Promoting Timber Cropping: Policies toward Non-Industrial Forest Owners in New Brunswick

J.G. Reade was Librarian of the Dalhousie Ocean Studies Programme, Dalhousie University, Halifax.

The scope of this book is somewhat broader than its title implies. To arrive at a discussion of policy options, Professor Huber spends some time dealing with all those factors that affect forest policy. This makes the book something of an introduction to the whole question of forests and forest management (with a focus always on economic issues). Thus, the author has chapters dealing with forest outputs (including diversity of product, forest growth, and management in general, plus existing forest regulation), marketing and marketing practices, the impact of the Crown Lands and Forest Act, and woodland management for small private timberlands. (Although the book deals exclusively with New Brunswick, the above themes are common to any area where the forest resource is being harvested, and the book would be particularly useful for areas such as Nova Scotia, where there is a high percentage of forest land under private management.)

Regrettably, spending so much time mapping out the topic has in this case meant a limited amount of time eventually spent in actually discussing the options available for future development in the industry, with little space devoted to comparative discussion.

Promoting Timber Cropping is clearly written and particularly timely, as more and more Canadians are being forced to examine the forestry resources. The depletion of the resource by years of harvesting with insufficient attention to management is increasingly a matter of concern in Canada. Professor Huber’s book will be of interest not only to forest professionals but to all those who have a sincere interest in forest management and the myriad problems entailed therein. It is good to have such a summary document such as this.