Talk and Log: Wilderness Politics in British Columbia, 1965-96

Patrick Colgan is the former executive director of the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

Wilson, a political scientist at the University of Victoria, traces the
“wilderness politics in British Columbia, 1965–96” resulting from
the interactions of industry, government, and the environmental
movement, with consequent lessons for conservation.

There is an excellent overview of the forest policy’s economic,
political, and social aspects, as well as chapters on the forest
industry, the wilderness movement, and governmental institutions and
policy system. Alarming revelations range from the infiltration of the
industry into government to the failure to deal with garbage. Eight
chapters provide an intriguing chronological account of events during
the province’s successive Social Credit and NDP governments. The
panoply of political vision and ineptitude, popular participation and
lassitude, and changing debates is epitomized in terms of such focal
events as the Brundtland Report, governmental commissions and round
tables, the Forest Practices Code, and the struggles over key areas
(including Clayoquot Sound and South Moresby). Phrases like “war in
the woods” and “the rise of the cappuccino suckers” reflect the
intensity of the action.

The clear and well-organized narrative is firmly entrenched in a
political science context replete with such concepts as “contested
conservation.” Wilson achieves a balanced and detailed analysis of
forest policy, especially of sunken costs, contrasting belief systems,
the effectiveness of various planning and decisionmaking strategies, and
shifting economic and political pressures. The richness of the account
is enhanced by the inclusion of such issues as the international
dimension and pressure on press reporters from entrenched interests.
This book will be of great value to everyone concerned about the
economics and politics of natural resources, and particularly about the
fate of British Columbia’s forests.