Forestopia: A Practical Guide to the New Forest Economy

Ken A. Armson, a former executive co-ordinator of the Ontario Ministry
of Natural Resources’ Forest Resources Group, is currently a forestry
consultant.

The authors of Forestopia argue that the present forest economy is based
on “wholesale plunder of old growth and the social dislocation that
flows from it” and that what is needed is a new forest economy based
on small business and the community. Undoubtedly, forestry in British
Columbia is a key issue politically, economically, and socially, as this
book recognizes, but to argue that breaking up the large forest licences
of “big business” and doling them out to small businesses and
communities so that they can be harvested with horses, and the timber
used mainly for high-value craft furniture or other such items, is
simplistic and unrealistic.

There is no question but that some elements of this book are important
and that the present forest land tenure situation is in need of a
drastic overhaul. Unfortunately, the authors have retired to the cozy
cottage-industry frame of mind that seems to engender a notion of a
happy blend of the economy and the environment. A book for the
converted.