Mill closures provide opportunities for diversity, researcher says

The timing and significance of the release of a researcher’s paper on provincial forestry policy and decision-making could not have been better.

Erin Kelly, a post-doctoral fellow with the Environmental Policy Institution of Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, explored the history of forestry in Newfoundland and how policy-makers and forest managers are reacting to changes.

An authoritative report educating decision-makers in the industry is particularly significant as Kruger explores the viability of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, the province’s lone surviving mill.

The graduate of Oregon State University College of Forestry has been working on “Pathways and Challenges to Reinventing Forestry in Newfoundland” since arriving in Corner Brook in the fall of 2010.

“Forest policy objectives have shifted from a narrow focus on wood fibre growth and extraction to policies embodying a more diverse suite of objectives, including ecosystem-based management and inclusive public participation,” according to Kelly’s paper.

However, she said those primary objectives within policy are not effectively being achieved in the province. Yet, with closures of pulp and paper mills, she said the provincial forestry sector has an opportunity to try new things.

If the mill in Corner Brook closes, it points toward the importance of different types of forestry management and economic projects which she pushes in her paper. However, there would also be downfalls.

“We do lose that example of a company that has been trying to get FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification and really trying to change its management practices in the woods,” she said. “From a woodlands perspective, I think the province would lose something with the closure, but I think all this uncertainty around Corner Brook Pulp and Paper means you can’t continue to focus on pulp and paper at a provincial level.”

Kelly said there is a gap between policy findings and what is actually being implemented. She attributes much of that to a lack of a proactive approach in favour of settling for how forests have been managed for years.

She also said it is difficult to get the public involved in forestry planning, partly because the public can’t really affect forest plans.

Kelly does acknowledge the positive steps the province is making toward rectifying these challenges.

“People might disagree with things that I say in it, but they can use it as a starting point of one perspective in this province and what can be learned from this,” she said. “Going forward, it is not just recommendations, but recognition of what is already being done, but it can be a benchmark of identifying these problems and how to improve upon it.”

She does not think her suggestions will necessarily lead to immediate results, but more of a future impact.

“I don’t think anybody knows what is happening in forestry right now, and this is an attempt to capture some of that,” she said.

The paper is available at http://www.grenfell.mun.ca/epi/documents/pathways-and-challenges-to-reinventing-forestry-inNewfoundland.pdf.