, one of Canada’s largest wood producers has announced a substantial decrease in annual production. The decrease is an approximate 11%, all within British Columbia is seems. Which (by the way) is not fantastic news for other BC offices of my current employer. No big deal…

Canfor said the move will reduce its annual lumber production by about 600 million board feet. The company’s annual lumber production capability is roughly 5.3 billion board feet.

The company said it sees no indications of a market recovery in the near future. (Source)

It begins, and again, only years after the market tells it to do so. It is only natural that such a large and diverse industry takes years to react, and I have argued before that the industry needs to be young again. This is a key change. One of the largest softwood producers cutting down their intended production is a message to other larger producers. This is streamlining.

I believe that the paper industry has taken its hit already with increasing digitization of information, but we can do better.

Forcing timber producers such as Canfor and Weyerhauser – for example – to reduce their annual cut is nearly impossible. Arguments from public review, citing everything from Climate Change to Old Growth protection have little to no effect: there are goals to be met.

Change in market is the only way. Guess what, you and I are the market. The little things do matter just as much as the North American housing market.

The Dip Lets You In / And Out

Look at almost any North American or Global equity and you’ll see that we’re in a bit of a dip here. That’s little rallies notwithstanding, like this week so far. I use this Dip idea and analogy for lots of things. My Business Communications class will have heard me speak about it just recently.

Initially a book by this man, Van Tharp, allowed me to see that investing analogies can be used for many aspects of my life: like how being an arbitrator allows you to fill a necessary niche. Forget the buy-low sell-high, it’s about filling a certain gap, making it yours. Then I sat in Chapters and read Seth Godin’s The Dip because it’s a tiny little book that’s not worth reading more than once (but is worth checking out). He points out that a dip in anything – think price, attitude, project realities etc. – should be used as an effective point to get in or out of something.

There will be lulls in your blogging ‘career’. There just will be. If it’s not about readership, then it is about creativity. Quitting’s just not an option unless you really just don’t have the time anymore. But that dip is a good time for massive change, like readjusting a portfolio or rethinking your strategies.

Open new themes, try new things and see how that works out. Change your mission statement, investigate new areas or even leave old ones behind that just weren’t working out for you. I’ve done both: massive change in a lull, as well as adding change during a peak. Both have given me momentum.

The Dip allows for healthy change in management. This is where I insert my token theme of land/forest management where I know there is a big need for change. Until now change has been ridiculously hard to implement, or in my case just observe as I just don’t see it! But I believe I will soon…

In the next 10 years there is going to be the massive changeover from old growth to fully second-growth timber harvesting. There is a lot of speculation as to how this will play out, but the general sentiment is ‘Not Good’, or ‘Questionably’. One of the largest concerns is how marketable this new, and in some cases cloned, mid-quality timber will be. I also don’t know when this change happened, or will happen in the US. I’ve read that there’s less than 4% original forest left in the US, so it’s probably a non-issue considering its protection by now.

The point here is management and ideology change within the dip. In a way I cheer failure because only then do those with the power to change finally implement it. As we see a younger, differently trained, and idealistic workforce take charge, we can start to hope that care of the land will be based on the land, and not the bottom-line only. I would like so strongly to believe that the next generation of management will take this into account, and not just follow models of the recent generations. I am not a forester, I cannot tell or guess yet.

So, tangent above included. Think of dips as advantages. You know that investors certainly do.

The other side of the Dip is accelerating out of it by quitting when the time is right:

According to bestselling author Seth Godin, what really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt – until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it.

Just remember that in the end, shitty times aren’t about how shitty they are: they’re about whatcha do about it!!

Can The Idealist Save What The Realist Killed?

It is rampant in the timber industry, and it’s been killing it for years: Realist thought (politics)…”a set of theories sharing a common theme that the primary motivation of states is the desire for power or security, rather than ideals or ethics”. This holds true in corporate and national culture. Security over ideals. Ring any bells?

When I say idealist I don’t mean the ‘impractical dreamer’. That’s what they used to call them.

I am the common idealist, or perhaps, the generalist idealist: I want things to be ‘good’. That’s really what it comes down to, and my Dutch friend Yuri can attest to that. First he helped me struggle with my ‘environmentalist’ image, which I’m not, but he thinks I am. In which case, maybe I am. As a treeplanter he imagined me sitting around a campfire with peers, guitars, maracas, soda(?) – singing to the trees and dancing for them. Really, he told me this. I tell him I’m stronger than that, and I planted for money. Who carries, strides and plants 3000 trees a day for the environment itself? No one does, that’s who.

Yuri is the European epitome of the general idealist. Similar to myself he grew up abroad with a diplomatic family, and strives for a similar lifestyle. He’s a realist as far as stability goes, but he’s that lifestyle idealist. He will not destroy things to benefit his comfort.

Idealists are back, and we walk the cities in droves, and want it to conform to our needs. We are acutely aware of urban problems and beyond, and we want them to be ‘good’.

Back here I showed my excitement in an ‘official’ recognizing that we (as a nation) produce too much timber (for our own good). That rarely happens, which is one of the reasons some are at the bottom of a shit-cycle.

The other day my manager chuckled as he mentioned three Industry oldies retiring in two years, “things might finally change”. It is a shame that it comes down to people retiring for change to happen, the things they did for security!

Now, I can’t be a total anti-corpo, as the reality is there’s so many factors I am not schooled in that are factors in Annual Allowable Cut decision making. The idealist in me would like to see the rug pulled out from under industry feet; chop in half cut-rates, those who go down do so to the benefit of the environment. Then the realist punches me in the gut reminding me to stop being a fool; things will fail, but you’ve got to let it happen over time.

Like any big transition, you can’t snap to its end. Say perhaps you’re in that school-to-work transition, which is a period of time, not particularly a point in time. Imagine if you just found yourself in a job one morning, just woke up into it. A little stressful it would be, no?

There is coming a transition in the forest industry wherein over a period of about 5 to 10 years there will be a nearly complete transition from old-growth (current harvest) to total second growth harvest. Even the veterans of the industry have no idea how this will go over. They’re scared, but they won’t even be around for that transition. That’s like a national debt being poured like boiling tar over children who played no part in it. There is a parallel transition concerning the generation about to be involved in its workforce, and I think it’s about to be diluted with people who may want to care too much. How will that play out?

As an idealist, I’m playing my options wide. Or maybe I’m totally in the wrong place here.

What’s it like when an idealist generation saturates a workplace that is used to thriving on forcefulness?

A Mention…

Short news – a lumber ruling (for a dispute that has been going on for the last 10 years, at least) that puts Canada in the clear of US led allegations of sending too much wood across the border.

Finally, someone with credibility mentions the overproduction, “I think it will be taken as a nonevent,” Quinn said of the ruling’s impact on struggling lumber companies. “They are still losing money. The U.S. housing market is still collapsed and we still are overproducing.”

YESS!! Tell the people: we are overproducing, bringing down our own prices, screwed etc…

The Epic Market: Close Enough to the Truth

Marketing Friendly

The marketing of wood and its many products is highly dependent on environmental sentiment both at home, and abroad. This is one area where BC wood can move ahead, and faster so than the rest of Canada if done right.

I read in an investing column a few weeks ago (this particular group is big on a Timber turnaround soon – I don’t think it’s here yet), and the author mentioned that Canada produces some of the best quality wood in the world. Hoorah! Hooray! It’s true though, we have this stamp of quality, and a stamp of vintage. What does it mean though, that we have some of the best wood? It actually means that we are still (and predominantly) harvesting old-growth wood.

The good news of known quality overshadows the fact that in BC we have barely begun to harvest second-growth wood. As long as there’s older-growth wood, it’ll come down before the second growth. We’ve been planting trees at a good rate since the 80’s – but we’re not even sure if that wood will be of the same quality. Can we market cropped trees as effectively? In any case, we have to start acting now on pumping up that quality and care stamp – and most of all make it true.

Stewards of the Land: Can we move to care?

When I mention care of the land and resources, I mean pride and stewardship: treating it like it is our own and important.

There’s been a healthy push for protection of the Boreal forests (about 40 percent of Canada’s landbase, mostly northern), finally. It has been proposed that 20% of it should be actively managed (logging and silviculture), 20% protected (parks only), and the remaining used with a variety of management (culture, recreation, production). These are proposals that happen every few years, and I am assuming nothing has yet been written in policy – as active management continues.

This is a chance to take an Aboriginal model of care and management. Why can’t we admit that our culture and identity is connected to the land? We’ve (as an imperial population) learned to disconnect ourselves from the land, truly, and feel no emotional or cultural ties to it. We’d only react if faced with the thought or image of destruction, until then we’re uncaring. We react to geography (oh what beautiful views), and topography – but until then we’re uncaring.

The consulting firm I work with used to be called ‘forest inventory’ consultants. That name supported the image of forest as numbers (which is an important element). They’ve moved to a ‘natural resource’ brand: a name so friendly we may be mistaken be mistaken for a conservation group. But that name supports the BC cause, and I think it’s a positive step.

In working with Aboriginal clients we can learn from, and work with and on their cultural stewardship model. No one can deny our economy needs a healthy amount of timber harvesting, but the sharp limitations are starting to take hold, and that’s most evident in Aboriginal-claim land. They lay legal claim to a large land-base, there are hundreds of historical claims throughout the province, and it’s healthy for our forests. Sadly, the ecological care is only above average when operators are forced to consult with these Nation groups.

International / National

Internationally, it’s important that we are seen as good to our resources. Have you seen those Greenpeace (or other) billboards that point out that Canadians kill grizzlies, polar bears and old old trees for money? I’d say it’s at least close enough to the truth. They are trying kill that other friendly image we put out, the touristy one that has fly-overs of mountains and forests, cliffs and valleys and waterfalls. You know the one. All I’m saying is that image matters, and it’s not going to be healthy abroad until it’s healthy internally, or people are more knowledgeable nationally. It doesn’t help that we are constantly given mixed messages. so many mixed, and different statistics. Driven by this or that cause, or this or that government. When I see something that looks too friendly (corporate), I am critical of it’s reason. Likewise, too negative (conservationists) and I am critical as well.

I feel that our industry would be healthier, and our economy will adjust and prosper if we can work on our long-term care and image, and have them match. Make them truthful. Saying the deforestation rate in Canada is less than 1% is something to be proud of. What it actually means though, is that for every 1.5 million acres logged, only 1% of that is not re-planted.

We are a second-growth forest factory. Start there.

Progression for Some

Vancouver – Burrard Inlet 1890’s

Burrard Inlet – 1965

Vancouver today (downtown above) is a sight to behold. Sure, it’s not always a beauty – traffic, too many people, and dildoes driving big shiny cars – but this place was built on timber trade.

Things have changed: real estate, technology, and exports now rule – but it was born a timber industry.I believe Canada, with honorable mention to the west coast, will stay and continue to become a resource based and export economy. And I’m not about to get into details, cause I’m not here to research or talk of innovation or finance – but more to remind you of people and earth – in the most compassionate sense.

Looking at the progression above. It’s mad. It’s unprecedented growth. To many, it’s been unfair growth.

While noting that the story would be different here on the west, I’ve started reading a new book called Mayflower by N Philbrick, a story about the early 1600’s Pilgrim movement to America. It’s looking to be good, and it’s looking to be honest. Most people, myself included, don’t know the detail, death and war that went into building (and destroying) a life in North America. Thanksgiving, likely, will have a new meaning to me after this book (not that I ‘celebrated’ it much anyway). I think it’s important that more people read books like this. It’s important to know where we stand as settlers – not that we can relate to pilgrim mentality – but we are all settlers.

In working with Aboriginal land and resource consulting, I know that some still choose to call us white-folk ’settlers’. Those who do, do so with a certain cynicism, but hey, fair enough. Key words like this are influential in the creation of an identity, and believe me, identity is still a major problem in the way people deal with Indian populations. Think of why you or your family moved somewhere…you’re probably a settler in at least a general sense of the word.

At any rate, enjoy the photos. And be nice.