After reading Bill Wagstaff’s article on heli-logging in AIN, I feel compelled to respond. I lived and worked on Vancouver Island for over 20 years. Thanks to that experience, I think I can inject another perspective to the issue of the environment and economic soundness of heli-logging.
The conflicting points of view are illustrated in the photo you ran of the local Nuu-chah-nulth Indian loggers, heads bowed, thanking the trees for giving up their lives. Not long ago these same Indians sided with Greenpeace and others to save the trees from the evil Canadian logging companies. On the other hand, some of them even worked for such companies. When they realized the “enviro-ninnies” wanted no logging at all, they chased them off and started their own campaign to acquire logging privileges for themselves. Now with the help of Weyerhaeuser and the Canadian government, they are going to kill just a few trees, but it’s OK, because they thank the trees first and it’s in harmony with the environment. Was that the traditional ceremonial Native S-61 photographed in the background?
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