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Letter: Be careful what you wish for

Those of you who support sustainable industry need to say so
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Let us protest logging and save the world. I have no doubt that most of those who are out there protesting, passionately feel that they are out there to save the planet.

But because we live in a resource based economy and our governments are extremely in debt, I must ask: if we shut down industry, how do you propose we pay for our education, our hospitals, nurses, doctors, our roads and the renewable infrastructure we so desperately need? Do you propose we market our beautiful land to tourists? Is that going to support us? Are the jobs as high paying as logging? How do tourists get here? Do they fly in solar powered airplanes or fuel guzzling jets? Do most of us live in houses made of wood? Do we have a housing shortage? Does the housing shortage cause the cost of buying and renting homes to increase? How do you plan to build more houses? Are we going to import lumber from countries with less stringent environmental codes with the added cost of shipping?

Is shipping lumber longer distances environmentally friendly? Are you willing to pay higher property taxes if you are successful at shutting down forestry companies and then in turn mills? How much has the RCMP presence in the woods cost the taxpayers?

Do you know that logging is a renewable resource and that trees grow back? Do you know that “younger trees” are a better carbon sink than older trees?

If you agree with my message please speak up. Those of you who support sustainable industry need to say so by writing to your elected officials. Our elected officials’ names, addresses, both street and email are found easily on the internet or the library. I also strongly urge those of you who feel you are saving the world by protesting in the woods to educate yourselves by reading and thinking about the questions I have asked.

M. Gravelle,

Duncan